To What Extent is the HDI a Good Indicator of the Relative 'Success' or 'Failure' of National Social Policies?

Abstract

The Human Development Index was launched in 1990. The idea was to measure development not just through income but also by looking at various indicators such as life expectancy and schooling. The HDI is not a good indicator of national social policies' success or failure. It suffers from many problems including; having fewer indicators to monitor for the sake of simplicity; poorly chosen indicators; methodological problems; calculation flaws and trade-off issues between variables. However, this does not change the fact that the index is, at the moment, is one of the most trustworthy and cited indexes in the field of development and it is welcomed by many governments and institutions around the world. Having said that, there are still more ways for us to develop more accurate and targeted, well grounded indexes to monitor the progress of countries in human development.

DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2013.v2n8p208