A multidimensional regional index of economic well-being for Italy

In this paper we propose a composite indicator in order to assess the economic well-being of the Italian regions for the period 2002-2006 according to the multidimensional nature of phenomena. The Osberg and Sharp’s approach is adopted and four dimensions of economic well-being are considered. In order to merge those dimensions and to build the Regional Index of Economic well-Being (RIEWB), reducing the arbitrariness in the choice of variables weighting, two techniques have been applied: the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and the Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Finally, the paper aims to analyze the relationship between the multidimensional economic well-being index and the GDP