1. Comments on „Gap between GDP and HDI: Are the Rich Country Experiences Different from the Poor?“ by surajit Deb
Discussant: Albert Braakmann - Session 1 – Paper 3 –
IARIW-OECD Special Conferencee: „W(h)iter the SNA?“
Paris, France, April 16-17, 2015
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2. Country rank GDP = Country rank HDI ?
Research goal
Country rank GDP = Country rank HDI ?
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3. Basics I
GDP = Sum of value added of resident producers in a given period (e.g. output ./. intermediate consumption) criticism: - no human capital - no environment + natural ressources - no domestic work - no distribution
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4. Basics II
HDI = 𝟑 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒙 ∙𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒙∙𝑮𝑵𝑰 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒙 criticism: - closely correlated with GDP (redundant)
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5. Empirical examination
How big are the differences between HDI and GDP country ranks?
HDI scores from Human Development Reports
GDP per capita (current USD) from UN-database
- Four points in time 1990
2000
triennium ending in 2010
triennium ending in 2013
140 countries in total
3 country sub-samples (Worldbank classification for each period)
57 low income countries (in 2013)
33 middle income countries (in 2013)
50 high income countries (in 2013)
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6. Results:
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7. Results II Correlation (R2) between rank of HDI and GDP per capita
1990
2000
2010
2013
All countries
0,86
0,88
0,92
0,93
High income countries
0,41
0,46
0,55
0,60
Middle income countries
0,01
0,20
0,38
0,25
Low income countries
0,62
0,64
0,76
Author‘s conclusion: „These results suggest that there is marked similiarities between the HDI and GDP ranking for in the full sample of all countries in each time periods, but significant differences in rank orders exist for the sub-samples of various income groups.“ (5.2)
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8. General comments
- Which factors precisely do explain the difference between HDI and GDP rank? Are these the same for all country groups?
- How much would the result differ if the inequality adjusted HDI is used?
- What are the implications of this study for a future SNA?
© Statistisches Bundesamt, Albert Braakmann
11/23/2018

9. Thank‘s a lot for Your attention