Well-being: a Beta-distribution-based approach

In recent years, there has been growing attention to evaluating well-being at local level. Along this line, since 2013, the Italian Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) annually releases a dashboard of indicators to measure the so-called Equitable and Sustainable Well-Being (BES) for Italy, its Macro-area (NUTS-1) and regions (NUTS-2). More recently, the ISTAT provides BES indicators at local level (NUTS-3), related the 107 Italian provinces and metropolitan cities. The aim of the paper is to provide a more in-depth analysis of territorial inequalities and divergences across the Italian provinces. Specifically, the paper represents the first attempt to synthetize the main domain of BES (economic, social and environmental among others) through the parameters underlying the Beta distribution of the multidimensional well-being. The parameters - mode and concentration- associated with the Beta distribution and used as a proxy of territorial disparities identify a high degree of heterogeneity not only between the Northern and Southern Italian provinces, but also among adjacent provinces.