TECHNICAL NOTE 1 Calculating the human development indices The diagrams here summarize how the five human development indices used in the Human Development Report are constructed, highlighting both their similarities and their differences. The text on the following pages provides a detailed explanation. HDI A decent standard of living Life at birth Adult literacy rate Adult literacy Gross enrolment ratio (GER) GER GDP per capita (PPP US$) INDEX Life Education GDP Human development (HDI) HPI-1 Probability at birth of not surviving to age 4 Adult illiteracy rate A decent standard of living Percentage of population not using an improved water source Percentage of children under weight-for-age Deprivation in a decent standard of living Human poverty for developing countries (HPI-1) HPI-2 Probability at birth of not surviving to age 6 Percentage of adults lacking functional literacy skills A decent standard of living Percentage of people living below the poverty line Social exclusion Long-term unemployment rate Human poverty for selected OECD countries (HPI-2) GDI life at birth life at birth adult literacy rate GER adult literacy rate GER A decent standard of living estimated earned estimated earned INDEX life life education education EQUALLY DISTRIBUTED INDEX Equally distributed life Equally distributed education Equally distributed Gender-related development (GDI) GEM Political participation and decision-making Economic participation and decision-making Power over economic resources and male shares of parliamentary seats and male shares of positions as legislators, senior officials and managers and male shares of professional and technical positions and male estimated earned EQUALLY DISTRIBUTED EQUIVALENT PERCENTAGE (EDEP) EDEP for parliamentary representation EDEP for economic participation EDEP for Gender empowerment measure (GEM) HUM A N DE V E L OPME N T REPOR T 27/ 28 355
Goalpost 85 years 9 8 71.4 7 6.773 1..8.6 5.4 Goalpost 25 years 4 3 2 Life (years).2 Life Goalpost for maximum Indicator Goalpost for minimum Indicator Index 1..9.8.7.6.5.4.3.2.1 Dimension 1 9 87.4 68.7.812 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Adult literacy rate (%) 1, Goalpost US$4, 1, 8,47 Gross enrolment ratio (%).74 1..8.6.4.2 Education 1..8.6 1,.4.2 Goalpost US$1 GDP per capita (PPP US$) Log scale GDP Goalposts for calculating the HDI Maximum Minimum Indicator Life at birth (years) 85 25 Adult literacy rate (%)* 1 Combined gross enrolment ratio (%) 1 GDP per capita (PPP US$) 4, 1 4. Calculating the HDI Once the dimension indices have been calculated, determining the HDI is straightforward. It is a simple average of the three dimension indices. HDI = 1/3 (life ) + 1/3 (education ) + 1/3 (GDP ) = 1/3 (.773) + 1/3 (.812) + 1/3 (.74) =.775 1..8.773.6.4.2 Dimension indices.812.74.775 HDI 1..8.6.4.2 * The goalpost for calculating adult literacy implies the maximum literacy rate is 1%. In practice, the HDI is calculated using an upper bound of 99%. Life Education GDP 356 HUM A N DE V E L OPME N T REPOR T 27/ 28
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Calculating the GDI (continued) Second, the female and male indices are combined to create the equally distributed : FEMALE MALE Population share:.54 Population share:.496 Income :.681 Income :.877 Equally distributed = {[.54 (.681 1 )] + [.496 (.877 1 )]} 1 =.766 4. Calculating the GDI Calculating the GDI is straightforward. It is simply the unweighted average of the three component indices the equally distributed life, the equally distributed education and the equally distributed. GDI = 1/3 (life ) + 1/3 (education ) + 1/3 ( ) = 1/3 (.38) + 1/3 (.773) + 1/3 (.766) =.639 HUM A N DE V E L OPME N T REPOR T 27/ 28 359
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Selected readings Bardhan, Kalpana, and Stephan Klasen, 1999. UNDP s Gender-Related Anand, Sudhir, and Amartya Sen. 1994. Human Development Index: Methodology and Measurement. Occasional Paper 12, United Nations Development Programme, Indices. A Critical Review. World Development 27 (6): 985 11 (GDI, GEM) United Nations Development Programme, 1995. Human Human Development Report 1995. New York: Oxford University Press,, 1995, Gender Inequality in Human Development Theories, 1997, Human Development Report 1997. New York: and Measurement. Occasional Paper 19, United Nations Oxford University Press. Technical note 1 and chapter 1. Development Report Office, New York. (HDI) Development Programme, Human Development Report Office, New York. (GDI, GEM), 1997, Concepts of Human Development and Poverty: Technical notes 1 and 2 and chapter 3. (GDI, GEM) (HPI-1, HPI-2), 1999, Human Development Report 1999. New York: Oxford University Press. Technical note (HDI, GDI) Multi-dimensional Perspective. In United Nations Klasen, Stephan. 26. "UNDP's Gender-related Measures: Development Programme, Human Development Report Some Conceptual Problems and Possible Solutions." Journal 1997 Papers : Poverty and Human Development New York. of Human Development Alternative Economics in Action, 7 (2): (HPI-1, HPI-2) 243-274. A H U M A N D E V E L O P M E N T R E P O R T 2 7/ 2 8 361