Publication: Improving human development: a long-run view
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ISSN: 0950-0804 (impreso)
ISSN: 1467-6419 (on line)
Publication date
2010-12
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Tutors
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Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
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Abstract
The pessimistic flavour of the Human Development Reports appears
to be in contradiction with their own numbers as developing countries fare
comparatively better in human development than in per capita GDP terms.
This paper attempts to bridge this gap by providing a new, ‘improved’ human
development index (IHDI), informed by welfare economics. The IHDI is
presented here alongside the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP)
HDI for the world and its main regions since the late 19th century. Social
dimensions in the IHDI are derived, following Kakwani (Journal of Development
Economics 41 (1993), pp. 307–336), with a convex achievement function, whereas
a geometric average is employed to combine its dimensions (longevity, knowledge
and income). Thus, the IHDI does not conceal the gap between rich and poor
countries and casts a much less optimistic view than the conventional UNDP
index, while it fits with the UNDP concern for international differences. The
paper’s findings highlight main weaknesses in human development dimensions
of present-day developing countries.
Description
Keywords
Education, Human development, Life expectancy, Per capita GDPs
Bibliographic citation
Journal of economic surveys, 2010, v. 24, n. 5, pp. 841-894