Human development index as a measure of human development

Abstract

Human development is ?a process of expanding the real freedoms that people enjoy? (Sen 1999: 3). Therefore, widening of people?s choices should be the goal of the public policies aiming at human development promotion. In order to assess the level of human development, to compare it with other countries? achievements, or to evaluate different policy proposals, decision-makers have to rely on an accurate indicator of human development. Since gross national product (GNP) and gross domestic product (GDP) could not serve this function, the human development index (HDI) has been introduced as a more adequate measure. The aim of this paper is to discuss whether human development index reflects the basic tenets of human development. The arguments presented lead to the conclusion that the HDI does not fully reflect the ideas of human development. Since human development is much broader concept than any individual indicator could capture, country?s level of development should be assessed by the combination of different indicators.Humani razvoj je ?proces povecavanja stvarnih sloboda koje ljudi uzivaju?. Shodno tome, povecanje mogucnosti izbora bi trebalo da bude cilj javnih politika koje u fokus stavljaju humani razvoj. Prilikom procene nivoa humanog razvoja, njegovog poredjenja sa dostignucima drugih zemalja, kao i analize razlicitih predloga prakticnih politika, donosioci odluka se moraju oslanjati na precizne pokazatelje nivoa humanog razvoja. Posto bruto domaci proizvod (BDP) ne moze posluziti ovoj svrsi, javila se potreba za adekvatnijom merom i formiran je indeks humanog razvoja (HDI). Cilj ovog rada je da utvrdi da li indeks humanog razvoja odrazava osnovna nacela koncepta humanog razvoja. Argumenti predstavljeni u okviru ovog rada upucuju na zakljucak da HDI ne odrazava u potpunosti sve ideje humanog razvoja. Buduci da je koncept humanog razvoja mnogo siri nego sto to bilo koji pojedinacni indikator moze da predstavi, nivo humanog razvoja bi trebalo ocenjivati pomocu nekoliko razlicitih indikatora. PR Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 47009: European integrations and social and economic changes in Serbian economy on the way to the EU i br. 179015: Challenges and prospects of structural changes in Serbia: Strategic directions for economic development and harmonization with EU requirements