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The human development index—A new development indicator?

  • Development Indicators
  • Published:
Intereconomics

Abstract

“Development” can be defined and measured in a great variety of ways. The human development index used by the United Nations Development Programme represents an attempt to place the emphasis on human welfare rather than on the progress of the national economy. This index, however, contains a number of conceptual flaws, which are discussed in the following article. The author proposes a modified version of the index to circumvent the problems.

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References

  1. Cf. UNDP: Human Development Report 1990, Oxford, p. 17.

  2. Cf. M. Desai: Human development, in: European Economic Review, 1991, Vol. 35, p. 350.

  3. Cf. UNDP: Human Development Report 1991, Oxford, p. 24.

  4. Cf. World Bank: World Development Report 1991, Washington D.C., p. 1.

  5. Cf. G. Pyatt: Poverty, in: European Economic Review, 1991, Vol. 35, p. 358.

  6. Cf. Overseas Development Council: Measuring the condition of the world's poor, Oxford 1979.

  7. Cf. K. W. Menck: Neuorientierung der Entwicklungspolitik?—Der Index der menschlichen Entwicklung, Rissener Rundbrief 11, 1990, p. 367.

  8. Cf. UNDP (1990), op. cit., UNDP: Human Development Report 1990, p. 10.

  9. Cf. UNDP (1991), op. cit., UNDP: Human Development Report 1990, pp. 119–121.

  10. Cf. R. Reichel: Der 'lsHuman Development Index’—ein sinnvoller Entwicklungsindikator?, in: Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftspolitik, 1991, Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 57–67.

  11. Cf. N. Hicks and P. Streeten: Indicators of development: The search for a basic need yardstick, in: World Development, 1979, Vol. 7, pp. 567–580.

  12. Cf. R. Kanbur: Poverty and development, PRE Working Paper 618, Washington D.C., 1991.

  13. Cf. UNDP (1991), op. cit. UNDP: Human Development Report 1991, p. 15.

  14. Ibid. UNDP: Human Development Report 1991, p. 90.

  15. Cf. UNDP (1990), op. cit. UNDP: Human Development Report 1990, p. 1.

  16. Cf. UNDP (1991), op. cit. UNDP: Human Development Report 1991, pp. 90, 119–121.

  17. Ibid. UNDP: Human Development Report 1991, p. 94.

  18. Cf. UNDP (1991), op. cit. UNDP: Human Development Report 1991, p. 21.

  19. Ibid. UNDP: Human Development Report 1991, p. 21.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Berlin, Germany

    Harald Trabold-Nübler

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  1. Harald Trabold-Nübler
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Trabold-Nübler, H. The human development index—A new development indicator?. Intereconomics 26, 236–243 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02928996

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02928996

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