literature review on Gross National Happiness as a development paradigm with GDP & SDGoal
"happiness is when i suddenly think of my daughter and found the warmth on my heart and feel like giving everything to her in any forms"
According to Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (2020) states that “The phrase
‘gross national happiness’ was first coined by the 4th King of Bhutan, King
Jigme Singye Wangchuck, in 1972 when he declared, “Gross National Happiness is
more important than Gross Domestic Product.” The concept implies that
sustainable development should take a hostile approach towards balancing
spiritual and material advancement. Generally, many used to argue that GNH can
be regarded as the Buddhist equivalent to Gross Domestic Product (Tideman, 2009).
Moreover, GNH is even
compare with sustainable development (SD) like Mensah (2019) states that SD provide a mechanism through which society
can interact with the environment while not risking damaging the resource for
the future. Taylor (2016), the three main issues of sustainable development is economic growth,
environmental protection and social equality. Likewise, four pillars of GNH are
Sustainable
and Equitable Socio-Economic Development, Preservation and Promotion of
Culture, Environmental Conservation & Good Governance (Curdy, 2021). Furthermore,
Nilyazieva & Zhechev (2020) find that
Happiness was accepted as one of the important goals of Sustainable Development
with some United Nations resolutions.
However, researcher Daga (2014) concluded methodological
critiques of the feasibility of GNH surveying in large, highly populated
countries like India, china, Indonesia, and United States where factors like
populations, geography, topography, resources constraints kick
in. Even, Thinley & Hartz-Karp (2019) pointed that measurement of GNH is strongly dependent on
subjective data and often understood to be less scientifically rigorous than
quantitative data.
So, the concept of GNH has both advantages
and disadvantages and counting its advantages one can say that its version of
progress and development is holistic in approach. It helps the policy makers to
provide certain indicators that can guide development by monitoring activities
in a particular domain and convey a message to the government whether a
particular policy can be implemented or not (Jaiswal, 2020).
In contrast, GNH is inherently predisposed
toward sustainability because it recognizes that material development is not
the only valid measure of human progress, and it understands that declining
natural resources are a drain rather than a boon to GDP (Berkshire, 2012). Additionally Other services are inadequately measured,
such as financial activities, where measurement is circuitous; and housing that
people own and live in, where measurement is imputed and inaccurate. For
Example, in today’s technological world, increasing numbers of services that
were previously paid for are now given away for free and hence are no longer
included in the GDP (Thinley & Hartz-Karp, 2019). Thus, Stieglitz
(2009) states that Gross Domestic Product has not provide detailed study of
social progress and its co-relation of people and household’s well-being. In
this regard, the researchers in the scientific papers from last 12 years,
alternative concept of measuring the quality of life and social progress in a
society is becoming increasingly popular, which defines GDP as an
insufficiently objective indicator (Copley, 2011).
Gross
national Happiness and Sustainable Development
Bhutan’s Voluntary National Review Report
(2014) reported that the SDGs find a natural and spontaneous place within the
framework of GNH sharing a common vision of prosperity, peace, and harmony
where no one is left behind. Both GNH and SD is an ideal practical that inspire
and guide sustainable action. Precisely, the report stated that “The 11th FYP
(2013-2018) assessed 14 out of the 17 SDGs as being aligned and integrated with
the achievement of the 16 National Key Result Areas. A rapid integrated assessment
conducted by UNDP between the 11th FYP and the 169 targets of the SDGs also
reveals a very high level of integration”. Happiness became an up-to-date topic
in the Sustainable Development agenda as a way for holistic measure of success
on the national and international levels (Nilyazieva & Zhechev, 2020).
More than that, researches in the tourism
industry have witnessed increased recognition of the intersection points
between happiness and SD (Croes et al., 2017). Therefore, both SD and GNH’s
goals include of social, cultural,
environmental, economic and governance aspects of life are understood to be
interrelated and integrated into the holistic concept of ‘happiness’. Moreover,
in an international level GDP that depends on money spent, regardless of
what it is spent on, Gross National Happiness (GNH) attempts to quantify
development in terms of the economy, the environment, and the culture of
Bhutan. As a conceptual ideal, GNH seems to satisfy the requirements of
sustainability (Luechauer,2013).
Critiques of GNH and responses
The nine
domains of GNH of wellbeing are: living standard, health, education, time use,
good governance, ecological diversity and resilience, inner wellbeing,
community social vitality and cultural diversity & resilience Schrage (2021). The nine
domains of GNH are equally weighted to reflect equal importance of each domain
for happiness (Ura ,2015) and each domain is
considered to be equal in terms of its intrinsic importance as a component of
GNH(Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative,2020).
However, among the 33 indicators some are self-report indicators are subjective
and thus have lighter weights attached to it (Daga, 2014). Moreover, Thinley
& Hartz-karp (2019) agreed with Daga’s feasibility critique that for cities
in developing countries with large numbers of informal residents, housing and
employment, and lack of ready data to enable random sampling. Carrying out a
rigorous survey methodology under such conditions is highly problematic. On top
of that, Luechauer (2013) almost every indicator we saw and experienced
in Bhutan suggested that it was heading in the direction of decay and decline
rather than sustainable growth and development. Given the size of its
population, Bhutan is actually in much worse shape than most of the GDP
measuring nations that GNH advocates like to condemn.
“Love
it or hate it, one things is clear, the pursuit of GNH does not appear to be
helping the people of Bhutan rise to a higher standard of living. In my
opinion, while the intent of GNH is laudable and the rhetoric is compelling,
Bhutan is simply not the nation by which to measure either its efficacy or
utility. Implementing and assessing new methods of economic development
and models of sustainable growth will require political will, time, and a host
of resources that Bhutan does not possess. ”
On the other hand, GNH that measure quality of life should not be confused with the
concept of standard of living, which is based primarily on income. Whereas,
standard indicators of the quality of life include not only wealth and
employment, but also the sound environment, physical health and mental health,
education, recreation and leisure time, and wellbeing.
Also, Individuals will have chances to report
false information to manipulate pertaining to happiness. Responses may be different to same questions on happiness if phrasing
and placement of questions vary (Planning Tank, 2013). Added, that
translation of happiness surveys into policy recommendations at times yields
abnormal results. For example, at times of higher unemployment rates, the
unemployed are happier than before because of reduced dishonor of being
unemployed.
However, the GNH paradigm
assumes that variability of happiness among people is critical in evaluating
various aspects of governance and failing to achieve the targets of goal is
problem of the respective country and not the GNH. As, where deep unhappiness
exists, surely something is wrong with government of the rules of the nation
but not the problem with the model or paradigm.
Gaining
Gross National Happiness in this World
Today, GNH is embedded in Bhutan’s Constitution and preamble
contains a pledge to enhance the unity, happiness and wellbeing of the people
of Bhutan for all time and Article 9.2 states: “The State shall strive to
promote those conditions that will enable the pursuit of Gross National
Happiness” (Ministry of Foreign Affiars, 2017). GNH represents a paradigm shift in what's
most valued by Bhutanese society compared to the rest of the world. In short,
happiness matters, not money (Clerk, 2021). Boyreau (2016) explained
that GNH is also a foreign policy instrument and a brand to attack the outsider
and for tourism to build more curiosity and interest for it. Implicitly, the
GNH has been used as an instrument of soft power to put Bhutan, a small country
enclosed between two political and economic giants, on the map for the UN.
According to Mccarthy (2018)
states that Bhutan's prime minister introduced GNH to a United Nations forum as
a paradigm for alternative development in 1998, turning point of its importance
spawned a global industry in happiness. Think tanks dissected it, and
governments grappling with improving social policies took a serious look
declaring a World Happiness Day by UN and experts and dignitaries attend World
Happiness Summits. Western
European countries have led the international movement toward adopting GNH (Berkshire, 2012). In 2009, French
president Nicolas Sarkozy announced a plan to make happiness a key indicator of
growth, and requested that Nobel Prize–winning economists Joseph Stiglitz and
Amartya Sen develop measures to incorporate wellbeing into national assessments.
Following France’s lead, British Prime Minister David Cameron called on
economists and policy makers to focus on “GWB,” or “general well-being,” by
polling 200,000 people about the state of their happiness. The results of this
poll are scheduled for release in mid-2012. Since 1997, Americas are identifying
new measures of sustainability, well-being, and quality of life—called “genuine
progress indicators”—that go beyond measures of GDP. Founder and executive director
Ronald Colman attended the first two GNH conferences to advise the Bhutanese on
developing GNH indicators. Growing interest in GNH prompted Brazil to host the
fifth GNH conference and establish diplomatic relations with Bhutan in 2009.
lastly, to the Economist (2018) magazine ranked Bhutan as the fifth fastest growing economy in the world in 2013 and as the third best performing economy for 2018 with an estimated GDP growth of 7.6%, far outpacing the average global rate of 4.4% The 2017 Sustainable Development Goals progress report shows that Bhutan is doing reasonably well on these indicators and is listed among the top performers on poverty eradication (Sachs et.all, 2019)
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3.Bhutan’s Voluntary National Review Report
.(2014). Sustainable Development and
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4.Berkshire Publishing Group (2012). Gross national Happiness.
https://www.ciis.edu/PCC/PCC%20Documents/PCC%20PDFs/Gross-National- Happiness-Allison-1.pdf
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https://money.howstuffworks.com/gross-national-happiness.htm
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thing. EG:
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9.Curdy.A.(2021). Ctrl Culture
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10.Daga.G.(2014).Towards A New Paradigm: Critical Analysis of Gross National Happiness.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262419781_Towards_a_New_Development_Paradigm_Critical_Analysis_of_Gross_National_Happiness
11.Luechauer.L.D.(2013). Gross National Happiness of Bhutan and its
False Promises
http://gsdmagazine.org/2013/07/21/the_ false_
promises_of_bhutan_gross_national_happiness/
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Happiness' Is Growing A Bit Cynical.
https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/02/12/584481047/the-birthplace-of-gross-national-happiness-is-growing-a-bit-cynical
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of the Kingdom of Bhutan to the
United Nations in New York. https://www.mfa.gov.bt/pmbny/
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Tank.(2013). Gross
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https://planningtank.com/development-planning/gross-national-happiness-gnh-index
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https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/121213/gdp-and-its-importance.asp
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G., Kroll, C., Lafortune, G., Fuller, G. (2018). SDG Index and
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Thimphu: ISBN 99936-14-22-X
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Happiness as Development Framework. https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/177790/gnh-development-framework.pdf
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