Our research group has established the Global Wellbeing Economics Lab (GWEL) and its open database platform, focusing on the continuous maintenance and updating of the database while conducting high-quality research based on these data. We promote the development and application of beyond-GDP indicators, particularly Healthy Lifetime Income (HLI), and hope that these measures may eventually be adopted by the United Nations and national statistical agencies to better assess human well-being and long-term development. We also actively engage in public communication and media outreach to promote broader societal discussion and awareness of beyond-GDP well-being measurement.

We apply macroeconomic and econometric models to study the causal relationships among the economy, health, inequality, the environment, and population dynamics, while conducting related empirical analyses.

We use System Dynamics Modelling to conduct long-term forecasting and policy simulation studies in the fields of health, economics, and population, with the aim of supporting evidence-based decision-making and sustainable development.

We also welcome the application of other interdisciplinary methods to the above research areas. Our research mainly focuses on international and Chinese contexts, while also welcoming studies from other countries and regions, with the aim of advancing global health research, long-term human well-being, healthy ageing, and sustainable development.

• Beyond-GDP well-being indicators
• Macroeconomics and econometrics
• System dynamics modelling
• Population ageing and health forecasting

• Prettner, K., Zhang, J., Bloom, D. E., Chen, S., & Lutz, W. (2026). GDP alone cannot measure human progress and well-being. Nature Health. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44360-026-00137-7
• Zhang, J., Prettner, K., Bloom, D. E., Chen, S., & Lutz, W. (2026). Measuring well-being beyond GDP: Pollution- and education-adjusted healthy lifetime income estimates for 175 countries. SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6215738
• Zhang, J., Chen, S., & Prettner, K. (2025). Measuring “high-quality development” and progress toward “common prosperity” in China. Social Indicators Research, 179, 153–200. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-025-03577-y
• Luo, S., Zhang, J., & Heffernan, M. (2024). Forecast of total health expenditure on China’s ageing population: A system dynamics model. BMC Health Services Research, 24, Article 1655. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-024-12113-6
• Zhang, J., Prettner, K., Chen, S., & Bloom, D. E. (2023). Beyond GDP: Using healthy lifetime income to trace well-being over time with estimates for 193 countries. Social Science & Medicine, 320, Article 115674. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115674

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