Media Clipping — July 21, 1998, The Mail Star, Halifax

A new look at society

Research project introduces genuine progress index

By Michael Lightstone

Unlike some academics, Ron Colman isn't content to merely observe society from an ivory tower.

The former Saint Mary's University professor has plunged into a research project on how to measure Nova Scotia's true economic and social progress.

Mr. Colman's work, which began about two years ago as an exercise with his politicalscience students at SMU, has evolved into a national pilot project examining, among other issues, the economic value of volunteerism, housework and other quality of life activities.

The $119,600 project is looking at how to gauge growth by using a relatively new method called the genuine progress index, instead of relying on the traditional gross domestic product.

One goal, says Mr. Colman, is to use parts of the province as "a working laboratory" of sustainable development initiatives.

"The spotlight has been shining on market statistics. Now we're just shifting the spotlight to some other areas, which are crucial for our prosperity and wellbeing," he said in a recent interview.

"Nova Scotia could be in the forefront of this development."

He says the GPI model goes beyond the GDP index, assessing the value of Nova Scotia's nonmarket social and naturalresource assets.

Hans Messinger, an assistant director at Statistics Canada in Ottawa who's assisting Mr. Colman, says the GDP can increase while a society's quality of life declines.

"The whole sustainable dimension is a very critical one," he says. "The GDP just tells you about the current time period how your economy is doing now, what you're producing now.

"It doesn't really say how much you have to invest to ensure that you keep producing or expanding in the future."

Mr. Messinger concedes the GPI is more of a subjective indicator but says it brings together economic, social and environmental elements to better measure progress.

According to Mr. Colman, the GPI was developed about three years ago by American economists. The GDP, which measures the value of a nation's goods and services, was first used during the Second World War and has had its critics over the years.

The GDP "measures everything . . . except that which makes life worthwhile," the late Robert Kennedy said in a speech shortly before he was assassinated in 1968.

Mr. Colman says one of the project's objectives is to establish a data bank the provincial government can tap to help shape future economic policy.

"Information is the first step in informed policymaking," he says. "For example, governments would be interested in knowing whether cuts in certain government services have been absorbed by the voluntary sector or not."

According to Statistics Canada, Nova Scotia leads the country in weekly hours people devote to volunteering.

A preliminary report, prepared last month by Mr. Colman, says Nova Scotians contribute just under 3Y2 hours per week in unpaid community work, compared to the national level of two hours, 40 minutes.

He says the economic value of Nova Scotia's volunteerism in 1997 was $1.7 billion, representing "the amount that would have to be paid in the government and private sectors to replace existing voluntary work."

The report, to be followed by other studies on related issues before the project concludes late in 1999, says recognising the economic impact of community work "does not diminish the primary goal of volunteer organisations in rendering help and care, nor the underlying motivation of generosity."

It says highly educated Nova Scotians have the highest rate of volunteerism in the province, even though they're time strapped because they are more likely to put in long hours at their jobs.

Among those who do volunteer work, the report says, are jobless people seeking to bolster a resume or keep up their skill levels. Nova Scotia's June unemployment rate was 10.5 per cent, Statistics Canada says.

"Young people in particular, unable to find paid employment, seem increasingly to be taking voluntary work," Mr. Colman's report says.

Mr. Colman, a native of Australia who did postgraduate work in the United States, acknowledges "the absurdity of assigning monetary values" to such activities as community cleanups, providing meals to seniors and coaching children's sports.

But, he says, society does so in other ways.

"We may pay a higher apartment rent for the aesthetic pleasure of overlooking a park rather than a busy street."

Mr. Colman notes insurance companies calculate the loss of human limbs and lives, and courts make subjective financial awards for grief and suffering.

Asked if the project's cost was a wise use of taxpayers' money, Mr. Colman, 50, says he views the expenditure as an investment in Nova Scotia's future. The $119,600 covers wages for two fulltime researchers, nine summer students and other expenses, he says.

Much of the research team's work is done out of a home office at Mr. Colman's house in metro.

"It is a kind of unusual project," he says, "so the fact we're getting (public) money is great."

Mr. Colman said the project plans to host a conference early next year in Halifax. The event will serve as a progress report to delegates from other provincial governments, he says.

Future publications include studies on the value of unpaid housework and costs of crime.

Once the project is finished, "the proof will hopefully be in the pudding.

"What we're trying to do is just take one step one small step towards trying to create the basis for real longterm prosperity," he says.

"The real issue is whether this information is translated into (government) policy and action."

Copyright © 1998, The Halifax Herald

Geniune Progress Index Media Coverage