Development Indices

Abstract

Both India and China have grown impressively in recent years. This article seeks to unravel the various dimensions in which development has taken place in the two countries. The first section discusses the various indicators that are generally used to measure economic progress in any economy. The second section explains the methodology used by UNDP to construct four important indices, namely the Human Development Index (HDI), the Gender Related Development Index (GDI), the Gender Empowerment Index (GEM) and the Human Poverty Index (HPI), and their respective limitations. The third section compares the progress made by India and China in terms of these indices and looks at some other important indicators of development for the two countries. The final section seeks to draw some conclusions and spell out the policy implications.