This thesis is comprised of three distinct contributions, which are
interrelated but can be read independently.
The first of the three contributions considers the aid-growth nexus in
Bhutan and is explored in chapter three of this thesis. The study employs an Auto
Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach, and findings suggest that foreign
aid, governance and parliamentary government are detrimental to economic
growth. Policy and investment are found to be insignificant determinants. Only
labour force and technology are found to foster economic growth in Bhutan. This
indicates that Bhutan should focus primarily on human capital and technology
improvement.
The second contribution examines the determinants of four distinct
measures of well-being: income poverty; multidimensional poverty; perceived
poverty and happiness, using probit and ordered probit models. Findings suggest
that whilst there is some commonality between the four measures, there are also
some contradictions. The two primary points of consistency are that first, higher
levels of income poverty, multidimensional poverty and perceived poverty are
negatively associated with happiness, and second, each of the four measures are
driven by common fundamentals, including having access to a savings account and
literacy levels. However, the study also finds that there is little evidence to suggest
that income poverty and multidimensional poverty are strongly related. The study
finds that each of the four aspects of well-being is uniquely characterised, driven,
in part, by different variables and the degree of influence each of the common
fundamentals exert.