Relation between Globe Latitude and the Quality of Life: Insights for Public Policy Management

Abstract

Life quality and its determinants represent a topic which is essential to all civilizations, past and present. This paper employs common methods for inspecting factors of correlation with the aim of assessing the influence of geographical location on life quality and happiness. After setting a stable theoretical cornerstone, the article works with the measures reported by the Human Development Index (HDI) and the World Happiness Score (WHS). The work finds and proves ties between the globe latitude of one’s dwelling and their reported life quality measures, with the main conclusion being that the quality of life measured by the HDI and WHS is spread around the globe asymmetrically regarding latitude. Following the results of the research, possible reasons such as enhanced strategic thinking and an emphasis on sounder plans for living embedded in public policy are discussed. Recommendations point toward the possibility of the global north issuing aid to the global south, not in the form of financial capital, but in the form of a knowledge transfer through technology-enabled learning as a means for uplifting global well-being.

Worldwide Correlations Support COVID-19 Seasonal Behavior and Impact of Global Change

“…Recently, other measures of quality of life have been shown to be also correlated with latitude, including the HDI and the world happiness score (WHS). 50 Thus cultural and psychological diversity in populations unfold latitudinally on Earth impacting wealth and happiness. We contend that these factors also impact global change as well as COVID-19 predictors, which may well be signaling another “reversal of fortune” in latitudinal patterns.…”

Artificial Intelligence for Quality of Life Study: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Additionally, the work of [75] proposed a regression analysis to study GDP growth using data from multiple economic indicators related to GDP in Japan. In the article [76], the authors used correlation analysis to investigate the relationships between the latitude of countries and two QoL indicators: the HDI and the WHI, additionally, the analysis was based on data from 141 countries. In the research [77], the authors used multidimensional statistical analysis to study and assess QoL for European cities based on the ISO 37120 standard.…”

“…These dimensions often vary from one study to another, making it challenging to create standardized datasets that suit all research objectives. Some valuable datasets related to quality of life are provided by international organizations such as the United Nations, World Bank, OECD, and others which are used in these works [63], [81], [50], [72], [73], [51], [52], [53], [54], [64], [75], [74], [8], [69], [76]. These organizations compile and publish data on a wide range of indicators, including income, education, healthcare, and environmental quality.…”

“…World Happiness index data [73], [8], [74], [76], [69] OECD's Better life index data [81], [72], [52], [53] Human development indicators [50], [52], [76] Eurostat database [63], [72], [54] GDP per capita [51], [75] World Bank data [64] Bloomberg data [53] Corruption Perception Index and Global Peace Index data [74] London bullion market gold prices [40] WHO data [31] Financial news from the website of the EQS Group [53] Regional data in the United States [71] ISO 73120 World Council on City Data [77] Data from The Center for Disease Control's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene [41] Questionnaire data A proposed survey [43], [65], [35], [91], [45], [62], [69] Survey on College students [32], [47], [48], [61] National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) [44], [49] Survey results of Turkish Statistical Institute [30] Big 5 personality questionnaire [29] The demographic and Oxford Happiness Questionnaires …”