Geography 120: Economic Geography
Due Tuesday (9/18) in class
Human Development Index and Inequality Exercise (20 points)
Go to the United Nations Development Programme website at
http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/index.html#hdirank and browse the list of countries under each
category. Remember, the Human Development Index (HDI) combines indices of income, health,
and education so that you may better understand the various levels of social and economic
development in a particular country- rather than relying on just GDP per capita (the flaws of
which we have discussed in class). First, write down any surprises that you find (countries
ranked higher or lower than expected). Also, provide a couple of comparisons by which you
expected country A to rank higher than country B (“Oh, I can’t believe this country ranks higher
than that country”).
Now, while HDI is much better at summarizing development than GDP per capita, it shares a
similar flaw. Both indices are based on averages, and provide no data (and thus, insight)
concerning distribution equality. Here is where the Inequality-adjusted Human Development
Index (IHDI) becomes important. Check out its description and FAQ section here:
http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/ihdi/and corresponding table here:
http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2011_EN_Table3.pdf and answer these questions:
Which countries had the largest discrepancy (‘change in rank’) given this adjustment? What was
the change in rank for the U.S.? Regionally, what part of the world seemed to have countries
that had the greatest discrepancies (negative changes in rank)?
Finally, check out the Gender Inequality Index (GII) link here:
http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/gii/, and corresponding table here:
http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2011_EN_Table4.pdf and answer the questions listed in the
previous paragraph again. In addition, would you include other kinds of data on gender
inequalities within countries to get a better idea of overall development?
Please submit this assignment as a Microsoft Word document to me in class Tuesday.
*For bonus points, try to explain your findings*