Scotland's Wellbeing: national outcomes for disabled people

5. Economy

We have a globally competitive, entrepreneurial, inclusive and sustainable economy

National outcome

This Outcome aims to create the conditions for a strong, competitive, sustainable and inclusive economy that is essential to supporting jobs, incomes and quality of life. It aims to ensure the benefits of economic growth, wealth and opportunities are fairly shared and that growth is not achieved at the expense of our social interests or those of the environment. 

National Performance Indicators

There are 10 indicators in the Economy domain. However, they are largely not amenable to individual level analysis and therefore cannot be analysed at the level of individual characteristics:

• Economic growth (The difference (percentage point) between GDP growth rate and the previous three year average). 
• Access to Superfast Broadband (Percentage of residential and non-residential addresses where superfast broadband is available). While this can be measured at an individual level^[27], the current NPF measurement is concerned with the development of infrastructure rather than individual access. 
• Carbon footprint (Scotland's carbon footprint expressed in million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent)
• Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Greenhouse gas emissions as a percentage change achieved from the baseline figure in 1990).
• Natural capital (The Natural Capital Asset Index (NCAI) monitors the quality and quantity of terrestrial habitats in Scotland, according to their potential to deliver ecosystem services now and into the future). 
• International exporting (The value, in GBP millions, of Scottish exports (excluding oil and gas).
• Spend on research and development (Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) as a percentage of GDP).
• Productivity rank (Scotland's Rank for productivity against key trading partners in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).)
• Income inequality (Income share of the top 10% of the population in Scotland divided by income share of the bottom 40% (Palma ratio) expressed as a percentage).

One dimension that can be analysed individually is as followed:

• Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA rate: proportion of the adult working age population that is actively trying to start a business, or that own/manage a business which is less than 3.5 years old).

However, there appears to be limited data on the number of disabled entrepreneurs in Scotland, or how this has changed over time.

Additional Indicators 

Managers and Board Members in Social Enterprises 

At present, obtaining estimates of self-employment and business formation by disabled people is challenging. However, among social enterprises in Scotland, 15% of managers were reported as having a long-term health problem or being disabled, as were 9% of board members.^[28]