Arbeitspapier
On weighting the components of the Human Development Index: A statistical justification
The Human Development Index (HDI) published in the Human Development Report (HDR) of the United Nations Development Program is calculated as a simple average of the Life Expectancy Index (LEI), the Education Index (EI) and the Gross Domestic Product Index (GDPI). This paper provides statistical support for the use of this seemingly arbitrary equal weighting of the three components by treating human development as a latent concept imperfectly captured by its three component indices. We show that a principal component analysis (PCA) based on the correlation matrix of the components leads to practically the same weights. Specifically we show that, for the period 1975 to 2005, the first principal component accounts for between 78% and 90% of the total variability in the data, and that its coefficients are positive and nearly equal. By normalizing the coefficients, the simple average weighting (1/3, 1/3, 1/3) scheme is obtained. The ranks of countries obtained using the PCA weightings are very similar to those based on the HDI. An advantage of the simple equal weighting is that one can define a simple index to measure the balance of a country\'s development, given its HDI which we show below.
- Sprache
-
Englisch
- Erschienen in
-
Series: Discussion Papers ; No. 37
General Welfare; Well-Being
Index Numbers and Aggregation; Leading indicators
Human Development Report
United Nations Development Program
principal component analysis
correlation matrix
Klasen, Stephan
Zucchini, Walter
- Handle
- Letzte Aktualisierung
-
20.09.2024, 08:24 MESZ
Objekttyp
- Arbeitspapier
Beteiligte
- Nguefack-Tsague, Georges
- Klasen, Stephan
- Zucchini, Walter
- Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Courant Research Centre - Poverty, Equity and Growth (CRC-PEG)
Entstanden
- 2010
Ähnliche Objekte (12)
An application of partial least squares to the construction of the Social Institutions and Gender index (SIGI) and the Corruption Perception Index (CPI)
Composite indices based on partial least squares
UNDP's gender-related measures: Current problems and proposals for fixing them
A Simple Approach to Specifying the Weights of the HDI Index
A Human Development Index at the Household Level
On the Use of Spectral Value Decomposition for the Construction of Composite Indices
Composite indices of human well-being: Past, present, and future
The human development index as isoelastic GDP: Evidence from China and Pakistan
Inequality in Human Development: An empirical assessment of thirty-two countries
Reforming the Gender-Related Index (GDI) and the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM): Some specific proposals
Identifying synergies and complementarities between MDGs: Results from cluster analysis
A household-based Human Development Index
An application of partial least squares to the construction of the Social Institutions and Gender index (SIGI) and the Corruption Perception Index (CPI)
Composite indices based on partial least squares
UNDP's gender-related measures: Current problems and proposals for fixing them
A Simple Approach to Specifying the Weights of the HDI Index
A Human Development Index at the Household Level
On the Use of Spectral Value Decomposition for the Construction of Composite Indices
Composite indices of human well-being: Past, present, and future
The human development index as isoelastic GDP: Evidence from China and Pakistan
Inequality in Human Development: An empirical assessment of thirty-two countries
Reforming the Gender-Related Index (GDI) and the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM): Some specific proposals
Identifying synergies and complementarities between MDGs: Results from cluster analysis
A household-based Human Development Index
An application of partial least squares to the construction of the Social Institutions and Gender index (SIGI) and the Corruption Perception Index (CPI)
Composite indices based on partial least squares
UNDP's gender-related measures: Current problems and proposals for fixing them
A Simple Approach to Specifying the Weights of the HDI Index
A Human Development Index at the Household Level
On the Use of Spectral Value Decomposition for the Construction of Composite Indices
Composite indices of human well-being: Past, present, and future
The human development index as isoelastic GDP: Evidence from China and Pakistan
Inequality in Human Development: An empirical assessment of thirty-two countries
Reforming the Gender-Related Index (GDI) and the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM): Some specific proposals
Identifying synergies and complementarities between MDGs: Results from cluster analysis