What are Valid Weights for the Human Development Index? A Discrete Choice Experiment for the United Kingdom

Mark McGillivray; Simon Feeny; Paul Hansen; Stephen Knowles; Franz Ombler

doi:10.1007/s11205-022-03039-9

What are Valid Weights for the Human Development Index? A Discrete Choice Experiment for the United Kingdom

Mark McGillivray^*
, Simon Feeny
, Paul Hansen
, Stephen Knowles
, Franz Ombler

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index (HDI) aggregates information on achievements in health, education and income. These achievements are given a weight of one-third each. These weights have been the subject of long-standing controversy, from the moment the HDI was released in 1990. Alternative weights reflecting stated citizen preferences are obtained in this paper using a discrete choice experiment involving a survey 2578 adult residents of the United Kingdom. Health is the most important achievement, with a mean weight of 0.428, followed by income and education, with mean weights of 0.292 and 0.280 respectively. Evidence in support of the view that HDI weights should vary among achievements and countries is provided, based on cluster and econometric analysis of the survey data.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	679-694
Number of pages	16
Journal	Social Indicators Research
Volume	165
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-022-03039-9
Publication status	Published - Jan 2023

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title = "What are Valid Weights for the Human Development Index? A Discrete Choice Experiment for the United Kingdom",

abstract = "The United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index (HDI) aggregates information on achievements in health, education and income. These achievements are given a weight of one-third each. These weights have been the subject of long-standing controversy, from the moment the HDI was released in 1990. Alternative weights reflecting stated citizen preferences are obtained in this paper using a discrete choice experiment involving a survey 2578 adult residents of the United Kingdom. Health is the most important achievement, with a mean weight of 0.428, followed by income and education, with mean weights of 0.292 and 0.280 respectively. Evidence in support of the view that HDI weights should vary among achievements and countries is provided, based on cluster and econometric analysis of the survey data.",

keywords = "Cluster analysis, Country rankings, Discrete choice experiment, Human Development Index, Multinomial regression analysis, Weights",

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T1 - What are Valid Weights for the Human Development Index? A Discrete Choice Experiment for the United Kingdom

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AU - Feeny, Simon

AU - Hansen, Paul

AU - Knowles, Stephen

AU - Ombler, Franz

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N2 - The United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index (HDI) aggregates information on achievements in health, education and income. These achievements are given a weight of one-third each. These weights have been the subject of long-standing controversy, from the moment the HDI was released in 1990. Alternative weights reflecting stated citizen preferences are obtained in this paper using a discrete choice experiment involving a survey 2578 adult residents of the United Kingdom. Health is the most important achievement, with a mean weight of 0.428, followed by income and education, with mean weights of 0.292 and 0.280 respectively. Evidence in support of the view that HDI weights should vary among achievements and countries is provided, based on cluster and econometric analysis of the survey data.

AB - The United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index (HDI) aggregates information on achievements in health, education and income. These achievements are given a weight of one-third each. These weights have been the subject of long-standing controversy, from the moment the HDI was released in 1990. Alternative weights reflecting stated citizen preferences are obtained in this paper using a discrete choice experiment involving a survey 2578 adult residents of the United Kingdom. Health is the most important achievement, with a mean weight of 0.428, followed by income and education, with mean weights of 0.292 and 0.280 respectively. Evidence in support of the view that HDI weights should vary among achievements and countries is provided, based on cluster and econometric analysis of the survey data.

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KW - Country rankings

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KW - Multinomial regression analysis

KW - Weights

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DO - 10.1007/s11205-022-03039-9

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EP - 694

JO - Social Indicators Research

JF - Social Indicators Research

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ER -

What are Valid Weights for the Human Development Index? A Discrete Choice Experiment for the United Kingdom

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