Human Development Index as a Tool to Assess Social Development in the Baltic States
DOI:
10.5922/2079-8555-2017-3-4
national social development
Baltic region
human development index
Abstract
Reinvigorating Russia’s development strategy requires a comparison between the social development of the Russian Federation and other Baltic region states, some of which are world leaders in terms of living standards. The most popular tools for country comparison are composite indices that take into account various components affecting the quality of life. This article analyses the current level and changes in the social development of the Baltic States in 1990—2016. The analysis is based on the values of human development index. Having distinct advantages and disadvantages, this index remains to be the most popular and influential tool for assessing a country’s social development. A statistical analysis carried out with the use of HDI values makes it possible to divide the Baltic States into three groups according to their current development level and advancement trajectories. The greatest gap in progress was observed in 2000. Later, it narrowed as the social advancement of the third group — Lithuania, Latvia, and Russia — accelerated. The nature of the Baltic States’ social improvement in 2015—2016 suggests that a decrease in social development rates will be observed in the coming years across the region, and the gap between the countries will increase.
1. Akhlakova, I. R. 2012, Labor as a factor of economic growth, Teoriya i praktika obshchestvennogo razvitiya [Theory and practice of social development], no. 4, p. 285—287. (in Russ.)
2. Bubis, I. V., Gilyazetdinova, K. R., Dyukina, T. O. 2014, On the relationship between GDP per capita, the index of happiness, the index of human development and the index of environmental efficiency, Prilozhenie matematiki v ekonomicheskikh i tekhnicheskikh issledovaniyakh [The application of mathematics in economic and technical studies], no. 4(4), p. 57—61. (in Russ.)
3. Goman, E. Yu. 2012, A Brief Overview of Quality of Life Concepts, Aktual'nye problemy gumanitarnykh i estestvennykh nauk [Actual problems of the humanities and natural sciences], no. 3, p. 70—74. (in Russ.)
4. Auzan, A. A., Bobylev, S. N. (eds.) 2011, Doklad o razvitii chelovecheskogo potentsiala v Rossiiskoi Federatsii za 2011 god [Report on Human Development in the Russian Federation for 2011], Moscow, 146 p. (in Russ.)
5. Isakin, М. А. 2007, Vyyavlenie prioritetov sotsial'no-ekonomicheskogo razvitiya regiona: matematiko-metodicheskoe obespechenie i ego eksperimental'naya aprobatsiya [Identification of priorities for socio-economic development of the region: mathematical and methodological support and its experimental approbation], Moscow. (in Russ.)
6. Voronina, N. A., Kuznetsova, I. V. (eds) 2012, Kachestvo zhizni naseleniya: grani problemy v fokuse preobrazovanii [Quality of life of the population: the brink of a problem in the focus of transformations], Saratov, 150 p. (in Russ.)
7. Mezhevich N., Kretinin G., Fedorov G. 2016, Economic and Geographical Structure of the Baltic Sea region, Balt. Reg., Vol. 8, no. 3, p. 11—21. DOI: 10.5922/2079-8555-2016-3-1. (in Russ.)
8. Rubanov, I. N., Tikunov, V. S. 2007, On the methodology for assessing the index of human development and its use in Russian conditions, Geograficheskii vestnik [Geographical Bulletin], no. 1—2, p. 57—72. (in Russ.)
9. Sakharov, О. N. 2014, Human Development Index: the place of Russia in the modern world, Vestnik Taganrogskogo instituta upravleniya i ekonomiki [Bulletin of the Taganrog Institute of Management and Economics], no. 1(19), available at: http://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/indeks-razvitiya-chelovecheskogo-potentsiala-mesto-rossiiv-sovremen.... (accessed 29.03.2017). (in Russ.)
10. Blancard, S., Hoara,u J. F. 2013, A new sustainable human development indicator for small island developing states: a reappraisal from data envelopment analysis, Economic Modelling. Vol. 30, p. 623—635. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j. econmod.2012.10.016
11. Boer, L., Koekkoek, A. 1993, Human development report: Fad or fix tu re? Development Policy Review, Vol. 11, p. 427—438.
12. Desai, M. 1991, Human development: Concepts and measurement, European Economic Review, no. 35(23), p. 350—357.
13. Ephrenesis, D. 1994, Policy uses of HDI: Goals and strategies, SIDA Planeringssekretariatet.
14. Fujita, M., Krugman, P. 2004, The New economic geography: Past, present and the future, Papers in Regional Science, Vol. 83, p. 139—164
15. Grimm, M., Harttge, K., Klasen, S. Misselhorn, M. 2008, A human development index by income groups, World Development, no. 36(12), p. 2527—2546.
16. Happy Planet Inde, available at: http://www.happyplanetindex.org/ (accessed 25.03.2017).
17. Hopkins, M. 1991, Human development revisited: A new UNDP report, World Development, no. 19(10), p. 1469—1473.
18. Hou, J., Walsh, P. P., Zhang, J. 2015, The dynamics of Human Development Index, Social Science Journal, no. 52(3), p. 331—347.
19. Human Development Report 1990. Technical notes, 1990, available at: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/219/hdr_1990_en_complete_nostats.pdf (accessed 27.03.2017).
20. Human Development Report 1991. Financing Human Development, 1991, available at: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/220/hdr_1991_en_complete_nostats.pdf (accessed 23.03.2017).
21. Human Development Report 1995. Gender and Human Development, 1995, available at: http://hdr.undp. org/sites/default/files/reports/256/hdr_1995_en_complete_nostats.pdf (accessed 23.03.2017).
22. Human Development Report 2000. Human Rights and Human Development, 2000, available at: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/261/hdr_2000_en.pdf (accessed 23.03.2017).
23. Human Development Report 2005. International cooperation at a crossroads: Aid, trade and security in an unequal world, 2005, available at: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/266/hdr05_complete.pdf (accessed 23.03.2017).
24. Human Development Report 2010 The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development, 2010, available at: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/270/hdr_2010_en_complete_reprint.pdf (accessed 23.03.2017).
25. Human Development Report 2015. Work for Human Development, 2015, available at: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/2015_human_development_report_0.pdf (accessed 20.03.2017)
26. Human Development Report 2016: Human Development for Everyone, 2016,available at: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/2016_human_development_report.pdf (accessed 23.03.2017)
27. Ivanova, I. F. J. 1994, Effects of the human development index’s social and conomic components on country rankings, New Brunswick, Canada.
28. Kelly A. C. The human development index: «handle with care» // Population and Development Review. 1991. 17(2). P. 315—324.
29. Luque, M., Perez-Moreno, S., Rodriguez, B. 2016, Measuring human development: a multi-criteria approach, Social Indicators Research, no. 125, p. 713—733. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-0874-0.
30. Mazumdar, K. 2003, A new approach to human development index, Review of Social Economy, no. 61(4), p. 535—549.
31. McGillivray, M. 1991, The human development index: Yet another redundant composite development indicator? World Development, no. 19 (10), p. 1461—1468.
32. Neumayer, E. 2001, The human development index and sustainability — a constructive proposal, Ecological Economics, no. 39(1), p. 101—114.
33. Noorbakhsh, F. 1998, A modified human development index, World Development, no. 26(3), p. 517—528.
34. Sagar, A. D., Najam, A. 1998, The human development index: A critical review, Ecological Economics, no. 25, p. 249—264.
35. Stewart, F., Ranis, G., Samman, E. 2006, Human Development: Beyond the HDI, QEH Working Papers qehwps135.
36. Wu, P. C., Fan, C. W. Pan, S. C. 2014, Does Human Development Index provide rational development rankings? Evidence from efficiency rankings in super efficiency model, Social Indicators Research, no. 116(2), p. 647—658. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-013-0285-z
2. Bubis, I. V., Gilyazetdinova, K. R., Dyukina, T. O. 2014, On the relationship between GDP per capita, the index of happiness, the index of human development and the index of environmental efficiency, Prilozhenie matematiki v ekonomicheskikh i tekhnicheskikh issledovaniyakh [The application of mathematics in economic and technical studies], no. 4(4), p. 57—61. (in Russ.)
3. Goman, E. Yu. 2012, A Brief Overview of Quality of Life Concepts, Aktual'nye problemy gumanitarnykh i estestvennykh nauk [Actual problems of the humanities and natural sciences], no. 3, p. 70—74. (in Russ.)
4. Auzan, A. A., Bobylev, S. N. (eds.) 2011, Doklad o razvitii chelovecheskogo potentsiala v Rossiiskoi Federatsii za 2011 god [Report on Human Development in the Russian Federation for 2011], Moscow, 146 p. (in Russ.)
5. Isakin, М. А. 2007, Vyyavlenie prioritetov sotsial'no-ekonomicheskogo razvitiya regiona: matematiko-metodicheskoe obespechenie i ego eksperimental'naya aprobatsiya [Identification of priorities for socio-economic development of the region: mathematical and methodological support and its experimental approbation], Moscow. (in Russ.)
6. Voronina, N. A., Kuznetsova, I. V. (eds) 2012, Kachestvo zhizni naseleniya: grani problemy v fokuse preobrazovanii [Quality of life of the population: the brink of a problem in the focus of transformations], Saratov, 150 p. (in Russ.)
7. Mezhevich N., Kretinin G., Fedorov G. 2016, Economic and Geographical Structure of the Baltic Sea region, Balt. Reg., Vol. 8, no. 3, p. 11—21. DOI: 10.5922/2079-8555-2016-3-1. (in Russ.)
8. Rubanov, I. N., Tikunov, V. S. 2007, On the methodology for assessing the index of human development and its use in Russian conditions, Geograficheskii vestnik [Geographical Bulletin], no. 1—2, p. 57—72. (in Russ.)
9. Sakharov, О. N. 2014, Human Development Index: the place of Russia in the modern world, Vestnik Taganrogskogo instituta upravleniya i ekonomiki [Bulletin of the Taganrog Institute of Management and Economics], no. 1(19), available at: http://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/indeks-razvitiya-chelovecheskogo-potentsiala-mesto-rossiiv-sovremen.... (accessed 29.03.2017). (in Russ.)
10. Blancard, S., Hoara,u J. F. 2013, A new sustainable human development indicator for small island developing states: a reappraisal from data envelopment analysis, Economic Modelling. Vol. 30, p. 623—635. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j. econmod.2012.10.016
11. Boer, L., Koekkoek, A. 1993, Human development report: Fad or fix tu re? Development Policy Review, Vol. 11, p. 427—438.
12. Desai, M. 1991, Human development: Concepts and measurement, European Economic Review, no. 35(23), p. 350—357.
13. Ephrenesis, D. 1994, Policy uses of HDI: Goals and strategies, SIDA Planeringssekretariatet.
14. Fujita, M., Krugman, P. 2004, The New economic geography: Past, present and the future, Papers in Regional Science, Vol. 83, p. 139—164
15. Grimm, M., Harttge, K., Klasen, S. Misselhorn, M. 2008, A human development index by income groups, World Development, no. 36(12), p. 2527—2546.
16. Happy Planet Inde, available at: http://www.happyplanetindex.org/ (accessed 25.03.2017).
17. Hopkins, M. 1991, Human development revisited: A new UNDP report, World Development, no. 19(10), p. 1469—1473.
18. Hou, J., Walsh, P. P., Zhang, J. 2015, The dynamics of Human Development Index, Social Science Journal, no. 52(3), p. 331—347.
19. Human Development Report 1990. Technical notes, 1990, available at: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/219/hdr_1990_en_complete_nostats.pdf (accessed 27.03.2017).
20. Human Development Report 1991. Financing Human Development, 1991, available at: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/220/hdr_1991_en_complete_nostats.pdf (accessed 23.03.2017).
21. Human Development Report 1995. Gender and Human Development, 1995, available at: http://hdr.undp. org/sites/default/files/reports/256/hdr_1995_en_complete_nostats.pdf (accessed 23.03.2017).
22. Human Development Report 2000. Human Rights and Human Development, 2000, available at: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/261/hdr_2000_en.pdf (accessed 23.03.2017).
23. Human Development Report 2005. International cooperation at a crossroads: Aid, trade and security in an unequal world, 2005, available at: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/266/hdr05_complete.pdf (accessed 23.03.2017).
24. Human Development Report 2010 The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development, 2010, available at: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/270/hdr_2010_en_complete_reprint.pdf (accessed 23.03.2017).
25. Human Development Report 2015. Work for Human Development, 2015, available at: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/2015_human_development_report_0.pdf (accessed 20.03.2017)
26. Human Development Report 2016: Human Development for Everyone, 2016,available at: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/2016_human_development_report.pdf (accessed 23.03.2017)
27. Ivanova, I. F. J. 1994, Effects of the human development index’s social and conomic components on country rankings, New Brunswick, Canada.
28. Kelly A. C. The human development index: «handle with care» // Population and Development Review. 1991. 17(2). P. 315—324.
29. Luque, M., Perez-Moreno, S., Rodriguez, B. 2016, Measuring human development: a multi-criteria approach, Social Indicators Research, no. 125, p. 713—733. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-0874-0.
30. Mazumdar, K. 2003, A new approach to human development index, Review of Social Economy, no. 61(4), p. 535—549.
31. McGillivray, M. 1991, The human development index: Yet another redundant composite development indicator? World Development, no. 19 (10), p. 1461—1468.
32. Neumayer, E. 2001, The human development index and sustainability — a constructive proposal, Ecological Economics, no. 39(1), p. 101—114.
33. Noorbakhsh, F. 1998, A modified human development index, World Development, no. 26(3), p. 517—528.
34. Sagar, A. D., Najam, A. 1998, The human development index: A critical review, Ecological Economics, no. 25, p. 249—264.
35. Stewart, F., Ranis, G., Samman, E. 2006, Human Development: Beyond the HDI, QEH Working Papers qehwps135.
36. Wu, P. C., Fan, C. W. Pan, S. C. 2014, Does Human Development Index provide rational development rankings? Evidence from efficiency rankings in super efficiency model, Social Indicators Research, no. 116(2), p. 647—658. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-013-0285-z