A wavelet multifractal model for quality of life index measuring during pandemics and crises

Abstract

AbstractIn the present article, we investigate the impact of the timescale factor on the quality of life index behaviour on specific time intervals characterized by the presence of socio‐economic, political, and/or health severe movements such as pandemics and crises. We essentially aim to show that effectively the quality of life evaluation based on a single index as in the existing studies may be described more adequately by a variable index due to the social, political, economic, and also healthy environment. The variability discovered is expressed by the existence and the estimation of a multi‐index instead of a single one with relatively too many factors. Our focus is mainly on the effect of the COVID‐19 pandemic and crises or crashes on the quality of life. It turns out that the first essays of empirical treatments of such a series bring out a fractal/multifractal aspect. This motivates our main idea reposing on the fractal/multifractal structure of the data to construct a quantitative model based on wavelets combined with change‐point analysis. Our model is applied empirically on a sample corresponding to Saudi Arabia as a case of study during the period from January 1990 to December 2021. The end of this period is strongly affected by the COVID‐19 pandemic. The sample is based on social media conversations and texts discussing and describing the satisfaction with the quality of life. The study confirms effectively that the role of the timescale factor is more described when considering a multi‐index rather than measurement on the whole time interval. Besides, this multi‐index is clearly illustrated by means of the multifractal spectra of the data used.