The HDI 2010: New Controversies, Old Critiques

Jeni Klugman (), Francisco Rodríguez and Hyung-Jin Choi ()
Additional contact information
Jeni Klugman: Human Development Report Office, UNDP
Hyung-Jin Choi: Human Development Report Office, UNDP

No HDRP-2011-01, Human Development Research Papers (2009 to present) from Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Abstract: Since its introduction in the first Human Development Report in 1990, the Human Development Index (HDI) has attracted great interest in policy and academic circles, as well as in the media and national audiences around the world. Its popularity can be attributed to the simplicity of its characterization of development - an average of achievements in health, education and income – and to its underlying message that development is much more than economic growth. Yet the HDI’s very simplicity prompted critiques from the start, with some contending that it was too simplistic, while others who accepted its self-imposed limitations still questioned its choice of indicators and its computational methodology. In 2010, for the twentieth anniversary edition, the Human Development Report undertook a comprehensive review of these critiques and introduced several major changes to the HDI. This article is a detailed review of key critiques of the HDI, today and in the past, and explains the recent changes introduced to the HDI formula and indicators.

Keywords: Human Development Index; Human Development Report; capabilities; measurement; substitutability; country classifications (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D60 D63 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 49 pages
Date: 2011-04
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (123)

Published as background research for the 2011 Human Development Report.

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http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2011/papers/HDRP_2011_01.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The HDI 2010: new controversies, old critiques (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2011-01

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