HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX - METHODOLOGICAL AND APPLIED ASPECTS

Polya Angelova

Abstract: Human Development Index (HDI) is one of the main indicators for assessment of social development, which is used worldwide in the last 25 years. Statistical analysis and international comparisons carried out based on HDI and its individual components provide the opportunity to establish the place of the State according to the level of development, to analyse changes in the economy and social and regional disparities in living conditions. <br><br>The article is devoted to methodological concepts of HDI and the possibilities for its application as a benchmark for assessing the human potential. Human Development Index combines the three basic components of human development - longevity, education and income, and is calculated on the basis of statistical data on the main socio-economic and demographic processes in different countries. These components are characterized by basic parameters specified for all countries according to a comparable methodology that provides the necessary information base for international and regional comparisons. <br><br>In chronological sequence the article presents the methodological changes in the HDI, and common elements and the differences that have occurred after 2010 are derived. Conducted is a comparative empirical analysis of the state and regional differences, according to the Human Development Index and its components between the European Union (15) and the newly accessed countries from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) based on data from official statistical publications and annual reports on human development for the period 2007 - 2015.<br>

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Date published: 2016-06-07