What Does Brunei Teach Us About Using Human Development Index Rankings as a Policy Tool?

Bryane Michael

EconStor Preprints from ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics

Abstract: The Bruneian Government has set an ambitious target to achieve a top 10 ranking on the UNDP’s Human Development Index (HDI) by 2035. To achieve its objective (described in a national strategy document called the Wawasan 2035), Brunei’s economy needs to grow by 6%-7%. Is setting an HDI target a good way to govern Brunei’s policymaking? Is it a good way to govern any country’s policymaking? In this paper, we look at the role HDI-rank targets play on economic and fiscal policy. We show that such a headline target (much like a profit target in a private company setting) automatically sets targets for growth in various economic sectors and fiscal policy targets. As such, HDI-rank targeting may provide a useful mechanism for co-ordinating development policies and for monitoring progress against a wide range development goals using only one number.

Keywords: Human Development; Brunei; Dynamic Optimization; Urban Planning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C61 F63 L74 O11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mfd
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Journal Article: What does Brunei teach us about using Human Development Index rankings as a policy tool? (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:esprep:107401

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