TOPIC INFO (UGC NET)
TOPIC INFO – UGC NET (Economics)
SUB-TOPIC INFO – Growth and Development Economics (UNIT 8)
CONTENT TYPE – Detailed Notes
What’s Inside the Chapter? (After Subscription)
1. Introduction
2. Physical Quality of Life Index (POLI)
2.1. Origin and Purpose
2.2. Components of PQLI
2.3. Merits and Limitations of PQLI
3. Human Development Index (HDI).
3.1. Origin and Conceptual Basis
3.2. Original Dimensions and Components (Pre-2010 Methodology).
3.3. Revised Methodology (Post-2010)
3.4. Method of Calculation
3.5. HDI Classification and Related Indices
3.6. Criticisms of HDI
4. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
4.1. Background and Adoption
4.2. The Seventeen Goals
4.3. Distinguishing Features of the SDG Framework
4.4. India and the SDGs
Access This Topic With Any Subscription Below:
- UGC NET Economics
- UGC NET Economics + Book Notes
Indicators of Economic Development: PQLI, HDI, SDGs
UGC NET ECONOMICS
Growth and Development Economics (UNIT 8)
Introduction
Traditional measures of economic progress, such as Gross National Product (GNP) and per capita income, were long used as the principal indicators of a country’s level of economic development. However, economists increasingly recognised that per capita income, being a purely monetary measure, suffers from several important limitations: it fails to capture the distribution of income among the population, ignores non-market activities, does not reflect the quality of life enjoyed by citizens in terms of health, education, and longevity, and takes no account of environmental degradation or the depletion of natural resources associated with the growth process. These limitations led development economists, notably Mahbub ul Haq and Amartya Sen, to argue for a broader, multidimensional conception of development, centred not merely on the expansion of income but on the expansion of human capabilities and freedoms, an approach known as the “capability approach,” which subsequently provided the intellectual foundation for composite indicators such as the Physical Quality of Life Index and, later and more prominently, the Human Development Index.
Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI)
Origin and Purpose
The Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI) was developed by the economist Morris David Morris in the late 1970s, under the auspices of the Overseas Development Council, as one of the earliest attempts to construct a composite index of well-being that moved beyond income-based measures of development. The PQLI was designed specifically to measure the outcome or result of development efforts, particularly with respect to meeting the basic needs of a population, rather than measuring the inputs (such as income or resources) devoted to development.
Components of PQLI
The PQLI is constructed as a simple (unweighted) average of three indicators, each of which is first converted into an index number ranging from 0 (worst performance) to 100 (best performance), based on the observed range of performance across countries at the time of construction. The three component indicators are: infant mortality rate (IMR), defined as the number of deaths of infants under one year of age per 1,000 live births, which serves as a proxy for the availability and quality of health care and nutrition; life expectancy at age one, rather than life expectancy at birth, chosen specifically by Morris in order to exclude the direct statistical influence of infant mortality, so that the index would separately capture the health and longevity conditions faced by those who survive infancy; and the basic literacy rate, defined as the percentage of the population aged 15 years and above that is able to read and write, serving as a proxy for the level of basic education.
The composite PQLI score is calculated as:
$$ PQLI = \frac{(\text{Index of IMR}) + (\text{Index of Life Expectancy at age 1}) + (\text{Index of Literacy Rate})}{3} $$