Human development (economics)

The concept of human development expands upon the notion of economic development to include social, political and even ethical dimensions. Since the mid-twentieth century, international organisations such as the United Nations and the World Bank have adopted human development as a holistic approach to evaluating a country’s progress that considers living conditions, social relations, individual freedoms and political institutions that contribute to freedom and well-being, in addition to standard measures of income growth.[1]

The United Nations Development Programme defines human development as "the process of enlarging people's choices", said choices allowing them to "lead a long and healthy life, to be educated, to enjoy a decent standard of living", as well as "political freedom, other guaranteed human rights and various ingredients of self-respect".[2] Thus, human development is about much more than economic growth, which is only a means of enlarging people's choices.[3]

  1. ^ Correa, Felipe (2024). "Human Development". In Vernengo, Matías; Pérez-Caldentey, Esteban & Ghosh, Jayati (eds.). The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan. doi:10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_3152-1. ISBN 978-1-349-95121-5.
  2. ^ United Nations Development Programme (1997). Human Development Report 1997. Human Development Report. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-19-511996-1.
  3. ^ "Human Development". Human Development Reports (UNDP). 22 October 2009. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2009.