The Role of Government and Governance in Human Development: A Study of very High Development Economies

Abstract

The study of human development has witnessed spectacular attention across the globe. The components of the Human Development Index (HDI) such as life expectancy at birth, literacy rate, and GNP per-capita income are the outcome of achieving appropriate economic growth of the nation provided that there are effective government expenditures in the economy. In the era of fiscal consolidation and neo-liberalism, it becomes seemingly essential to revisit the governance role in building human capital, especially in nations with very high human development. The study employed the data of nineteen very high human development countries as per the United Nations Human Development Report, across 2000 to 2016. The data has been collected from the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) database. The study incorporates the role of government expenditure on various socio-economic aspects like education, health, and the military in the development of human capital, along with the role of Governance. The study deduced the facilitating role of Governance in the developmental process, even in countries with very high human development.