Social indicators research commonly examines institutional trust, civic resources, and socio‑economic conditions as parallel predictors of collective outcomes. This study asks whether collective capacity is better understood as an evaluative social indicator that emerges from a sequential system of interdependent indicators under conditions of perceived societal threat. Using nationally representative survey data from Lithuania and Estonia (N = 2,009), we test a theoretically specified sequential indicator configuration linking perceived threat, institutional trust, resource‑based civic capacity, socio‑economic preparedness, and collective capacity. The analysis combines confirmatory factor analysis and measurement invariance testing with sequential mediation and moderated mediation models to ensure cross‑national comparability. The results show that perceived threat is associated with collective capacity primarily through indirect pathways rather than direct effects. While institutional trust functions as a stable transmission mechanism in both countries, the downstream configuration differs markedly: Lithuania exhibits a preparedness‑centered indicator system in which resources and preparedness play a central mediating role, whereas Estonia displays an institution‑centered system with limited reliance on preparedness. These findings demonstrate that social indicators operate as context‑specific relational systems rather than additive dimensions, highlighting the need for social indicators research to focus on indicator configurations and functional roles rather than isolated effects.
Not all ties contribute equally to subjective well-being. Drawing on network-based social capital theory, this study examines whether social resources embedded in strong ties (i.e., close relationships with family and friends) or weak ties (casual relationships with acquaintances) are more strongly associated with life satisfaction, and whether these associations vary by individuals’ economic circumstances and national economic contexts. Analysis of the 2017 International Social Survey Programme (N = 44,492 from 30 countries) yielded three main findings. First, social capital embedded in strong ties is consistently associated with higher life satisfaction across countries, whereas social capital embedded in weak ties shows small or nonsignificant associations. Second, the positive association between strong-tie social capital and life satisfaction is more pronounced among low-income individuals. Third, strong-tie social capital is more strongly associated with life satisfaction in countries that are less affluent and more unequal. These findings suggest that the well-being returns to social capital depend on tie strength and socioeconomic conditions at both the individual and national levels. Strong ties appear to be particularly important for life satisfaction under conditions of socioeconomic disadvantage.
Parents of children with disabilities face substantial challenges balancing paid work and caregiving, often reporting lower wellbeing and more constrained employment opportunities. Yet little is known about how work arrangements may mitigate these negative spillovers. Using novel data from the 2024 Familles et Employeurs (FamEmp) survey, this study investigates whether working from home (WFH) moderates the expected difference in subjective wellbeing (SWB) between French parents with and without a child with a disability in a nationally representative sample of working parents. Parents of children with disabilities report significantly lower SWB than other working parents. The association between working from home and parental wellbeing varies across family contexts. In dual-earner households, WFH is associated with higher SWB among parents of children with disabilities, narrowing the difference in wellbeing between parents with and without a disabled child. This association is particularly relevant among fathers and among parents of children with more severe disabilities. Moreover, WFH is more effective on wellbeing when it occurs frequently rather than occasionally. These findings suggest that flexible work arrangements may help alleviate some of the wellbeing disadvantages experienced by working parents raising children with disabilities, although these associations appear to depend on household work arrangements and caregiving demands.
This paper introduces the Minimum Uncertainty Method (MinUn-M), a new approach for constructing composite indicators that integrate subjective expert opinions with objective, data-driven techniques to analyze multidimensional phenomena that are not measurable by a single indicator. The MinUn-M method provides a stable composite indicator in which variations in the model inputs do not lead to significant changes in the model outputs, ensuring greater reliability in representing multidimensional phenomena and facilitating informed decision-making by managers and policymakers. The methods also minimize incompatibilities between subjective and objective weights, thereby promoting alignment between theory and practice by treating the expert’s opinions as constraints on the objective function that minimizes the uncertainty of the composite indicator ranks. Through two case studies, the MinUn-M method is applied to address the challenges of measuring and correlating the child well-being and health systems in low- and middle-income countries, as well as child well-being in Brazilian states. The results demonstrate superior robustness and precision compared to traditional weighting methods (e.g., equal weights, factor analysis, entropy). The main methodological contribution is the balance between objectivity and subjectivity in allocating weights, providing practical tools for public management and future research on constructing multidimensional indicators.
The growing use of composite indicators to assess environmental quality and quality of life in the Mediterranean region raises a key question: to what extent do observed outcomes reflect local policy efforts rather than spatial spillovers and broader structural pressures such as climate change? This paper examines the integration of spatial filtering techniques within a non-compensatory framework to enhance the measurement of environmental sustainability at the sub-national level and to explore its implications for societal well-being. Building on the Adjusted Mazziotta and Pareto Index (AMPI), we use spatial filtering procedures to disentangle environmental performance into (i) a locally actionable component associated with governance capacity, and (ii) a spatially structured component capturing supra-local forces linked to geographic proximity and regional dynamics. The empirical application focuses on Italian provinces, offering insights relevant to Mediterranean contexts characterized by environmental vulnerability and territorial inequalities. Results show significant spatial dependence across multiple environmental dimensions and reveal that accounting for spatial effects substantially alters provincial rankings. By improving the interpretability and fairness of composite indicators, the proposed approach supports more realistic benchmarking and contributes to the design of place-based policies aimed at enhancing environmental sustainability, territorial cohesion, and quality of life in Mediterranean regions.
