Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
Purpose – World wide, the gross national product (GNP) has been and still is the basic accounting concept and the dominant societal goal and performance indicator. As the concept is full of flaws and deficiencies, national and international committees are searching for alternatives. A view in retrospect may help in this search. The purpose of this paper is to present such a view in retrospect, by looking at the early attempts made to get out of the impasse and to break the deadlock of outmoded concepts. Design/methodology/approach – This paper deliberately looks at the early attempts made to get out of the impasse of the flawed GNP concept, and to improve and extend traditional accounting. Several of these early attempts are presented in some detail. Findings – Both the “Growth and Distribution Index” and the “Net National Welfare Index” were useful conceptual innovations. Over time, however, they got lost or were forgotten. The time has come to reactivate such initiatives or to start and implement similar ones. Practical implications – The traditional GNP concept neglects significant distributive and environmental effects of economic growth. The time has come to either supplement or replace the concept – to go beyond GNP. Originality/value – The conceptual deficiencies of the traditional GNP concept are on the agenda again. A view in retrospect – as presented in this paper – could help, so that in due course a breakthrough becomes possible in the search for new development indicators.
International Journal of Social Economics – Emerald Publishing
Published: Oct 18, 2011
Keywords: Gross national product; Growth and distribution index (GDI); Net national welfare (NNW); New development indicators; Accounting
Read and print from thousands of top scholarly journals.
Already have an account? Log in
Bookmark this article. You can see your Bookmarks on your DeepDyve Library.
To save an article, log in first, or sign up for a DeepDyve account if you don’t already have one.
Copy and paste the desired citation format or use the link below to download a file formatted for EndNote
Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
All DeepDyve websites use cookies to improve your online experience. They were placed on your computer when you launched this website. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.