GDPben

GDPben is a term used in economic discourse to denote a proposed augmentation of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) intended to better reflect social welfare, environmental sustainability, and other non-market factors. As a concept, GDPben is not a single, universally adopted metric; rather, it describes a family of approaches that reweight or expand GDP to account for benefits and costs that GDP alone may overlook.

Conceptually, GDPben can be implemented in several ways. One common formulation treats GDPben as GDP plus a welfare or sustainability component, which might include health, education, income distribution, and the value of ecosystem services. Another approach is to subtract the depreciation of natural capital and to recognize unpaid work. Some proposals apply welfare weights to different population groups or time horizons to reflect intergenerational equity.

GDPben is related to, but distinct from, other alternatives such as the Genuine Progress Indicator, the Human Development Index, or Green GDP. It shares the aim of providing a more comprehensive view of well-being and long-run prosperity, while remaining anchored to the familiar GDP framework.

Critics argue that GDPben faces measurement challenges, data availability constraints, and risks of value-laden judgments. They warn that adding subjective welfare components can reduce comparability across countries or over time and may be manipulated for policy ends.

See also: Gross Domestic Product, Genuine Progress Indicator, Human Development Index, Green GDP, inclusive wealth.