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An Axiomatization of the Human Development Index

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  • Eduardo Zambrano

    (California Polytechnic State University)

Abstract

In 2010 the UNDP unveiled a new methodology for the calculation of the Human Development Index (HDI). In this paper I investigate the normative and practical properties of this change vis a vis the original formulation of the HDI in 1990. The main conceptual innovation of the new index can be summarized as follows: the new HDI penalizes both low and uneven achievements across all dimensions of human development, whereas the old formulation is not sensitive to such uneven development. In practice, however, both methodologies agree considerably in terms of how they rank countries, but when they differ, the new methodology produces results more consistent with what the HDI is intended to measure: human development and capabilities, as conceptualized by Sen (1985).

Suggested Citation

  • Eduardo Zambrano, 2011. "An Axiomatization of the Human Development Index," Human Development Research Papers (2009 to present) HDRP-2011-10, Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
    • Handle: RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2011-10
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    6. Suman Seth and Antonio Villar, 2017. "Measuring Human Development and Human Deprivations," OPHI Working Papers ophiwp110.pdf, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
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    12. Juan D. Moreno-Ternero & Lars Peter Østerdal, 2017. "A normative foundation for equity-sensitive health evaluation: The role of relative comparisons of health gains," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 19(5), pages 1009-1025, October.
    13. Yoko Kawada & Yuta Nakamura & Shuhei Otani, 2019. "An Axiomatic Foundation of the Multiplicative Human Development Index," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 65(4), pages 771-784, December.
    14. Lukas Schrott & Martin Gaechter & Engelbert Theurl, 2015. "Regional Development in Advanced Countries: A Within-country Application of the Human Development Index for Austria," DANUBE: Law and Economics Review, European Association Comenius - EACO, issue 1, pages 1-23, March.
    15. Suman Seth & Antonio Villar, 2014. "The Measurement of Human Development and Poverty," Working Papers 14.10, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Economics.
    16. C. Sean Burns & Charles W. Fox, 2017. "Language and socioeconomics predict geographic variation in peer review outcomes at an ecology journal," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 113(2), pages 1113-1127, November.
    17. Victor Ginsburgh & Juan D. Moreno‐Ternero, 2022. "Brexit and multilingualism in the European Union," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(2), pages 708-731, May.
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    19. Undp, 2011. "HDR 2011 - Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future for All," Human Development Report (1990 to present), Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), number hdr2011, September.
    20. Leandro Prados de la Escosura, 2015. "World Human Development: 1870–2007," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 61(2), pages 220-247, June.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Human Development Index; Capabilites;

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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