Handbook of research on economic and social well being Providing extensive surveys on the most recently developed themes of individual and social well being this Handbook offers a comprehensive treatment of less traditional approaches to empirical and theoretical research. The novel complementary perspective by which each topic is addressed presents a broader outlook on the various dimensions of inequality and well being. Each topic is assessed through two accompanying chapters: first a detailed study of the theoretical approaches followed by a supporting chapter of empirical findings. The original contributions cover themes ranging from human development to social exclusion and from going beyond GDP as the primary indicator of progress to evaluating the persistence of poverty. The chapters also address measures of vulnerability and economic insecurity. The Handbook emphasizes the distributional aspects of inequalities across different groups through the analysis of polarization segregation and social fractionalization. This is an excellent Handbook for postgraduates and researchers in the social sciences and economics. The contributions rethink some of the traditional theories and models for measuring inequality and well being and push the boundaries for future research. The policy relevant insights will also be of great use for social policy professionals and analysts Contents: 1. Going beyond GDP: theoretical approaches Enrico Giovannini and Tommaso Rondinella 2. Going beyond GDP: empirical findings Carlotta Balestra Romina Boarini and Nicolas Ruiz 3. Human development and poverty: theoretical approaches Suman Seth and Antonio Villar 4. Human development and poverty: empirical findings Suman Seth and Antonio Villar 5. Multidimensional poverty and material deprivation: theoretical approaches Satya R. Chakravarty and Nachiketa Chattopadhyay 6. Multidimensional poverty and material deprivation: empirical findings Anne Catherine Giuo 7. Social exclusion: theoretical approaches Luna Bellani and Alessio Fusco 8. Social exclusion: empirical findings Bea Cantillon Tim Goedemé András Gábos and István Tóth 9. Poverty over time: theoretical approaches Micheal Hoy and Buhong Zheng 10. Poverty over time: empirical findings Coral del Rio Carlos Gradin and Olga Cantó 11. Vulnerability to poverty: theoretical approaches Cesar Calvo 12. Vulnerability to poverty: empirical findings Lidia Ceriani 13. Economic insecurity: theoretical approaches Nicholas Rohde and Kam Ki Tang 14. Economic insecurity: empirical findings Lars Osberg 15. Relative deprivation and satisfaction: theoretical approaches Lucio Esposito 16. Relative deprivation and satisfaction: empirical findings Paolo Verme 17. Social inequality: theoretical approaches Casilda Lasso de la Vega 18. Social inequality: empirical findings Indranil Dutta and Gaston Yalonetzky 19. Income and social polarization: theoretical approaches Inaki Permanyer 20. Income and social polarization: empirical findings Chiara Gigliarano 21. Segregation: theoretical approaches Oscal Volij 22. Segregation: empirical findings Ricardo Mora and Jacques Silber 23. Diversity and social fractionalization: theoretical approaches Mariateresa Ciommi Ernesto Savaglio and Stefano Vannucci 24. Diversity and social fractionalization: empirical findings Mariateresa Ciommi Index.