How (Not) to Measure Quality of Life: Critical Perspectives on the Human Development Index

Abstract

The article presents the concept of human development and its
measurement using the Human Development Index (HDI). The first three
parts explain the evolution of the human development concept and the
methodology of the HDI and provide some analysis of HDI results. The
focus of the article is to critically discuss the HDI as a measure of human
development. Based on critical perspectives of selected authors, the article
analyses the weak points (and by implication the strong ones as well) of the
HDI, and it also discusses proposed changes in the HDI methodology. The
combination of relative comprehensiveness of the scope of the indicator
and relative simplicity of its methodology made the HDI more popular than
its creators may have expected. Despite all the critical comments on the
HDI, it may be used as a summary measure of development. However, it
should be noted that it may serve only as a rough measure.