Treasury Guest Lecture: Wellbeing Report Seminar Series - Caroline Saunders and Paul Dalziel

About this presentation Subjective wellbeing surveys are the powerhouse of wellbeing approaches to policy. They struggle, however, to give solid foundations for intergenerational wellbeing (the Easterlin Paradox). In this seminar, Professors Caroline Saunders and Paul Dalziel will focus on Amartya Sen’s capabilities theory, which is a complementary approach designed to address that gap. The presenters will draw on the international literature and their own research to explore how the capabilities approach understands wellbeing, how it focuses on access to diverse ‘capitals’, how it uses dashboards for policy, and how it emphasises that public policy should concentrate on its distinctive contributions to expanding capabilities for wellbeing. About the presenters Professors Caroline Saunders and Paul Dalziel are the Directors of the Agribusiness and Economics Research Unit at Lincoln University. Caroline received the NZIER Economics Award in 2007, was President of the Agricultural Economics Society, 2018-2020, and is currently a member of the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee. Paul is currently New Zealand Lead for the European Union IURC programme and a member of the leadership team for the Wellbeing Economy Alliance Aotearoa. In 2018, Palgrave Macmillan published Paul and Caroline’s open access book, Wellbeing Economics: The Capabilities Approach to Prosperity. About this seminar series Te Tai Waiora is part of Treasury’s wider work to consider the broader impacts of policy advice in a systematic and evidenced way. We hope that the findings and analysis in Te Tai Waiora will stimulate robust public debates about our shared future and the priorities for improving wellbeing in Aotearoa New Zealand, both inside and outside of the public service. The report is supported by a number of background papers. As part of our engagement approach, we have been running a wellbeing seminar series with leading academics and experts in the field. Watch the Wellbeing Report Seminars Find out more at https://www.treasury.govt.nz/