The Analysis of Well-being using the Income-adjusted Multidimensional Synthesis of Indicators: The Case of China

In multidimensional indexes employed to measure well-being and deprivation, income is sometimes included and sometimes excluded. The aim of this paper is to reconsider the role of income in the measurement of multidimensional well-being by recognizing that it can indirectly contribute to individual well-being, even if it is not regarded as a goal in itself. This involves introducing a new composite index: the Income-adjusted Multidimensional Synthesis of Indicators (I-MSI). To illustrate this index, individual- level data from the 2015 China Household and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) are analyzed. Results confirm the soundness of I-MSI approach as a multidimensional aggregation method and show that it can capture disparities across Chinese macro-regions and variations among different segments of society.