Economic growth and mental well-being in Italian regions

Measuring economic growth is not only an arithmetic problem, but it also involves an economic vision and a philosophy for the choice of indicators (i.e. Gross Domestic Product). Today it seems more relevant to measure not only the economic well-being as it is, using Gross Domestic Product, but also the people’s well-being, considering other dimensions such as health and happiness. Over the years, national accounts and Gross Domestic Product have never changed their nature, instead combining social and economic indicators can offer important indications for well-being research. As pointed out by the World Health Organization, health is well-being, but it is not always coincident with a high level of Gross Domestic Product. In particular, as regards the mental health condition it has become an important aspect in measuring people’s well-being. Mental health has been considered an important signal of the society’s discomfort due to economic growth that, generally, is argued to be caused by the disamenities of the ”industrial lifestyle”. This study involves an empirical investigation using a panel econometric model in Italian regions, considering antidepressant expenditures per capita (an expression of society’s unhappiness) as the dependent variable and, as covariates, the old age index, the poverty rate, the employment rate, the NEET rate (NEET: Not in Education, Employment, or Training), and the percentage of public expenditure on services.