The Impact of Ecological Inequality on National Well-Being : The Case of Brazil, 1965-1998

Opposition to growth in gross domestic product (GDP) as an indicator of economic development or social well-being improvement has been widespread since the advent of national income accounting. Some of the recent literature, motivated by growing interest in environmental issues, and sustainable development in particular, criticizes GDP from the perspective that it confuses true income and wealth consumption (Daly 1995; Repetto et al. 1989). Other critiques focus on a variety of social variables (e.g., life expectancy, literacy), designing alternative indicators that go beyond income-based definitions of social welfare (Morris 1980; UNDP 2001). Related to such efforts, Ahluwalia and Chenery (1974) take into account income inequality and disaggregate GDP to calculate well-being growth rates that, according to the authors, are more relevant than GDP growth. The index of sustainable economic welfare (ISEW) (Daly and Cobb