Which of the following regions has seen the most improvements in its HDI since 1990?

Brain Behav. 2020 Sep; 10[9]: e01755.

Abstract

Introduction

The Human Development Index [HDI], as one of the more complex composite indicators of the level of human potential and quality of life, is a combination of three dimensions [indicators, factors]: life expectancy at birth, the middle number of years of education and the expected number of years of schooling combined into a single education index and economic benefits expressed by production, or GDP [gross domestic product] according to purchasing power [PPP US $].

Methods

The same measures and average achievements in the field of health, education, and living standards are presented. The HDI was first developed in 1990 under the United Nations Development Program [UNDP] and is published as Human Development Reports [HDR]. At present, it has become the most widely used complex indicator suitable for international comparisons and assessments of the achieved development level of a particular country or region.

Results

The paper deals specifically with the more perspective view of human development in the Western Balkans, with a series of socio‐economic implications for the development policy of the countries under observation.

Conclusion

The particular significance of the conducted research stems from the fact that in the countries of the Western Balkans are identified factors at the beginning of the transition period were often marginalized in the creation of macroeconomic policies, but in recent years there have been more positive developments in that regard.

Keywords: developmental level, education, human development index, international comparisons, living standards

Abstract

The Human Development Index [HDI]—the level of human potential and quality of life. Measures in the field of health, education, and living standards are presented. Factors at the beginning of the transition period were often marginalized

1. INTRODUCTION

The wealth of a state is made up of people. The primary goal of development is the creation of such an environment that will enable people for a long, healthy, and creative life [UNDP, 1990]. Human development is the extending process of people's choices. One can say this is a process of increasing the significance of human values. Naturally, it is a complex phenomenon that has been seen in different aspects—demographic, cultural, political–legal, and socio‐economic. Based on this phenomenon, some estimates are made of its impact on the economic and national development of the country. The national event is in correlation with human potential. The complexity of this relationship best illustrates the view that there is no simple answer to the simple question of whether nations are rich because they are better educated or better educated because they are rich [Blaug, 1976].

The human development paradigm emphasizes two simultaneous processes: The building of human abilities and how people use them to function in society and make choices between options that they have in all aspects of their lives [UNDP, 2018a]. The phenomenon of human development, which takes into account the close links between economic, social, cultural, spatial, educational, and healthcare, encompasses a safe economy, adequate nutrition, environmental protection, personal safety, community security, and broader political security. Current and future generations must be aware of their responsibilities when it comes to development. Personal and social security should be sought if it enables a decent life, in an economy where profit is distributed equally to all, and not only to a few and the environment whose fruits and pleasure can be used without fear. This concept provides a long and healthy life people.

The world is characterized by dynamic processes and significant changes in the overall social, political, economic and social environment, determining, and multiplying developmental specifics. Positive changes result in a better opportunity for people's lives, longer life expectancy, and better education, while adverse changes create developmental problems. It is important to emphasize that development problems cannot be explained exclusively by economic indicators. The process of measuring and interpreting differences in development is a much more complex problem. Measuring growth in a new globalized world requires a shift from the economic and to the noneconomic sphere [social and society]. Development indicators should give a more realistic picture of the economic progress of a particular country. Only in this way, economists will identify the underlying development problems, offering suggestions to macroeconomic policymakers how to act in certain situations.

Development is in most of its conceptual history, portrayed as the normal process of change, or as a quest for economic growth. By the beginning of the nineties, the GDP was routinely used as the only indicator of the achieved level of development. After that, a series of new signs are emerging that are more comprehensive, multi‐dimensional, and from some different aspects, looking at events in the growth and development of an economy [Potter, Binns, Elliott, Nel, & Smith, 2018].

Since 1990, the United Nations Development Program [UNDP] has been implementing a human development program by applying an approach that is not confined to national income alone but is focused on people and their ability to achieve the full potential to lead a healthy, productive and creative life. The first human development report published in 1990, “People are the real wealth of nations,” began a new approach to thinking about development [Ferjan, 2014]. To date, 26 Human Development Reports [HDRs] have been published, which are the result of the calculation of the Human Development Index [HDI] for each country, based on which the ranking of countries in the world is carried out. The HDI is a widely cited statistic that is commonly used as a measure of well‐being in different countries [Engineer, King, & Roy, 2008].

In this paper is presented perspective view of human development in the Western Balkans, with a series of socio‐economic implications for the development policy of the countries under observation. The main significance of the research stems from the fact that in the countries of the Western Balkans are identified factors at the beginning of the transition period were often marginalized in the creation of macroeconomic policies, but in recent years there have been more positive developments in that regard.

2. METHODOLOGY

Analyzing the entire spectrum of indicators in HDI assesses progress in achieving many aspects of human development [Republicki zavod za razvoj, 2007]. According to the UNDP methodology, in the period from 1990, when it officially began to apply, and until 2010, the HDI contained a combination of three different indicators:

1. General quality of life, expressed by the expected duration of life;

2. Literacy, measured by a combination of two indicators: the literacy rate of the adult population [weighted by 2/3 significance] and the total enrollment rate in primary, secondary, and higher education [weighted by 1/3 of the character];

3. The standard of living, that is, economic benefits expressed by production, that is, GDP [gross domestic product] in terms of purchasing power [PPP US $]. The analysis of purchasing power parity allows seeing the differentiation in purchasing power between countries by eliminating differences in the price level. It is most commonly used in international comparisons of GDP and its components. The program of monitoring and comparison of purchasing power parity purchasing power at the international level is under the responsibility of EUROSTAT's statistics, which publish annually the Purchasing Power Parities Report [//ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/purchasing‐power‐parities] for a period of three years, including by comparing and comparing the prices for about 3,000 comparative and representative products that enter the composition of GDP of the OECD countries, based on which the relative price level of each state is determined in relation to the OECD average.

The above three indicators, used to calculate HDI, are available in almost all international statistical anniversaries and relate to the quality of life achieved in terms of life expectancy, literacy and accessibility of the school system to the individual. Conducting these three indicators to one common measure is done by setting a minimum, equal to "0" and a maximum, equal to 1 for each dimension. Each of these indicators is weighted with the relative share in the total number of signs. A set of weighted indicators creates a complex HDI and determines the position for each country on a scale of 0–1 [0  1].

Hence, HDI is a simple arithmetic mean of all three primary indices:

where I 1 represents the life expectancy index, I 2 education index, and I 3 GDP index.

All three primary indices are standardized according to the principle.

where “I” represents the actual value in the country.

The minimum and maximum values of individual indices are listed in Table 1.

Table 1

Summary of HDI reform [Jakopin, 2010]

By 2010, all the countries of the world were classified into one of three groups, which indicate the level of human development achieved:

• 0.00