The Growth Impact of Human Development: A Developed- and Developing-Country Comparison
Funda Hatice Sezgin, Yunus BudakAlthough development is a multi-directional economic variable, its most important aspect is growth: the increase in production and per capita income. It also is marks the economic, cultural, social, and political progress of societies. Although variables such as poverty, income distribution, employment, and the ability to meet basic needs are now more focused issues, this concept has become an important development issue not only from a single economic point of view, but also with its human dimensions. Man is at the center of development; thus, the human development index obtained by combining indicators such as education, health, and income levels are among the most important factors of human life. This is also an important measurement tool for measuring individual quality of life. This study compared two groups of countries by determining the relationship of the human development index of developed and developing countries with growth through panel regression analysis. According to the analysis, when the human development index increases by 1 unit for developed countries, growth increases by 38.7%. For developing countries, when the human development index increases by 1 unit, growth increases by 17.4%. Thus, the contribution of human development to growth is higher in developed countries than developing countries. Therefore, it is important that developing countries implement policies quickly to increase human development.
İnsani Gelişmişliğin Büyüme Etkisi: Gelişmiş ve Gelişmekte Olan Ülkeler Karşılaştırması
Funda Hatice Sezgin, Yunus BudakGelişme çok yönlü bir iktisadi değişken olmakla birlikte, en önemli gerçekliği üretimin ve kişi başına gelirin artmasıdır. Bununla birlikte toplumların bir bütün olarak iktisadi, kültürel, sosyal ve politik anlamda ilerlemesidir. Yoksulluk, gelir dağılımı, istihdam, temel ihtiyaçların karşılanabilmesi gibi değişkenler artık daha fazla üzerinde durulmuş konular olmakla birlikte, bu kavram tek düze ekonomik bakış açısı ile değil, insani boyutlarıyla da önemli bir kalkınma konusu olmuştur. Gelişmenin merkezinde insan vardır; bu açıdan insan yaşamının en önemli faktörleri arasında olan eğitim, sağlık, gelir düzeyi gibi göstergelerin bir araya gelmesiyle elde edilen insani gelişme endeksi; bireylerin yaşam kalitelerini ölçmek için genel-geçer önemli bir ölçüm aracıdır. İnsani gelişme endeksi, ülkelerin birbirleri ile gelişme açısından karşılaştırılması ve bilimsel ölçüt açısından daha tarafsız bilgiler elde edilmesine olanak sağlayacaktır. Bu çalışmanın amacı, gelişmiş ve gelişmekte olan ülkelerin insani gelişme endeksinin büyüme ile ilişkisini panel regresyon analizi ile belirleyerek iki ülke grubunu karşılaştırmaktır. Analiz sonucunda elde edilen veriler ışığında gelişmiş ülkeler için; insani gelişme endeksi 1 birim arttığında büyüme %38.7 oranında artış göstermektedir. Gelişmekte olan ülkeler için ise, insani gelişme endeksi 1 birim arttığında büyüme %17.4 oranında artış göstermektedir. Bu sonuca göre; insani gelişmişliğin büyümeye katkısı gelişmiş ülkelerde gelişmekte olan ülkelere kıyasla daha yüksek bir değerdedir. Bu açıdan gelişmekte olan ülkelerin insani gelişmişliğin arttırılmasına yönelik politikaları hızla hayata geçirmesi önem taşımaktadır.
Although development is a multi-directional economic variable, its most important aspect is the increase in production and per capita income, or growth. It is also the economic, cultural, social, and political progress of societies as a whole. Variables such as poverty, income distribution, employment, and the ability to meet basic needs are more focused issues; however, the concept of growth has become an important development issue not only from a single economic point of view, but also with its human dimensions. Man is at the center of development; thus, the human development index obtained by combining indicators such as education, health, and income level are among the most important factors of human life. Growth is also an important tool for measuring the quality of individual life. Some studies show that there is a relationship between economic growth and human development, but the extent of this relationship has not been fully elucidated. In terms of the sub-categories of human development, indicators such as education, health, and income can offer different perspectives in terms of the relationship between the economy and growth.
From this point of view, this study determines the relationship between the human development index and growth with the help of panel regression analysis in terms of developed and developing countries. Because human development has an effect on growth, there is a network of relations, in which economic growth will affect human development. The increase in the country’s gross national product is data that can positively affect human development. However, this situation is expressed as an equation that may change from country to country or the effect will not be at the same rate. This is especially relevant to the income distribution of countries. Imbalance in income distribution is a factor that directly affects the relationship between human development and economic growth.
This study compares the two country groups by determining the relationship between the human development index and growth of developed and developing countries with panel regression analysis. Cross-section dependence and heterogeneity were obtained for both groups. First- and second-generation unit root tests were applied, and it was determined that the variables were stationary for the first-order difference. In this study, some statistical tests were applied to choose between models. The key question is whether data will be collected across countries and times, as all variables in the models can vary between countries and times. At this stage, the Chow test and Breush-Pagan were used. The Hausman test showed that the random effects model was suitable.
The analysis showed that for developed countries an increase by 1 unit in the human development index increases growth by 38.7%. For developing countries, a 1-unit increase in the human development index leads to a 17.4% growth increase. Therefore, the contribution of human development to growth is higher in developed countries than in developing countries. It is important that developing countries implement policies quickly to increase of human development.
A more successful human development policy should follow and support the development policies to be formed, as well as the projects prepared by the United Nations in this direction. It should adopt a multi-faceted, sustainable human development approach. An economic growth strategy should be determined, in which people are included in the development in areas such as education, health, nutrition, and income distribution. In order to project the effects of human development into economic growth, per capita education and health expenditures should be increased. On the other hand, for individual development it is important to improve social conditions as well as economic conditions. Economies should adopt policies aimed at improving the quality of life of individuals.
