Critical Literature Review of
the Human Development Indices
Prepared for UNDP
Practicum in
International Affairs
May 2009
Semra Hailelul
Alula Alex Iyasu
Vitali Tcherniak
Markus Urek
Advisor
Manisha Mehta
Project Objective
•
Review the four major indices of Human Development
Report:
– Human Development Index (HDI)
– Gender-related Development Index (GDI)
– Gender Empowerment Measurement (GEM)
– Human Poverty Index (HPI)
•
Highlight strengths and weaknesses
•
Summarize proposals for improvement
•
Compile database of literature reviews
•
Prepare final report
Methodology
•
•
Reviewed Human Development Reports
Conducted extensive literature review utilizing:
– The New School Library sources
• JSTOR, Bobcat, eJournals
– NYU Library sources
• ProQuest, Dissertation Abstracts, PubQuest
– Google and Google Scholar
– The United Nations University Internet Library
Deliverables
Snapshot of the database
What is HDR?
"The basic purpose of development is to enlarge people's
choices”. Mahbub ul Haq, Founder of HDR
•
Annual report launched in 1990
•
Commissioned by the United Nations Development Program
(UNDP)
•
Translated to over thirteen languages
•
Expanded to include four major indices since 1990
•
Symbolizes a paradigm shift in defining development
– From GDP based human development measurement
– Created indices that measure human freedoms
Human Development Index
Composite human well-being measurement
• HDI measures average achievements in a
country in three basic dimensions of human
development:
– A long and healthy life
– A decent standard of living
– Knowledge
• Ranks countries on a scale of 0 to 1
Positive Reviews of HDI
• Simple and manageable index
• Provides an alternative to measuring
development solely based on GDP
• Useful tool for policy formulation
• Popularized development discourse
• Allows for cross-country comparison
• Comprehensive indicators
Criticisms of HDI
Indicators
 Too few or the wrong indicators
 Restrictive measurement scale
Distribution
 Does not capture resource allocations within a country
 Conceals levels of inequality within country
Measurement
 Arbitrary selection of goalposts
 Equal weights assigned to indicators
 Unreliable data especially from developing countries
Gender-related Development Index
Measuring Inequalities in Achievements between
Women and Men
•
.
GDI is a composite
index
•
Measures average achievement in the three basic
dimensions captured in the HDI
•
BUT adjusted to account for inequalities between men and
women
•
The greater the gender disparity in basic capabilities, the
lower a country's GDI compared with its HDI
Positive Reviews of GDI
•
Reliably tracks gender inequality on quality of life
•
Tracks impact of gender inequality on overall human
development
•
Helped the creation of other regional indices
•
Allows for global comparison
Criticisms of GDI
Indicators:
• Do not adequately assess gender disparities
Distribution:
• Biases in women and men’s access to full-time paid work not
measured
• Self-employed women are not taken into account
Measurement:
• Data is not always available or accurate
Gender Empowerment Measure
A Measure of Agency
•
•
GEM was created in 1995
Evaluates progress in advancing women's standing in
political and economic forums and decision-making
•
Composed of three indicators:
– Proportion of seats held by women in national
parliaments
– % of women in economic decision-making positions
– Female share of household income
Positive Reviews of GEM
•
Allows for a global comparison
•
Important means of analyzing gender inequality and its
impact on overall development
•
Utilized by policy makers
•
Focuses debates on gender inequality
Criticisms of GEM
Indicators:
• Do not capture gender empowerment on household level
• Does not measure empowerment issues like sexuality,
religion, culture and women’s rights
Measurement:
• Relies on international databases instead of national data
Scope:
• Fails to include some non-economic dimensions of decision
making power
Human Poverty Index
Measuring Basic Deprivation
• Introduced in 1997
• Measures deprivation level of the most
disadvantaged population
• Two categories:
– HPI-1 Developing countries
– HPI-2 Developed countries
Positive Reviews of HPI
• Effective tool for advocacy
• Effective tool for identifying areas of
concentrated poverty and type of deprivation
• Research tool
Criticism of HPI
• Neglects important measures of deprivation
• Limited by availability, accuracy, and
completeness of data
• Limited applicability to developed nations
• Unable to identify specific group of people
(culture, area, group, gender)
Summary of
Major Recommendations
HDI:
• report as “estimates” since data is unreliaBle
• Expand indicators to include political freedoms and human
rights
• Measure environmental degradation and resource
utilization
GDI:
• Create detailed indices (Individual Disposable income index)
• Construct to reflect specific problems faced by women in
developing countries
• Adjust to identify source of income (labor, rent, etc.)
Summary of
Major Recommendations, cont.
HPI:
• Include hunger, malnutrition and unemployment indices
• Use Standard of Living and Quality of Life indices instead
GEM:
• Include mother/daughter comparisons
• Measure gender based violence, control over sexuality and
reproduction
• Percentage of women in parliament should be complimented
by percentage in local government
All
• Include a measurement of Human Security
• Literacy, Mortality and Earnings should be gender-specific
measurements
Thank You