An Evaluation of the United Nations' Human Development Index

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Acharya, Arnab^a | Wall, Howard J.^a

Affiliations: [a] Department of Economics, West Virginia University, P.O. Box 6025, Morgantown, WV 26506-6025, USA

Abstract: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has devised an index of human development for 130 countries by combining literacy and life expectancy information with income data. The purpose of the index is to provide a measurement of development which does not rely solely on economic indicators. The present paper improves on this notion and provides two alternative indices of human development and their corresponding development rankings. We improve on the work of the UNDP by avoiding several methodological inconsistencies of the UNDP index. Also, comparative evaluations of the three rankings are provided.

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-1994-20103

Journal: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 51-65, 1994