Occasional Papers

Recasting Human Development Measures

By: Sudhir Anand
2018
The UNDP introduced three new human development measures in its 2010 Human Development Report, which it has since continued to estimate and report on annually. These measures are the geometrically-averaged Human Development Index (HDI), the Inequality-...Read more

Policies for human development

By: Christina Lengfelder
2017
The Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) distinguishes itself from other flagship reports on development in the sense that it is based on an innovative concept that defines development as the expansion of choices by...Read more

Happiness, well-being and human development

By: Anand, Paul
2016
In recent years, economists have made increasing use of psychological measures of well-being. This paper argues that these data and models can make important contributions to human development. The paper begins by offering an overview of some key...Read more

Human development, disparity and vulnerability: women in South Asia

By: Ayesha Banu
2016
This paper provides a literature review of intrahousehold gender disparities in South Asia. The paper draws on quantitative and qualitative research focusing on three countries—Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka—as well as Pakistan to a lesser extent. The...Read more

Review of conceptual and measurement innovations in national and regional Human Development Reports, 2010-2016

By: Christina Lengfelder and Christelle Cazabat
2016
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has published the global Human Development Report on an annual base since 1990. Apart from the global reports, a number of country and regional offices have published human development reports that aim at...Read more

Achieving universalism in developing countries

By: Juliana Martínez Franzoni ; Diego Sánchez-Ancochea
2016
Expanding people’s capabilities requires health care, education and a sufficient income throughout their lives. But how can policies be designed to ensure social rights and truly enhance capabilities? What should be the role of states and what of markets...Read more

Beyond the HDI? Assessing alternative measures of human development from a capability perspective

By: Flavio Comim
2016
This paper explores how the human development perspective can be enlarged by further using the capability approaches of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum. It delves into the main characteristics of their contributions, highlighting the role of social...Read more

The Dynamics of Horizontal Inequalities

By: Frances Stewart
2016
Horizontal inequalities, or inequalities among identity groups, tend to be very persistent. Yet much depends on the nature of the groups and on the dimensions of inequality. Horizontal inequalities across some groups may enlarge and others may diminish;...Read more

Changes in income, education and health inequality over the last 20 years: evidence from Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia

By: Giovanni Andrea Cornia
2016
This paper analyses the interactions among income, health and educational inequality, and reviews changes in the distribution of income, health and education during the last three decades in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The analysis...Read more

Achieving universalism in developing countries

By: Juliana Martínez Franzoni ; Diego Sánchez-Ancochea
2016
Expanding people’s capabilities requires health care, education and a sufficient income throughout their lives. But how can policies be designed to ensure social rights and truly enhance capabilities? What should be the role of states and what of markets...Read more