Development as a Multidimensional Process
- Imagine a world where development is measured solely by income.
- Would that capture the quality of life, gender equality, or environmental sustainability?
- Development is far more complex, encompassing social, economic, and environmental dimensions.
- Some would also argue that human development should include the political sphere, namely good governance, human rights, and individual freedoms. This, however, depends on culture and system of values.
Key Indicators of Development
Human Development Index (HDI): A Mainstream Composite Measure
Human Development Index (HDI)
The Human Development Index (HDI) is an official indicator published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and a widely used tool to assess a country's overall development.
It combines three key dimensions:
- Life Expectancy: Reflects health and longevity.
- Education: Measured by:
- Mean Years of Schooling: Average years of education received by people aged 25 and older.
- Expected Years of Schooling: Number of years a child entering school is expected to receive.
- Income: GNI per capita adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP) to reflect the economic performance and the standard of living.
- To calculate HDI, each dimension is normalized on a scale from 0 to 1 and then averaged.
- The final HDI score ranges from 0 (low development) to 1 (high development).
- Norway consistently ranks high on the HDI due to its strong healthcare system, high educational attainment, and robust economy.
- In contrast, countries like Niger face challenges in all three dimensions, resulting in lower HDI scores.
- HDI provides a more holistic view of development than single indicators like GDP, GNP or GNI, but it still has limitations, such as ignoring inequality and environmental sustainability.
- Moreover, a single dimension (e.g. high value of GNI per capita) can distort the value of the entire composite index.
- Finally, the quality and reliability of data especially coming from LICs is questionable.
Gender Inequality Index (GII) and Gender Development Index (GDI): Highlighting Gender Disparities
Both Gender Inequality Index (GII) and Gender Development Index (GDI) use the same methodological framework as HDI and are published by the UNDP.
Gender Inequality Index (GII)
The Gender Inequality Index (GII) is a measure developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to assess gender disparities in a country.
The Gender Inequality Index (GII) focuses on gender disparities across three dimensions:
- Reproductive Health:
- Maternal Mortality Ratio: Number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
- Adolescent Birth Rate: Births per 1,000 women aged 15–19.
- Empowerment:
- Educational Attainment: Proportion of males and females with secondary education.
- Proportion of parliamentary seats held by males and females.
- Economic Status:
- Labor Force Participation: Comparison of male and female participation rates.
- Scandinavian countries like Denmark, Iceland, Norway or Sweden rank high on the GII due to low maternal mortality, high female political representation, and strong labor force participation.
- Conversely, countries like Yemen face significant gender disparities, leading to lower GII scores.
- Many students assume the GII directly compares men and women in all aspects.
- However, reproductive health indicators focus solely on women.
Gender Development Index (GDI)
The Gender Development Index (GDI) compares HDI calculated separately for females and males.
- If GDI values are close to 1, it suggests gender equality, if the values are lower than 1, it shows unfavorable conditions for women (Yemen and Afghanistan consistently score the lowest values),
- Values higher than 1 suggest the opposite (e.g. higher HDI for women in countries like Poland, Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia due to higher life expectancy and higher level of education obtained by women).
Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI): An Attempt to Capture Poverty Complexity
Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)
The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) is a measure developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) to assess poverty beyond income-based measures.
- The MPI includes three dimensions:
- Health: nutrition, child mortality.
- Education: years of schooling, school attendance.
- Living Standards: cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, and assets.
