The Human Development Index and Its Methodological Refinements

Abstract

The human development index (HDI), which portrays a simple characterisation of the development process by considering achievements in health, education and standard of living, is popularly used as the summary indicator of well being in comparative analysis of nations. However, the index as a measure has not remained free from criticisms on computational methodology and choice of indicators. Several methodological changes were undertaken in the twentieth anniversary edition of HDI in 2010. The purpose of this note is to review the revision in methods and point out what needs to be done further to improve quality of the HDI index.