Values Reflected in the Human Development Index

The Human Development Index (HDI) implicitly defines ``human development' and ranks countries accordingly. To elucidate the HDI's meaning of ``human development,' the paper examines the sensitivity of the HDI to changes in its components, namely social indicators of education, longevity and standard of living. The HDI is next compared with two alternatives, the Life Quality Index (LQI) and a Time Allocation Index (TAI) developed in this paper from the HDI's components. Also considered is the likely uncertainly in the HDI and what it means for HDI rankings.It is concluded that the HDI's weighting of the gross domestic product is in good agreement with peoples' preferences as revealed in the LQI and the TAI; further, that the HDI places many times greater weight on education than is indicated by peoples' allocation of time in developed countries. Literacy is accorded very high weight in the HDI, but its measure is unreliable. The HDI ranking of highly developed nations is so close and so uncertain that it is meaningless.     

Spatial Analysis of the Relationship Between a Life Quality Index,HDI and Poverty in the Province of Buenos Aires and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires,Argentina

The study of Quality of Life, Poverty and Human Development shares several elements. Nonetheless, while poverty is a measure of “lack” based on a set of basic need variables (unsatisfied basic needs—UBN), human development index (HDI) is derived from the notion of human capabilities. Quality of Life, however, is a measure of achievement. Our goal is to analyze the degree of spatial correspondence between a life quality index (LQI) and the other indices by using bivariate spatial autocorrelation with its global and local values. The comparison of these three indicators at a municipal level in the province of Buenos Aires and in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (the Federal Capital of Argentina) reveals a medium spatial correspondence which leaves room for discussion about the scope and limitations of the indicators. HDI and UBN have a similar spatial configuration while the LQI yields a more fragmented distribution associated to the complexity of its variables, dimension and weights.     

A Human Development Index for the Dalit Child in India

There have been many attempts to measure the quality of life of society in general (such as the Human Development Index of UNDP), or of children in particular (Jordan 1993; Corrie 1994). This article constructs a Human Development Index (HDI) for the Dalit Child in India following the methodology used by UNDP (1990) to construct a human development index for the countries of the world. Dalits (also known as Untouchables, Harijans, Scheduled Castes) have and continue to be a marginalised group in India. Section 1 presents the indicators used to construct the HDI for the Dalit child in India. Section 2 presents the rationale for the choice of the indicators chosen. Section 3 presents the methodology used to construct the HDI for the Dalit child in India. Finally, Section 4 presents the relative ranking of 15 states in India based on the level of human development as reflected in the HDI constructed for the Dalit child. It also compares the HDI rankings from perspective of the Dalit Child in India with a recent HDI constructed for 17 states in India using similar indicators as UNDP (1990). The policy usefulness of this human development index for the Dalit child in India is that it could serve as an indicator of the social progress achieved in India as the country attempts to fulfill its constitutional vision of equality for all citizens.     

Does Human Development Index Provide Rational Development Rankings? Evidence from Efficiency Rankings in Super Efficiency Model

The human development index (HDI) rankings have provided a referenced measure for people to choose a country in which to travel or live. This paper employs a superefficiency model to evaluate the rationality of the HDI rankings of 19 evaluated OECD countries in 2009. Compared to the HDI rankings, the efficiency rankings measured by the super-efficiency model have the following two advantages: (1) they consider the inputs that are used to generate the indicators for constructing the HDI, and decide the weights of inputs and outputs endogenously; (2) the input slacks measured by the super-efficiency model can evaluate whether the inputs are over-used and provide the improvement path of each country’s input variables. Empirical result shows that approximately 75 % of the evaluated countries had rather different results in the efficiency rankings and the HDI rankings. Additionally, the input slack shows that roughly 70 % of sample countries over-used their capital per labor relative to their existing outputs (or the HDI).     

基于不同尺度下关中—天水经济区人类发展水平评价

人类发展指数是对一个国家或地区人类发展水平所取得成就的整体评估,用于反映一个国家或地区社会进步的程度。本文以关中—天水经济区为研究对象分别从市域和县域的角度分析了关中—天水经济区人类发展的整体水平以及空间格局。研究结果表明：①市域尺度下,关中—天水经济区人类发展指数的平均值为0.7,整体处于全国中下水平。②县域尺度下,关中—天水经济区人类发展水平呈现不均衡态势且区域差异明显。③影响关中-天水经济区人类发展水平的主要是经济因素。     

Measurement of social development: an international comparison

PQLI and HDI are the two most popular measures of development, besides per capita income. Over the years, PQLI appears to be not much in use for regional comparisons, especially after the introduction of HDI. While PQLI considers only the physical variables—adult literacy, life expectancy at birth and infant survival rate, HDI has life expectancy at birth, educational attainment and real GDP per capita (PPP$). PQLI and HDI are similar, the main difference between the two being the inclusion of income in HDI and exclusion of the same from PQLI. In a sense, HDI represents both physical and financial attributes of development and PQLI has only the physical aspects of life. The present author took the lines of PQLI to express development in terms of physical variables and considering development as a multidimensional phenomenon, Ray (1989) [Ray, A. K. (1989). On the measurement of certain aspects of social development, Social Indicators Research (Vol. 21, pp. 35–92). The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.] included as many as 13 physical variables to represent social development across 40 countries; no financial variable was included in the construction of composite index, termed as the Social Development Index, SDI. Incidentally, like PQLI, SDI was introduced before HDI. Unlike PQLI and HDI, SDI considers (i) a large number of indicators representing various concern areas and (ii) a set of objective methods for combining the development indicators as a composite index. Ray (1989) has been restated and updated in this article with newer cross-country information. In the present study, SDI has been constructed for over 102 countries, including 21 OECD countries, using 10 development indicators, instead of 13 indicators in the past. Apart from presenting objective methods for combining indicators into SDI, the present study asserts that SDI works better than HDI as a measure of development for an international comparison. The views expressed in the article are those of the author and not of the institution he serves.     

A Reversal in the Relationship of Human Development With Fertility?

Myrskylä et al. (2009) found that the relationship between the human development index (HDI) and the total fertility rate (TFR) reverses from negative (i.e., increases in HDI are associated with decreases in TFR) to positive (i.e., increases in HDI are associated with increases in TFR) at an HDI level of 0.86. In this article, we show that the reversal in the HDI-TFR relationship is robust to neither the UNDP’s recent revision in the HDI calculation method nor thedecomposition of the HDI into its education, standard-of-living, and health subindices.     

Inequality in Human Development: An Empirical Assessment of 32 Countries

One of the most frequent critiques of the HDI is that is does not take into account inequality within countries in its three dimensions. In this paper, we apply a simply approach to compute the three components and the overall HDI for quintiles of the income distribution. This allows a comparison of the level in human development of the poor with the level of the non-poor within countries, but also across countries. This is an application of the method presented in Grimm et al. (World Development 36(12):2527–2546, 2008) to a sample of 21 low and middle income countries and 11 industrialized countries. In particular the inclusion of the industrialized countries, which were not included in the previous work, implies to deal with a number of additional challenges, which we outline in this paper. Our results show that inequality in human development within countries is high, both in developed and industrialized countries. In fact, the HDI of the lowest quintiles in industrialized countries is often below the HDI of the richest quintile in many middle income countries. We also find, however, a strong overall negative correlation between the level of human development and inequality in human development.     

Attracting Attention for the Cause. The Reporting of Three Indices in the UK National Press

Indicators and indices (a collection of indicators into a single value) have been promoted for some time as convenient devices for the presentation of complex datasets to a more general audience. Examples of indices are the corruption perception index (CPI), human development index (HDI) and ecological footprint (EF). The research reported in this paper was designed to explore the extent to which the CPI, HDI and EF have been reported in UK national newspapers between January 1990 and December 2009, and whether there are differences between the indices in the pattern of reporting. Results suggest that reporting of the CPI was linked to the timing of reports issued by Transparency International. The same was partly true of reporting of the HDI and timing of release of Human Development Reports s by the UNDP. The EF has more reports than the CPI and HDI, and this is related in part to its greater flexibility and adaptability at more local (intra-UK) scales. The paper recommends that those creating such indices look beyond the methodological dimension and consider how best to make the index resonate with the media.     

Studying Marx's discussion on the position and role of population in social and economic development]

According to Marx and Engels, population is the premise for material life. The difference between man and animal is that man, in order to exist, must have a means of subsistence; thus, his 1st historical activity is to produce these means while at the same time reproduce himself. The function and position of population is to serve as the basis and primary force for all social productive activities. Population further serves as the basis for its own material production. All human relationships and functions, regardless of form or situation, influence material production. Actually, population itself is a kind of productive force as well as consuming force. Population produces material goods which ultimately are used by the population. Hence population is the unification of production and consumption. That is, population's activities consist of production and consumption. According to Marx, accumulated capital regulates population development; at the same time, population development influences the accumulation of capital. Population growth must be the basis for the realization of accumulated capital. In addition, population structure influences the accumulation of capital. Within a single nation, the larger the laboring class, the more prosperous is the country. Among countries, however, this principle is not necessarily so. Marx also believed that raising production rates is the basic way to increase accumulated capital. And, a necessary condition for raising production rates is to raise the quality of population.     

西北地区人才资本结构的现状及其成因分析

在工业革命时期人力资本是经济增长和经济发展的内生性要素和“引擎”。而在知识经济时代人才资本将成为经济发展的决定性因素。改革开放以来,西北地区一些省份人才的数量与质量都处于全国的前几位,但人才大省与经济穷省却相伴而随。其根本的原因是人力资本对经济的促进作用,不完全取决于人才的数量、甚至质量,在很大程度上取决于人才资本结构。文章以西北地区人才资本的“梯度流”与“逆梯度流”及“人才高消费”现象作为切入点,探索了西北地区的人才资本结构的现状及成因剖析。     

Family Demography,Social Theory,and Investment in Social Capital

The analytic models used by family demographers would be strengthened by the concept of social capital, placed in the context of social exchange theory. Using that concept to designate resources that emerge from social ties, the authors advance five propositions: 1) social capital is a multidimensional attribute of an individual; 2) the dimensions of social capital are the number of relationships a person has, their quality (strength), and the resources available through those relationships; 3) group membership and interaction facilitate the development of social capital; 4) the structural properties of groups influence the development of social capital; and 5) the acquisition and maintenance of social capital is a major motivator of human behavior. The formation of sexual partnerships, the birth and rearing of children, and both intragenerational and intergenerational transfers constitute major forms of investment in social capital in virtually all societies.     

Human Development Over Time: An Empirical Comparison of a Dynamic Index and the Standard HDI

Social Indicators Research - This research uses panel data to explore inferences about human development associated with two different formulations of the Human Development Index (HDI). The first...     

Patterns of Human Development Indicators Across Constitutional Analysis of Children’s Rights to Protection, Provision, and Participation

This study examines children’s images in constitutions and/or amendments as articulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child while they intersect with the three dimensions of the Human Development Index (HDI) of 2008: life expectancy, educational index, and GDP. The connection between the images of the child and the fulfillment of the dimensions within countries represents the current childhood conditions and determines their future wellbeing. It is the interdependency of the elements of HDI and the premises of the CRC that potentially impact nation-state’s developmental outcome with the process of rights. This study highlights the strength of the connection among the dimensions, and emphasizes the importance of considering children as vital to dialogue around human rights and a human development agenda.     

论山东人力资源开发与人力资本形成

人力资本是经济增长的源泉和动力。本文通过历史资料对山东省人力资源现状进行考察,指出山东省人力资源总体素质水平与其经济发展水平不相适应。针对人力资源现状结合山东新时期经济发展目标,提出应大胆进行人力资本投资制度创新,提高人力资本投资强度,改善人力资本投资结构,尤其是要使人力资源开发与经济比较优势相结合等重要解决措施。     

浅议军事人力资本

军事人力资本的概念是一般人力资本在军事领域的运用 ,因此军事人力资本既具有一般人力资本的通性 ,又具有自身的特点。同是有关军事人力的概念 ;军事人力资本与军事人力资源有着较多区别。人是战争和军队建设的决定性因素 ,加强质量建军 ,夺取未来战争的胜利 ,关键在于加强军事人力资本投资     

Some thoughts on the human development index

The Human Development Index (HDI) of a nation, proposed by UNDP (1990), is the average of its score, relative to all other nations, on three basic indicators: GDP per person, life expectancy and literacy. The HDI and its components are examined critically with respect to accuracy, sensitivity, and discriminant power. Differential implications for evaluating a particular project or regulation are derived, suggesting some ways to improve the HDI. It is concluded that the HDI is potentially a powerful instrument for world social development and bears examination for validity and consistency with public objectives.     

影响人力资本投资和利用的制度分析

随着西方人力资本理论的兴起和传播,人们开始重视人力资本在经济增长中的作用,各国政府都加大了对人力资本的投资,但是历史和现实说明人力资本对于经济增长的实际作用,不仅取决于其质量的高低和数量的多少,还取决于相应制度的激励和影响。加强对人力资本投资和利用的制度研究,改变当前我国存在的人口众多与低素质严重并存、人力资源丰富与人力资本短缺并存、人才匮乏与人才浪费并存等现象,促进人力资本投资和有效使用的制度建设,具有特殊的理论意义和实践意义。     

人力资本对我国西部经济发展的效应研究

本文用改进的人力资本外部模型测算了1995—2009年人力资本对我国西部12个省市区经济发展的影响。结果表明,西部地区经济发展重物质投入而轻人力资本,整体经济发展属于资本驱动型;人力资本结构与经济发展不相匹配,出现了明显的断层;同时,人力资本水平没有与经济发展同步提高,并且配置也出现扭曲。     

The living arrangements of new unmarried mothers

We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to describe the living arrangements of new, unwed mothers and to examine the selection process that underlies choices of living arrangements. Our analysis goes beyond previous studies by examining a wide diversity of living arrangements for a homogenous sample of recent unwed mothers and by using information on both parents' demographic and human capital characteristics and the quality of their relationships. We find that about half the new unwed mothers are cohabiting at the time their children are born, and only 17% are living alone. We also find that mothers' choices of living arrangements are significantly related to parents' human capital, the quality of their relationship, and the cost of housing.