Inequality In Human Development Research Articles

Human Development in Gujarat: Evidence from 2011 Population Census

This article uses the data available from the 2011 population census to construct the human development index (HDI) right up to the village and municipal ward level in Gujarat. The analysis reveals that the human progress in the state and in its constituent districts, sub-districts, towns and villages has largely been average to low, and strong residence and social class inequalities in human development continue to persist. The human development scenario is contrastingly different in rural and urban areas of the state. There is, however, a substantial proportion of municipal wards within towns where human development appears to be low or very low. The analysis also suggests very strong residence and social class effects on human development in the state. It also appears that human progress in the state has stagnated at average levels during the last decade. Despite the fact that there is still substantial scope for human progress. There is a need to reinvigorate human development efforts in the state.

Gender discrimination, gender disparities in obesity and human development.

Measuring gender inequality and women’s empowerment is essential to understand the determinants of gender gaps, evaluate policies and monitor countries’ progress. With this aim, over the past two decades, research has mainly been directed towards the development of composite indices. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new and interdisciplinary perspective to the current debate on measuring gender inequality in human development. As a starting point, we develop a simple macroeconomic model of the interdependence between human development and gender inequality. We then introduce a biometric indicator, based on the ratio of female to male body mass index, to measure women’s empowerment at the country level. Finally, by using the latest available data, we examine the ability of this biometric indicator to capture countries’ performance in achieving gender equality. We obtain five main results: 1) we provide a theoretical framework to explain the joint determination of human development and gender inequality; 2) we show how to use this framework to simulate the impact of exogenous shocks or policy changes; 3) we demonstrate that exogenous changes have a direct and a multiplier effect on human development and gender inequality; 4) we find that the distribution of obesity between the female and male populations represents a useful proxy variable for measuring gender equality at the country level; 5) finally, we use these results to integrate and develop existing knowledge on the ‘ecological’ approach to the overweight and obesity pandemic.

Human Development Inequality Index and Cancer Pattern: a Global Distributive Study.

This study aimed to quantify associations of the human development inequality (HDI) index with incidence, mortality, and mortality to incidence ratios for eight common cancers among different countries. In this ecological study, data about incidence and mortality rates of cancers was obtained from the Global Cancer Project for 169 countries. HDI indices for the same countries was obtained from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) database. The concentration index was defined as the covariance between cumulative percentage of cancer indicators (incidence, mortality and mortality to incidence ratio) and the cumulative percentage of economic indicators (country economic rank). Results indicated that incidences of cancers of liver, cervix and esophagus were mainly concentrated in countries with a low HDI index while cancers of lung, breast, colorectum, prostate and stomach were concentrated mainly in countries with a high HDI index. The same pattern was observed for mortality from cancer except for prostate cancer that was more concentrated in countries with a low HDI index. Higher MIRs for all cancers were more concentrated in countries with a low HDI index. It was concluded that patterns of cancer occurrence correlate with care disparities at the country level.

What do normative indices of multidimensional inequality really measure?

We argue that normative indices of multidimensional inequality do not only measure a distribution's extent of inequity (i.e., the gaps between the better-off and the worse-off), but also its extent of inefficiency (i.e., the non-realized mutually beneficial exchanges of goods). We provide a decomposition that allows us to quantify these two parts of inequality. Strikingly, the inequity component turns out to be a two-stage measure, that is, a measure that applies a unidimensional inequality measure to the vector of individual well-being levels. The decomposition also clarifies existing controversies surrounding two prominent transfer axioms, viz., uniform majorization and correlation increasing majorization. An application to inequality in human development illustrates the analysis.

Regional Disparity in Human Development and Govt. Sponsored Inclusive Development Programmes in India: An Interstate Analysis

The last two decades of development research was busy in making a link between ends and means of development. The focus was shifted to provide more priority to the ends of development rather than means. The neoclassical indicators of economic progress like Gross National Product and Gross Domestic Product failed to reflect the well-being and freedom actually enjoyed by population. The concept of human development defines people's well being as the end of development and economic growth as a means. Enlarging human capabilities became one of the primary objectives of most of the developing country since early 1990s. Several government programmes were launched in India for enhancing the level of human development across states specially during the decade of 2000. These programmes are mainly meant for eradicating poverty, for raising the level of employment and for making the deprived and marginalized section of the population to participate in the production process. This paper attempts to evaluate the trend and pattern of inequality in human development across states of India by formulating a human development index using Euclidean distance. The absolute β and σ convergence test of human development index indicates a sign of convergence of human development across states of India. In addition to this, the study sheds some light on the association between the process of Government sponsored inclusive development programmes and the level of human development in the context of different states of India. Empirical evidences suggest that an all-inclusive government programmes would facilitate the process of human development by addressing the basic distortions in the level of human development in the Indian economy.

Spatial inequalities in infant survival at an early stage of the longevity revolution

Background: Spatial inequalities in human development are of great concern to international organisations and national governments. Demographic indicators like the infant mortality rate are important measures for determining these inequalities. Using demographic indicators over long time periods at relatively high levels of geographical detail, we can examine the long-term continuities and changes in spatial inequalities. Objective: This paper presents the initial outcomes of a larger project that aims to analyse spatial variation in infant survival across Europe over the last 100 years. In this paper, we focus on spatial disparities in infant survival in 1910. At that time, the longevity revolution was still at an early stage. We look at general spatial variation patterns within and across countries, and discuss some of the challenges related to the comparativeness of the data. Methods: We link official infant mortality data from more than 5,000 European regions and localities for the period around 1910 to a European historical GIS of administrative boundaries. The data are analysed using descriptive spatial analysis techniques. Results: In 1910, a number of countries in northern and western Europe led the longevity revolution in Europe, with the area of low infant mortality also extending into the northwestern parts of the German Empire. Other areas with low infant mortality levels included the Belgian region of Wallonia, most parts of Switzerland, as well as central and south-western France. In eastern and southern Europe, we find significant variation within and across countries, which might stem in part from data quality problems

Using Census Data to Explore the Spatial Distribution of Human Development

Summary The Human Development Index (HDI) has been criticized for not incorporating distributional issues. We propose using census data to construct a municipal-based HDI that allows exploring the distribution of human development with unprecedented geographical coverage and detail. Moreover, we present a new methodology that allows decomposing overall human development inequality according to the contribution of its subcomponents. We illustrate our methodology for Mexico’s last three census rounds. Municipal-based human development has increased over time and inequality between municipalities has decreased. The wealth component has increasingly accounted for most of the existing inequality in human development during the last 20 years.

Assessing Global Inequality in Well-being Using Generalized Entropy Measures

In this paper we study global inequality in well-being taking as a reference the Human Development Index. One of the main changes applied to this indicator was the substitution of the arithmetic mean for a geometric mean in the construction of the index, thus assuming different substitution grades between dimensions. In order to determine the impact of the aggregation formula in the distribution of the HDI, we propose the use of multidimensional generalized entropy measures, which allow us to study the evolution of well-being inequality based on different aggregation schemes. The results obtained suggest a reduction in global inequality in human development over the period 1980- 2011. However different inequality patterns are observed depending on the substitutability parameter, thus pointing out the crucial role played by the aggregation formula of composite indices of well-being in the evolution of global inequality.

The spatial variation of China's regional inequality in human development

AbstractChina's regional inequality has been a hot research topic lately and most of the literature focuses on economic development. Since 1990, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has devised a measure known as the human development index (HDI) by combining measures of income, education and health. A major concern about HDI is that it is a national average measurement that ignores disparities within a country. This paper aims to explore China's regional inequality under the human development framework with three objectives: (i) to calculate provincial HDI in 1990, 2000 and 2008; (ii) to detect the spatial distributions of HDI as well as its three component indices; and (iii) to reveal the influence of China's transitions on regional human development. GIS and statistical methods such as coefficient of variation, Moran's I, and spatial regression are used in this study. The results illustrate that the overall disparity in HDI declined, but the spatial concentration increased; and the multiple transitions determined the changing patterns of human development. This research provides a broader context for studying China's regional development and has important policy implications.Resumen. La desigualdad regional en China ha sido un tema candente de investigación en los últimos tiempos, centrándose la mayoría de la literatura en el desarrollo económico. Desde 1990, el Programa de Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD) ha venido desarrollando un indicador conocido como el Índice de Desarrollo Humano (IDH), que combina indicadores de ingresos, educación y salud. Una gran preocupación acerca del IDH es que es un indicador promedio a escala nacional, que no tienen en cuenta las diferencias dentro de un país. Este trabajo busca explorar la desigualdad regional de China dentro del marco del desarrollo humano, atendiendo a tres objetivos: (i) calcular el IDH provincial en 1990, 2000 y 2008; (ii) detectar distribuciones espaciales del IDH, así como de los tres indicadores que lo componen; y (iii) revelar la influencia de transiciones en China en cuanto al desarrollo humano regional. En este estudio se utilizan SIG y métodos estadísticos tales como el coeficiente de variación, el índice I de Moran, y la regresión espacial. Los resultados muestran que la disparidad total del IDH disminuyó, al tiempo que aumentó la concentración espacial, y que las múltiples transiciones han significado cambios en los patrones de desarrollo humano. Esta investigación ofrece un contexto más amplio para el estudio del desarrollo regional de China y conlleva importantes implicaciones políticas.

A Household-Based Human Development Index

One of the most serious weaknesses of the human development index (HDI) is that it does not take into account the distribution of human development within a country. All attempts to capture inequality in the HDI have used aggregate information and there exists no HDI at the household level. We provide a method for proxying the HDI at the household level. This allows the immediate analysis of human development by population subgroups and/or socioeconomic characteristics as well as analysis of inequality in human development across population subgroups and households characteristics. We illustrate our approach for 15 developing countries. Inequality in the HDI is stunningly large for some countries, particularly in countries with low overall human development, driven mostly by very high inequality in the education and income components of the HDI.

Sustainability and Inequality in Human Development

This paper analyzes the theoretical and empirical links between inequality in human development on the one hand and sustainability on the other. It specifically looks at causality in both directions. Inequality in various dimensions of human development is analyzed with respect to both weak and strong sustainability, where weak sustainability presumes substitutability among different forms of capital, while strong sustainability reject substitutability and calls for preservation of so-called critical forms of natural capital independent of the amount of investment into other forms of capital.

Convergence of Human Development across Indian States

Abstract: This paper examines the issue of convergence of human development among major Indian States as there is high degree of inequality in human development across Indian States. We intend(attempt) to answer an important question that whether low HDI states will be able to catch up the high HDI states, using convergence analysis. State wise decennial data for HDI(1981-91 to1991-01) are used. From the perspective of evaluating welfare implications and redistributive policies of the policy makers and to achieve social equality, a question that naturally pops up is: Will the poor HDI states will be able to catch up the high HDI states? It is of importance to know whether distribution of income and output across states are increasingly becoming equal over time resulting in equality in Human development or the low human development index (HDI) states will remain lower for many generations and those states are having high HDI will be higher for ever. We propose to answer this question by using the convergence analysis which is well known in macro economic analysis. Economists employed convergence analysis to find answer of similar question of growth convergence between nations or regions within a country. Though economists were interested for these issues many decades, during 1980’s only the convergence question attracted the attention of economists and econometrician. However for HDI, convergence analysis one has to consider the states as the relevant units of analysis. Our results of convergence analysis cast doubt on the hypothesis that low HDI states are actually growing at a faster rate than high HDI states leading to convergence in terms of HDI.

Inequality in Human Development: An Empirical Assessment of 32 Countries

One of the most frequent critiques of the HDI is that is does not take into account inequality within countries in its three dimensions. In this paper, we apply a simply approach to compute the three components and the overall HDI for quintiles of the income distribution. This allows a comparison of the level in human development of the poor with the level of the non-poor within countries, but also across countries. This is an application of the method presented in Grimm et al. (World Development 36(12):2527–2546, 2008) to a sample of 21 low and middle income countries and 11 industrialized countries. In particular the inclusion of the industrialized countries, which were not included in the previous work, implies to deal with a number of additional challenges, which we outline in this paper. Our results show that inequality in human development within countries is high, both in developed and industrialized countries. In fact, the HDI of the lowest quintiles in industrialized countries is often below the HDI of the richest quintile in many middle income countries. We also find, however, a strong overall negative correlation between the level of human development and inequality in human development.

Self-Productivity and Complementarities in Human Development: Evidence from MARS

This paper investigates the role of self-productivity and home resources in capability formation from infancy to adolescence. In addition, we study the complementarities between basic cognitive, motor and noncognitive abilities and social as well as academic achievement. Our data are taken from the Mannheim Study of Children at Risk (MARS), an epidemiological cohort study following the long-term outcome of early risk factors. Results indicate that initial risk conditions cumulate and that differences in basic abilities increase during development. Self-productivity rises in the developmental process and complementarities are evident. Noncognitive abilities promote cognitive abilities and social achievement. There is remarkable stability in the distribution of the economic and socio-emotional home resources during the early life cycle. This is presumably a major reason for the evolution of inequality in human development.

Epidemiología de las desigualdades del desarrollo de género en España (1990-2000)

Gender is an important health determinant for public health policies. This study describes the changes in gender development inequalities in Spain and its autonomous regions from 1990 to 2000. An ecological study using the Human Development Index (HDI) and the Gender Development Index (GDI) was done. IDG both men and women was analysed according to indexes of education, income and life expectancy at birth. Although the GDI has had an increase of 5,05% in the 90 s, 51,5% of the population was located above the global GDI of Spain in 1990, moreover this number decreased to 46,3% in 2000. Gender inequalities have been reduced both at national and regional levels. The regions with the lowest increase were Asturias (3.37%), Cantabria (3.68%) and Baleares Islands (3.71%). The regions with the highest increase were Madrid (6,46%) and Extremadura (6,75%). All the autonomous regions showed a number of GDI lower than the value of HDI. Both sexes achieved similar increase in life expectancy (Men: 5% and Women: 4%). An unequal variation was detected according to the autonomous region (Basque Country; Men: 7% and Women: 3%; Madrid; Men:8% and Women:5%). Women have improved their educational level in comparison to men (Men: 3% and Women: 6%). In the 90 s, men obtained more income than women, but women improved their situation three times more than men. Inequalities in Human Development analysed by gender have been reduced in the 90 s in Spain. However, the improvement of education, income and life expectancy occurred only in some autonomous regions. This situation shows the differences among Spanish autonomous regions.

Self-Productivity and Complementarities in Human Development: Evidence from the Mannheim Study of Children at Risk

This paper investigates the role of self-productivity and home resources in capability formation from infancy to adolescence. In addition, we study the complementarities between basic cognitive, motor and noncognitive abilities and social as well as academic achievement. Our data are taken from the Mannheim Study of Children at Risk, an epidemiological cohort study following the long-term outcome of early risk factors. Results indicate that initial risk conditions cumulate and that differences in basic abilities increase during development. Self-productivity rises in the developmental process and complementarities are evident. Noncognitive abilities promote cognitive abilities and social achievement. There is remarkable stability in the distribution of the economic and socio-emotional home resources during the early life cycle. This is presumably a major reason for the evolution of inequality in human development.

Initial Risk Matrix, Home Resources, Ability Development and Children's Achievement

This paper investigates the role of self-productivity and home resources in ability formation from infancy to adolescence. In addition, we study the complementarities between basic cognitive, motor and noncognitive abilities and social as well as academic achievement. Our data are taken from the Mannheim Study of Children at Risk (MARS), an epidemiological cohort study following the long-term outcome of early risk factors. Results indicate that initial risk conditions cumulate and that differences in basic abilities increase during development. Self-productivity rises in the developmental process and complementarities are evident. Noncognitive abilities promote cognitive abilities and social achievement. There is remarkable stability in the distribution of the economic and socio-emotional home resources during the early life cycle. This is presumably a major reason for the evolution of inequality in human development.

Trends in Human Development and Human Poverty in Namibia

This paper uses a capability approach to analyse current levels and recent trends in socioeconomic development and poverty in Namibia. Based on official national data sources - some specially adjusted for this analysis by the Central Bureau of Statistics - the Human Development Index (HDI) and Human Poverty Index (HPI) for Namibia are computed and analysed. A central finding is that contrary to the objectives of Vision 2030, human development in Namibia appears to be on a long-term decline. The HDI is being pulled down by a fall in life expectancy that is only partially offset by improvements in household income and educational attainment; the other two dimensions of human development included in the index. The principal reason for the reduction in life expectancy is the increased mortality caused by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The analysis also reveals great inequalities in human development between different administrative regions of Namibia and between the country's main language groups. Similarly, by broadening the definition of poverty to focus on deprivation in a range of essential capabilities, the level of human poverty in Namibia is found to be slightly higher than what is suggested by official income poverty measures. Moreover, income poverty appears to be decreasing while human poverty is increasing over time. Again it is the HIV/AIDS epidemic, through its negative impact on survival, which is propelling a long-term deterioration in human poverty. Additional analysis suggests that when using population size and HDI as allocation criteria the administrative regions with the greatest needs are under - prioritised in the development budget.

Advancing development: core themes in global economics

Preface G.Mavrotas & A.Shorrocks Foreword Obituary: Lal Jayawardena A.Singh PART 1: DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS IN RETROSPECT The Evolution of the Development Doctrine, 1950-2005 E.Thorbecke Turning Points in Development Thinking and Practice L.Emmerij From Sees to Sen: The Meaning of Economic Development W.Nafziger Inequality in Historical Perspective R.Jolly PART 2: INEQUALITY AND CONFLICT Health Improvements and Health Inequality During the Last 40 Years G.A.Cornia & L.Menchini Inequality and Corruption E.Uslaner Indivisibility, Fairness, Farsightedness and their Implications for Security S.M. Murshed Violence in Peace: Understanding Increased Violence in Early Post-conflict Transitions and its Implications for Development M.B. Hartwell PART 3: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND WELL-BEING International Convergence or Higher Inequality in Human Development? Evidence for 1975 to 2002 F.Noorbakhsh Investing in Health for Economic Development: The Case of Mexico N.Lustig A Wider Approach to Aid Effectiveness: Correlated Impacts on Health, Wealth, Fertility and Education D.Fielding, M.McGillivray & S.Torres Is Social Capital Part of the Institutions Continuum and is it a Deep Determinant of Development? S.Knowles PART 4: GLOBALISATION Stormy Days on an Open Field: Asymmetries in the Global Economy N.Birdsall A Quest for Pro-poor Globalisation M.Nissanke & E.Thorbecke International Migration in an Era of Globalisation A.de Haan PART 5: DEVELOPMENT FINANCE International Risk Tolerance, Capital Market Failure and Capital Flows to Emerging Markets V.Fitzgerald Prolonged Use and Conditionality Failure: Investigating the IMF Responsibility S.Marchesi & L.Sabani International Finance and the Developing World: The Next Twenty Years T.Addison PART 6: GROWTH AND POVERTY Gender and Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: Issues and Evidence M.Blackden, S.Canagarajah, S.Klasen & D.Lawson Decomposing Growth: Do Low-income and HIPC Countries Differ from High-income Countries? P.Haaparanta & H.Virta Evaluating Targeting Efficiency of Government Programmes: International Comparisons N.Kakwani & H. Son Innovations, High-tech Trade and Industrial Development: Theory, Evidence and Policy L.Singh Manufacturing, Services and Premature De-industrialization in Developing Countries S.Dasgupta & A.Singh PART 7: DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES Why Have All Development Strategies Failed in Latin America? G.Rozenwurcel Development in Chile 1990-2005: Lessons From a Positive Experience A.Garcia Hurtado Three Decades of Rural Development Projects in Asia, Latin America and Africa: Learning From Successes and Failures A.Zoomers Development Strategy, Viability and Economic Institutions: The Case of China J.Y.Lin, M.Liu, S.Pan & P.Zhang Institutions, Policies and Economic Development G.W. Kolodko Patterns of Rent-extraction and Deployment in Developing Countries: Implications for Governance, Economic Policy and Performance R.M. Auty Credit Co-operatives in Locally-financed Economic Development: Using Energy Efficiency as Lever R.McIntyre PART 8: DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS IN PROSPECT Development Through Globalisation? D.Nayyar Do we Need a New 'Great Transformation'? Is One Likely? F. Stewart Building Absorptive Capacity to Meet the Millennium Development Goals F.Bourguignon & M.Sundberg Applying Behavioural Economics to International Development Policy C.L. Anderson & K.Stamoulis The Human Dimensions of the Global Development Process in the Early Part of the 21st Century: Critical Trends and New Challenges M.Simai Development Questions for 25 Years L.Taylor

Poverty, gender and mental health promotion in a global society

which is computed on the basis of a number of variables. Another measure, which is of relevance to this paper, is the Gender-related Development Index (GDI), which is a composite measure reflecting gender inequalities in human development. Of the 173 countries for whom HDI were computed in the 2002 report, 53 were ranked as being in the high HDI category, 84 in the middle HDI category, and 36 in the low HDI category. A scan of the list of countries shows that all the countries of Western Europe, North America and Australia/New Zealand are in the high HDI category, whereas most of the rest of the world falls in the middle and low categories. The use of HDI shows that there is a huge diversity between countries which have traditionally been lumped together as ‘developing’. These diversities are further reflected in the frequency of a range of adverse social and economic factors which influence mental health, such as crime rates, physical health indicators, political commitment to public health and social welfare, and the experience of severe civil disturbances such as those caused by conflict and disasters. Disparities are evident both between major geographical regions, and