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[[Image:UN_Human_Development_Report_2007.png|thumb|right|550px|World map indicating Human Development Index (2007).<br />The blue countries correspond roughly with the modern First World.<br />The yellow countries correspond roughly with the modern Second World.<br />The red countries correspond roughly with the modern Third World.]]
The '''Human Development Index''' ('''HDI''') is the measure of [[life expectancy]], [[literacy]], [[education]], and [[standard of living]] for countries worldwide. It is a standard means of [[measuring well-being]], especially child [[welfare economics|welfare]]. It is used to determine and indicate whether a country is a [[developed country|developed]], [[developing country|developing, or underdeveloped country]] and also to measure the impact of economic policies on quality of life.<ref>[http://www.business.duq.edu/faculty/davies/research/hdi.pdf Davies, A. and G. Quinlivan (2006), A Panel Data Analysis of the Impact of Trade on Human Development, Journal of Socioeconomics]</ref>

The index was developed in 1990 by Indian Nobel prize winner [[Amartya Sen]], [[Pakistan]]i [[Economics|economist]] [[Mahbub ul Haq]], with help from Gustav Ranis of [[Yale University]] and Lord [[Meghnad Desai]] of the [[London School of Economics]] and has been used since then by the [[United Nations Development Programme]] in its annual [[Human Development Report]]. Described by Sen as a "vulgar measure", because of its limitations, it nonetheless focuses attention on wider aspects of development than the per capita income measure it supplanted, and is a pathway for researchers into the wide variety of more detailed measures contained in the '''Human Development Reports'''.

The HDI measures the average achievements in a country in three basic dimensions of human development:

*A long and healthy life, as measured by [[life expectancy]] at birth.
*Knowledge, as measured by the adult [[literacy]] rate (with two-thirds weighting) and the combined primary, secondary, and tertiary [[gross enrollment ratio]] (with one-third weighting).
*A decent standard of living, as measured by the log of [[gross domestic product]] (GDP) per capita at [[purchasing power parity]] (PPP) in [[United States dollar|USD]].

Each year, [[List of countries by Human Development Index|UN member states are listed and ranked]] according to these measures.  Those high on the list often advertise it,<ref>[http://www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/default.asp?Language=E&page=archivechretien&sub=speeches&doc=speeches19950911340_e.htm Speech by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien to the National Forum]</ref> as a means of attracting talented immigrants (economically, [[individual capital]]) or discouraging emigration.

An alternative measure, focusing on the amount of poverty in a country, is the [[Human Poverty Index]].

== See also ==
* [[First World]]
* [[Second World]]
* [[Third World]]
* [[Fourth World]]
* [[Fifth World]]
* [[Least Developed Countries|Least Developed Countries (Fourth World)]]

==References==
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[[Category:First World]]
[[Category:Second World]]
[[Category:Third World]]


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