Human Capital Notes
Human Development: beyond GDP
Abstract
Is GDP per capita an adequate measure of the welfare of a society? What are its drawbacks and what are the alternatives? These questions are the starting point of note no. 114 in the Human Capital series, which is the main theme of the study Human development in Spain: 1980-2007, presented by the Bancaja Foundation and the Ivie in July 2010.As detailed in this issue, the human development approach proposes measuring progress from a broader perspective than that based on GDP. That is to say, through advances in three key areas: health, education and income. The debate on the measurement of development and the alternative proposed by the United Nations is also presented: the Human Development Index. In addition, an overview is provided of human development in Spain in an international context, along with a first illustration of this at regional level for the period 1980-2007.