Measuring Human Development (original) (raw)

Abstract

In 1990, the United Nations published the first Human Development Report (HDR) in which the concept and measurement of human development was put forth to the development community. Human development, in this literature, focuses on people rather than wealth generation. The 1990 HDR report recognized that statistical aggregates and national income figures have at times obscured the fact that the primary objective of development is to benefit people. Thus, the approach rejected an exclusive focus on the growth of gross national product (GNP) and a top-down, externally-driven strategy for developing countries. Although, the approach recognized wealth generation as important for achieving certain ends; the primary concern shifted to the reduction of human deprivation, the creation of human capabilities and the unleashing of “processes that enlarge people’s choices”. These choices include the capability to lead a long healthy life, to be educated, to acquire knowledge, to have access to the resources required for achieving a decent standard of living, to have political freedom, to have social freedom, and to have economic freedom. As such, this approach focuses on capabilities and conceptualizes human development as the enhancement of capability and freedom, coined as the ‘capability approach’. The ‘capability approach’ is based on the ideas put forth by Sen in a number of his works, including his book Development as Freedom. The ‘capability approach’ takes what “people are actually able to do or be” as its point of reference. A person’s capability refers to the feasible set or sets of functions that circumstances allow him or her to achieve. As Sen says, ‘‘capability is thus a kind of freedom: the substantive freedom to achieve alternative functioning combinations (or less formally put, the freedom to achieve various lifestyles)’’.

Ashot Alexanyan hasn't uploaded this paper.

Let Ashot know you want this paper to be uploaded.

Ask for this paper to be uploaded.