A GISbased estimation of quality of life in italian regions

ABSTRACT:In this article we build a new socio-economic indicator able to put toghether a series ofvariables from ISTAT-BES that are used to evaluate the level of economic, environmental, educational, andsocial life in the italian regions and autonomous provinces in the period 2004-2016. The original part of thearticle is the construction of a new indicator i.e. SEQI able to harmonize social, economic, environmental andeducational features of the quality of life. Methodologically we use Geographic Information System (GIS) andpanel data to investigate the socio-economic quality of life in italian regions. Our data suggest that the increaseof socio-economic quality of life is associated to the reduction in poverty, the increase in Gross DomesticProduct (GDP), the reduction in gross value added, the increase in employed, the reduction in working hours.

KEYWORDS:socio-economic, spatial analysis, QGIS, well-being, panel data, regional economics