The Choice of Principal Variables for Computing some Measures of Human Well-being

In this paper, we investigate the choice ofprincipal variables for computing three humandevelopment indicators, namely, the HumanDevelopment Index (HDI), the Gender-RelatedDevelopment Index (GDI), and the GenderEmpowerment Measure (GEM). To this end, datafrom the 1999 Human Development Reportare used. Empirical results providejustification for selecting only one componentof each indicator. The paper also suggests analternative weighting scheme should all thethree components of each indicator be retained.The implications of these results fordevelopment policy are discussed.