Sustainable Development and Quality of Life in Poland Compared to other OECD Member Countries
Purpose: The publication aims to analyze the concept of sustainable development in the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), emphasizing the quality of life of Polish citizens against the background of other member countries of this organization. Design/Methodology/Approach: In the study is used a research method based on literature studies in the field of finance and macroeconomics. The first step of the research was to formulate the research problem, then to collect and evaluate relevant data, then to analyze and interpret the collected data, and finally to present the data and present the directions for further research. This article presents a narrative review of the scientific literature and an analysis of statistical data to identify various concepts of sustainable development and quality of life and to identify the main determinants of the quality of life in OECD member countries. Findings: Analyzing selected measures of the sustainable development of OECD member countries in the period 2000-2018, the increase in the inhabitants' social and individual well-being and the harmonious arrangement of the relationship between man and the human environment were revealed. The total index of Better Life Index was found that Poland was in this respect in the third tenth of all 37 OECD member countries. Poland achieved better results than the average in the areas of "personal safety," "education," and "balance between work and home life." However, for the remaining eight criteria ("housing," "life satisfaction," "civic engagement," "work and wages," "society," "quality of the environment," "income and wealth," "health"), Poland achieved much worse results than the average for OECD countries. Practical Implications: The progressive degradation of the natural environment was stopped, the effectiveness of using natural resources was increased, and the comfort of the inhabitants' lives was improved in the conditions of progressive economic growth. Originality/Value: The article is a theoretical analysis of various concepts of sustainable development and quality of life, and an in-depth empirical analysis of the evolution of sustainable development and changes in the quality of life in Poland compared to other OECD member countries. So far, such comprehensive theoretical and empirical research has not been carried out.