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48-478: Prosperity is the flourishing, thriving, good fortune and successful social status . Prosperity often produces profuse wealth including other factors which can be profusely wealthy in all degrees, such as happiness and health . Economic notions of prosperity often compete or interact negatively with health, happiness, or spiritual notions of prosperity. For example, longer hours of work might result in an increase in certain measures of economic prosperity, but at

96-403: A lesser degree with those of higher or lower status in a recognized system of social stratification. Although the determinants of status are specific to different cultures, some of the more common bases for status-based stratification include: The German sociologist Max Weber argued stratification is based on three factors: property , status, and power . He claimed that social stratification

144-420: A litany of benefits—such as greater health, admiration, resources, influence, and freedom—those with lower status experience poorer outcomes across all of those metrics. Importantly, status is based in widely shared beliefs about who members of a society judge as more competent or moral. While such beliefs can stem from an impressive performance or success, they can also arise from possessing characteristics

192-782: A majority stake in SHARE Microfinance, India's leading microfinance institution. In 2006, the company co-founded an early charity crowdfunding platform, Razoo Global Corporation, based in Alexandria, VA . The platform has raised US$ 550 million in crowdfunding since its establishment. It announced a management buy-out of Legatum's holding in 2017. In 2007, Legatum purchased a significant minority stake in Intellecap , which provides consultancy advice to companies in Asia and Africa, and which it subsequently sold back to its owner,

240-522: A new UK TV channel. Also in 2021, Legatum invested in Mobile Premier League, an esports and gaming platform. As of 2014, Legatum had invested around US$ 80 million in 1,440 projects in 107 countries. Legatum focuses on three core areas of philanthropic investment: development, entrepreneurship, and policy innovation. Legatum Foundation is the development arm of Legatum and invests in community-based organizations and projects around

288-639: A person's known ability on the task (e.g., mechanical ability when a car breaks down). This implies that known ability would attenuate the effect of external status, implying a given external status characteristic is not a master status. The program of research finds characteristics assumed to be master statuses (e.g., mental illness) are, in fact, attenuated by known ability. Moreover, status affects group members' assertiveness only when characteristics differentiate group members (i.e., groups are mixed-race or mixed-gender). With respect to gender, experimental tests repeatedly found that women are highly deferential only in

336-501: A positive correlation, but the extent to which health has a causal effect on economic prosperity is unclear. There is evidence that happiness is a cause of good health, both directly through influencing behavior and the immune system , and indirectly through social relationships, work, and other factors. One study which advances a holistic definition of prosperity is the Legatum Prosperity Index (an annual report by

384-549: A report to the UK Sustainable Development Commission in 2008, comprehensively expanded on the arguments and policy recommendations. Internationally organised, the Degrowth movement is taking a similar position and argue that overconsumption lies at the root of long-term environmental issues and social inequalities , advocating for the down-scaling of production and consumption . In

432-431: A simple index of income , education and occupational prestige. Social status hierarchies have been documented in a wide range of animals: apes, baboons, wolves, cows/bulls, hens, even fish, and ants. Natural selection produces status-seeking behavior because animals tend to have more surviving offspring when they raise their status in their social group. Such behaviors vary widely because they are adaptations to

480-517: A socially valued role or category a person occupies as a "status" (e.g., gender , social class , ethnicity , having a criminal conviction, having a mental illness, etc.). As social network analysts, Stanley Wasserman and Katherine Faust Stanley cautioned "there is considerable disagreement among social scientists about the definitions of the related concepts of social position , social status, and social role ." They note that while many scholars differentiate those terms, they can define those terms in

528-536: A society has deemed meaningful like a person's race or occupation. In this way, status reflects how a society judges a person's relative social worth and merit—however accurate or inaccurate that judgement may be. Because societies use status to allocate resources, leadership positions, and other forms of power, status can make unequal distributions of resources and power appear natural and fair, supporting systems of social stratification . The sociologist Max Weber outlined three central aspects of stratification in

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576-598: A society, the relative honor and prestige accorded to individuals depends on how well an individual is perceived to match a society's values and ideals (e.g., being pious in a religious society or wealthy in a capitalist society). Status often comes with attendant rights, duties, and lifestyle practices. In modern societies, occupation is usually thought of as the main determinant of status, but other memberships or affiliations (such as ethnic group , religion , gender , voluntary associations, fandom , hobby ) can have an influence. Achieved status , when people are placed in

624-406: A society: class, status, and power. In his scheme, which remains influential today, people possess status in the sense of honor because they belong to specific groups with unique lifestyles and privileges. Modern sociologists and social psychologists broadened this understanding of status to refer to one's relative level of respectability and honor more generally. Some writers have also referred to

672-457: A source of status. Several studies document that being popular or demonstrating dominance over peers increases a person's status. Analyses of private companies also find that organizations can gain status from having well-respected corporate partners or investors. Because status is always relative to others, a person may enter many situations throughout their life or even a single day in which they hold high, equal, or low status depending on who

720-400: A source of stress, though evidence for this hypothesis proved inconsistent, leaving some to conclude conflicting expectations through occupying incompatible roles may be the true stressor. Status is one of the major components of social stratification, the way people are hierarchically placed in a society. The members of a group with similar status interact mainly within their own group and to

768-460: A structure for the firm to continue operating beyond its founders. The firm's investment activities tend to focus on globally listed companies, markets in economic transition (such as Japan or China ), or distressed situations. Legatum was one of the first foreign commercial investors to provide critical equity capital to for-profit microfinance organizations in India, investing $ 25 million for

816-442: A way that clashes with the definitions of another scholar; for example they state that " [Ralph] Linton uses the term 'status' in a way that is identical to our use of the term "position". Status hierarchies depend primarily on the possession and use of status symbols . These are cues or characteristics that people in a society agree indicate how much status a person holds and how they should be treated. Such symbols can include

864-468: A wide range of environmental niches. Some social dominance behaviors tend to increase reproductive opportunity, while others tend to raise the survival rates of an individual's offspring. Neurochemicals, particularly serotonin, prompt social dominance behaviors without need for an organism to have abstract conceptualizations of status as a means to an end. Social dominance hierarchy emerges from individual survival-seeking behaviors. Status inconsistency

912-963: Is a private investment firm based in Dubai using only capital provided by members of the firm. Legatum was founded in December 2006 in the United Arab Emirates by Christopher Chandler , who made his fortune in markets undergoing political transitions. Previously, Chandler was the president of Sovereign Global, or Sovereign, which he co-founded with his brother Richard Chandler in 1986. Sovereign invested capital in companies located in Asia , Africa , Latin America and Eastern Europe , and in industries including telecommunications, electric utilities, steel, oil and gas, banking and oil refining. The Chandler brothers embarked on separate ventures following

960-637: Is a result of the interaction of wealth (class), prestige status (or in German Stand ) and power (party). Max Weber developed the idea of "status group" which is a translation of the German Stand (pl. Stände ). Status groups are communities that are based on ideas of lifestyles and the honor the status group both asserts, and is given by others. Status groups exist in the context of beliefs about relative prestige, privilege, and honor. People in status groups are only supposed to engage with people of like status, and in particular, marriage inside or outside

1008-525: Is a situation where an individual's social positions have both positive and negative influences on his or her social status. For example, a teacher may have a positive societal image (respect, prestige) which increases their status but may earn little money , which simultaneously decreases their status. In task-focused interpersonal encounters, people unconsciously combine this information to develop impressions of their own and others' relative rank. At one time, researchers thought status inconsistency would be

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1056-563: Is around them. For instance, a doctor holds high status when interacting with a patient, equal status in a meeting with fellow doctors, and low status when meeting with their hospital's chief of medicine. A person can also be a 'big fish in a small pond' such that they have higher status than everyone else in their organization, but low or equal status relative to professionals in their entire field. Some perspectives on status emphasize its relatively fixed and fluid aspects. Ascribed statuses are fixed for an individual at birth, while achieved status

1104-594: Is based on beliefs about social worth and esteem, sociologists argue it can then appear only natural that higher-status people have more material resources and power. Status makes it appear that a person's rank or position in society is due to their relative merit, and therefore deserved. For instance, if a society holds that the homeless are unworthy of respect or dignity, then their poor material conditions are not evaluated as unjust by members of that society, and therefore are not subject to change. Whether formal or informal, status hierarchies are present in all societies. In

1152-580: Is best equipped to complete a task. In addition, groups accord more respect and esteem to members who help them succeed, which encourages highly capable members to contribute in the first place. This helps groups motivate members to contribute to a collective good by offering respect and esteem as a kind of compensation for helping everyone in the group succeed. For instance, people recognized as achieving great feats for their group or society are sometimes accorded legendary status as heroes. Finally—for good or ill—status maintains social inequality. Because status

1200-444: Is determined by social rewards an individual acquires during his or her lifetime as a result of the exercise of ability and/or perseverance. Examples of ascribed status include castes , race , and beauty among others. Meanwhile, achieved statuses are akin to one's educational credentials or occupation: these things require a person to exercise effort and often undergo years of training. The term master status has been used to describe

1248-732: Is due to hedonic adaptation and social comparison , and a failure to anticipate these factors, resulting in people not allocating enough energy to non-financial goals such as family life and health. The World Bank's "Voices of the Poor", based on research with over 20,000 poor people in 23 countries, identifies a range of factors which poor people identify as part of poverty. These include abuse by those in power, disempowering institutions, excluded locations, gender relationships, lack of security, limited capabilities, physical limitations, precarious livelihoods, problems in social relationships, weak community organizations and discrimination. Economic growth

1296-463: Is often seen as essential for economic prosperity, and indeed is one of the factors that is used as a measure of prosperity. The Rocky Mountain Institute , among others, has put forth an alternative point of view, that prosperity does not require growth, claiming instead that many of the problems facing communities are actually a result of growth, and that sustainable development requires abandoning

1344-479: Is perceived as unfair and thus prompts retaliation and resistance from those of lower status, but if some individuals are seen as better than others (i.e., have higher status), then it seems natural and fair that high-status people receive more resources and privileges. Historically, Max Weber distinguished status from social class , though some contemporary empirical sociologists combine the two ideas to create socioeconomic status or SES, usually operationalized as

1392-407: Is the relative level of social value a person is considered to possess. Such social value includes respect, honor , assumed competence, and deference. On one hand, social scientists view status as a "reward" for group members who treat others well and take initiative. This is one explanation for its apparent cross-cultural universality. On the other hand, while people with higher status experience

1440-642: The Freedom Fund . The aim of the fund is to help eradicate modern day slavery , an illegal industry that generates over $ 32 billion in profits every year around the world. Prior to the founding of the Fund, Legatum sponsored a 2012 information-gathering trip for non-profit organizations in Nepal and India to learn more about the human trafficking and slave-trade industries there. In 2007, Legatum established The Legatum Center for Entrepreneurship at MIT with

1488-720: The Indian caste system. In other cases, status exists without class and/or informally, as is true with some Hunter-Gatherer societies such as the Khoisan , and some Indigenous Australian societies. In these cases, status is limited to specific personal relationships. For example, a Khoisan man is expected to take his wife's mother quite seriously (a non-joking relationship), although the mother-in-law has no special "status" over anyone except her son-in-law—and only then in specific contexts. Status maintains and stabilizes social stratification . Mere inequality in resources and privileges

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1536-602: The 2021 Review on the Economics of Biodiversity commissioned by the UK Treasury, Partha Dasgupta argues prosperity has come at a "devastating" cost to biodiversity , and that sustainable economic growth will require abandoning GDP as a measure for economic progress. Many distinct notions of prosperity, such as economic prosperity, health, and happiness, are correlated or even have causal effects on each other. Economic prosperity and health are well-established to have

1584-523: The Aavishkaar Group, in 2017. In 2008, Legatum and Omidyar Network , a philanthropic investment firm founded by Pierre Omidyar , collaborated to co-invest a total of $ 40 million into Unitus Equity Fund II (now known as Elevar Equity ). The fund is a commercial venture providing capital to businesses targeted at serving the poor in the developing world. In 2021, Legatum invested in GB News ,

1632-601: The Legatum Institute, a UK-based independent educational charity founded by Legatum ), which uses data from 56 separate sources, including the World Health Organization, Global slavery Index and World Bank, to rank 169 nations in an index which goes beyond GDP as a measurement of national prosperity. In ecology , prosperity can refer to the extent to which a species flourishes under certain circumstances. Social status Social status

1680-717: The Luminos Fund had provided education for 132,611 children in Ethiopia, Lebanon and Liberia, whose access had been limited due to conflict, discrimination or poverty. Legatum founded the END Fund in 2012 to co-ordinate and support programmes to treat neglected tropical diseases , which affect over 1.5 billion people globally. Legatum first started funding NTD work in 2006, after Legatum partner Alan McCormick visited Professor Alan Fenwick (Professor of Tropical Parasitology) at Imperial College London , who in turn had founded

1728-508: The Schistosomiasis Control Initiative in 2002. It has since led to Legatum investing over $ 10m in efforts to eliminate NTDs. Legatum has also funded more than one thousand community-based health initiatives that are solving common concerns in the developing world, like blindness and agricultural harm. In 2013, in partnership with Humanity United and Walk Free , Legatum established a $ 100 million fund called

1776-816: The aim to create a generation of business leaders in developing countries by providing them with the skills needed to succeed as entrepreneurs. Fellowships are granted to students who show entrepreneurial ambition and an interest in making a lasting and positive economic impact on low-income countries. Throughout 2017, the Center had distributed over $ 7 million to 213 fellows and launched enterprises across 40 countries. The Legatum fellows have pursued businesses that tackle social issues such as improving sanitation by converting waste products into fertiliser in Kenya, establishing plastic recycling businesses in Nigeria, and improving

1824-583: The clothing industry's conditions in Tanzania. Legatum established the annual Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship program, which recognises and rewards business leaders who serve as role models to Africa's aspiring entrepreneurs. The scheme has been in operation since 2007 and is now run by the African Leadership Network , with Legatum still involved as a lead sponsor. In 2008, Legatum partnered with Fortune magazine to announce

1872-555: The de-merger of Sovereign in 2006. Christopher Chandler established Legatum the following December. In 2012, Legatum purchased a building in the Dubai International Financial Centre for its global headquarters. The building was renamed Legatum Plaza, and the company moved into the building the following year. In 2015, Legatum transitioned to a partnership, consisting of Christopher Chandler, Mark Stoleson, Philip Vassiliou and Alan McCormick, providing

1920-435: The expense of driving people away from their preferences for shorter work hours. In Buddhism , prosperity is viewed with an emphasis on collectivism and spirituality . This perspective can be at odds with capitalistic notions of prosperity, due to the latter's association with greed. Data from social surveys show that an increase in income does not result in a lasting increase in happiness; one proposed explanation to this

1968-669: The group is discouraged. Status groups in some societies include professions, club-like organizations, ethnicity, race, and any other socially (de)valued group that organizes interaction among relative equals. Legatum Legatum Limited , also known as Legatum , is a private investment firm, headquartered in Dubai , United Arab Emirates . Legatum is a partnership that uses its own funds to invest globally. The firm also invests in activities to promote entrepreneurship and free enterprise as well as anti-slavery, health and education initiatives. Legatum (meaning "legacy" or "gift" )

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2016-568: The idea that growth is required for prosperity. The debate over whether economic growth is necessary for, or at odds with, human prosperity, has been active at least since the publication of Our Common Future in 1987, and has been pointed to as reflecting two opposing worldviews. In 1996, the British ecological economist Tim Jackson outlined the conflicting relationship between human wellbeing and economic growth in his book Material Concerns . Prosperity without Growth then, first published as

2064-495: The members of a group to coordinate their actions and quickly agree on who among them should be listened to. When actual ability does correspond to status, then status hierarchies can be especially useful. They allow leaders to emerge who set informed precedents and influence less knowledgeable group members, allowing groups to use the shared information of their group to make more correct decisions. This can be especially helpful in novel situations where group members must determine who

2112-412: The possession of valued attributes, like being beautiful or having a prestigious degree. Other status symbols include wealth and its display through conspicuous consumption . Status in face-to-face interaction can also be conveyed through certain controllable behaviors, such as assertive speech, posture, and emotional displays. Social network analysts have also shown that one's affiliations can also be

2160-454: The presence of men. Although for disadvantaged groups, status disadvantage is not completely negated by valued characteristics, their social status does not depend predominantly on any one group membership. As such, status characteristics research has yet to identify a social characteristic that operates like a robust cross-situational master status. Although a person's status does not always correspond to merit or actual ability, it does allow

2208-420: The status most important for determining a person's position in a given context, like possessing a mental illness. However, the concept of a master status is controversial. Status characteristics theory argues members of a task group will listen to whomever they believe will most help them solve a problem. One's external status in society (e.g., race or gender) determines influence in small groups, but so does

2256-456: The stratification structure based on their individual merits or achievements like education or training, is thought to be reflective of modern developed societies. Consequently, achieved status implies that social mobility in a society is possible, as opposed to caste systems characterized by immobility based solely on ascribed status. In pre-modern societies, status differentiation is widely varied. In some cases it can be quite rigid, such as with

2304-762: The world to help the poorest and most marginalized people and populations in society. In 2015, Legatum established the Luminos Fund , a private donor philanthropic fund designed to develop and scale initiatives which promote education by helping out-of-school children get back to school. The 2020 expansion of the Speed School Programme to Ethiopia was funded by the Foundation. During the coronavirus pandemic of 2020, Luminos worked with Syrian refugees to offer educational support and therapeutic interventions for school-aged children. By February 2020,

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