See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/324005468

THE INDICATORS AND INDICES OF DEVELOPMENT

Chapter · July 2017

CITATIONS READS

2 1,389

3 authors:

Afeez Alabi Salami s.L. Tilakasiri

University of Ilorin,Ilorin University of Ilroin, Nigeria
14 PUBLICATIONS   12 CITATIONS    13 PUBLICATIONS   16 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Yusuf Ahmed
University of Ilorin
4 PUBLICATIONS   23 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Edited book on Water, Land and People in Climate Change: Issues, Challenges and Perspectives View project

Environmental Management View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Afeez Alabi Salami on 11 April 2020.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

CHAPTER 04

THE INDICATORS AND

INDICES OF DEVELOPMENT
A. A. Salami, S. L. Tilakasiri and Y. A. Ahmed

Introduction

‘D
evelopment’ is a complicated word in the English
language. Peet & Hartwick (1999) call it a ‘founding
belief of the modern world’ connoting progress,
modernity and democratic values. It is a word that carries at
once the aspirations of the poor and the designs of corporate
elites. As Adams (2007) notes, the word ‘development’ is
used both descriptively, to explain economic, socio-cultural
and environmental transformation, and normatively, as a
prescription for how economies, societies and environments
should be transformed. These distinct meanings are often
conflated, contributing to the conceptual confusion and analytical
complexity of the concept.

What constitutes development varies from regions to regions

and from countries to another. Uneven spatial distribution
of economic activity also makes geography contributes to
development. A general definition stresses development as
attempts to reduce poverty and world inequalities in an effort to
guide the world to a situation of betterment and improvement
over time (Potter, Binns, Elliott & Smith, 2008). It has been
observed that development is something that does – or does
not – happen over time and across territories. It is inevitable
that scholars and practitioners have sought to find methods
to measure its progress. The approaches used to measure
78 Geography in Development: Issues and Perspectives

development are called indicators and indices.

Studies have shown that there is a pressing ethical need to

equalize the highly disparate conditions that currently exist in
the poor and rich worlds. How can we measure ‘development?’
To measure the ‘positive changes’ and ‘quality of life’ of people
in the society, the paper focuses on development indicators
and indices. The issues surrounding what development means
and how it can be assessed and measured are also the specific
concern of this chapter. It begins by examining the concept of
development and issues closely associated with development.

Further, this chapter explores the indicators and indices of

development specifically: measuring development as economic
growth; measuring development as poverty; measuring
development as human development; measuring development
as collective happiness in a nation; measuring sustainable
development; and measuring development in wider terms
including human rights and freedoms. Through empirical
evidence, the chapter shows that all these indicators are
quantitative and qualitative which are obvious tools to employ in
development. The study concludes that all these indicators and
indices should be adopted and used globally. The GNH Index
is used to orient the people and the nation towards happiness,
primarily by improving the conditions of not yet-happy people.

Meaning and Nature of Development

The concept of ‘development’ is derived from biological
understandings of growth, which serves to naturalise it, and
gives it an air of inevitability. Geographers must be attentive to
the divergent meanings ascribed to development, and the social
and environmental implications of development discourses and
practices. Development, or improvement in the quality of life,
is a wide-ranging concept. The United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP, 1997; 2010) describes development as “the
three essentials of development which include the ability to lead
a long and healthy life, to acquire knowledge, and to have a
decent standard of life”.
The Indicators and Indices of Development 79

Development is all about improving the life conditions

that are faced by the global majority, and specifically this means
reducing existing levels of poverty and inequality at the world
scale (Rob, Dennis, Ruth & Sally, 2012). In the opinions of Paul &
Garrett (2014), development includes wealth, but it also includes
other important aspects of our lives. For example, many people
would consider good health to be more important than wealth.
Figure 1 illustrates factors comprising the quality of life.

Economic Physical
income job security Diet/nutrition Water
standard of living supply Climate
(housing, personal Environmental quality/
mobility, etc.) hazards

QUALITY
OF LIFE

Social Psychological
Family/Friends Happiness Security
Education Health Freedom

Figure 1: Factors Comprising the Quality of Life.

Source: Paul & Garrett (2014).

Stephen (2004) viewed development as a progression,

such as the improvement in economic performance, but is also
sometimes seen in the inverse, as the negation of an absence. This
means that development can be simply equate to the reduction
or elimination of poverty. Development occurs when there are
improvements to individual factors making up the quality of
life. For example, development occurs in a low-income country
when:
80 Geography in Development: Issues and Perspectives

• local food supply improves due to investment in farm

machinery and fertilizers;

• the electricity grid extends outwards from the main urban

areas to rural areas; and

• levels of literacy improve throughout the country.

Rob et al., (2012) stated that the rise of development studies

as an academic subject that can be studied at university dates
from the 1960s. Figure 2 shows the cross-disciplinary field of
development studies. The essence of development is that there is
a poor world and there is a rich world, and it is implicit that it is
the responsibility of the latter to assist the former. Development
is something that has to be conceptualized at the global level due
to the fact that development issues involve both poor and rich
countries as well as poor and rich people and groups, and the
need is to move the former in each case to a more advantageous
situation. From these descriptions, it is deduced that development
involves making sure people have the basic things they need
such as food, housing, schools, health care and jobs, etc.

A vital task of development is seen by freeing people

from the grid of poverty and this serves as a major use of the
word ‘development’ at the global scale. At the simplest level,
developed countries are seen as assisting the developing
countries by means of development aid, in an effort to reduce
poverty, unemployment, inequality and other indicators of
‘underdevelopment’. It can be deduced from all the definitions
given above that “development is the process. From above
definitions of development, it is deduced that improvements in
social, economic and political prosperity as well as technology
do not only term or suggest development but also with
improvements in human conditions, in personal happiness and
in social wellbeing in the society. Development is also viewed
as a process of moving the whole social system upward so as
to enhance the capacity of each member of a society to realize
his or her inherent potential and to effectively cope with the
changing circumstances of his or her life (Mabogunje, 1977 cited
in Tilakasiri et al., 2016).
The Indicators and Indices of Development 81

Figure 2: The Cross-Disciplinary field of Development Studies

Source: Rob et al. (2012).

Economic Development and Growth

Economic development is often referred to in the media, as
well as being the foci for discussion along with unemployment,
interest rates, exports, etc. by government, non-governmental
organisations, individuals and politicians. In the 1950s,
development was synonymous with economic growth (Stephen,
2004). This suggested that it was used largely in the context of
economic change presupposing an increase in production or
consumption of a nation or a region. This leads to increase of
such production and consumption by each person on a per capita
basis (Arthur, 1998). Economic growth leads to more income for
people, which in turn leads to less poverty and a better standard
of living (Veenhoven, 1996). While distribution of wealth may
not necessarily be a direct concern in economic growth, there is
an assumption that it will ‘trickle down’ within the economy.

In the early 1960s, development has been conceived in the

context of the drive for improvement in human conditions, in
personal happiness and in social well-being; a paradigm which
amplifies other elements that lie within the scope of social action
rather than the purely economic sense of growth (ibid). In the late
82 Geography in Development: Issues and Perspectives

1960s, development was measured largely in terms of income per

member of the population (Othick, 1983). An apparent obsession
with economic indicators is perhaps understandable given the
impact that economic depressions have had on people’s lives.

Alan (2004) described economic growth as an increase in

an economy’s output of goods and services, and the overall
amount of income that it generates. It has been observed that
many developing economies have been experiencing ‘economic
growth’ but without corresponding with social and/or
environmental development. Studies have shown that economic
growth destroys the environment and depletes stocks of natural
resources because it prioritizes consumption to generate income.
While economic development is the progressive elimination
of poverty, unemployment and inequality (Seers, 1972).
Development brings economic growth, prosperity, overall
progress, modernization, provision of basic needs, creating
sustainable growth and improved governance etc. Arthur (1998)
opined that economic development is desirable for all countries
and the world. He emphasized that it should be carried out in
such a way as to bring benefits to all the inhabitants of the planet
earth, irrespective of their socio-economic characteristics. It
should not be at the expense of the people such that it functions
as a process that generates poverty, inequality, unemployment,
indebtedness, inflation, ill-health and malnourishment to
millions of people.

Sustainable Development
The 1980s saw the rise of another approach to development
usually known as “sustainable development”. The term
‘sustainable development’ was brought into common usage
in 1987 by the United Nation’s Brundtland Commission. The
Brundtland Report, Our Common Future (UNWEP, 1987) coined
what has become the most often-quoted definition of sustainable
development as ‘development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs’. Some condemned it as an oxymoron, and
seriously questioned the ambiguities over the implied conflation
of societal processes and environmental, or ecological, processes.
The Indicators and Indices of Development 83

Others questioned the concept’s futuristic, yet imprecise, tenor.

Still others, though not the scientific community, rejected the
doomsday predictions about future climate change.

Figure 3: Sustainable Development, encompassing concerns

for the Community, Economy and the Environment
Source: Stephen (2004).

One generalization difficult to refute, or ignore, is that the

current environmental and development paths the world is
on are not sustainable (Monbiot, 2007). Stephen (2004) defined
sustainability in terms of human development as the meeting of
changing needs without reducing capability to do so. This can
sometimes appear as if sustainable development is more about
protecting the environment and natural resources than it is
about people, and some have felt moved to make the priorities
clear. Figure 3 illustrates a classic representation of sustainable
development.

United Nations Development Programme -UNDP- (1990)

buttressed the definition of sustainable development put forward
by WCED (1987). Based on previous influential ‘Earth Summits’
held on sustainable development, important quotations have
been selected with the emphasis on making peoples’ lives better
as well as protecting the environment. These include:
84 Geography in Development: Issues and Perspectives

“The Summit reaffirmed sustainable development as a

central element of the international agenda and gave new
impetus to global action to fight poverty and protect the
environment”.

“The understanding of sustainable development was

broadened and strengthened as a result of the Summit,
particularly the important linkages between poverty, the
environment and the use of natural resources”.

“Governments agreed to and reaffirmed a wide range of

concrete commitments and targets for action to achieve more
effective implementation of sustainable development objectives”.
(www.johannesburgsummit.org/)

Development Indicators and Indices

Indictors and indices are both used in measuring the
wealth and levels of economic growth and development.
The term “development indicators’ is complicated and can be
viewed in different perspectives. Indicators are used to illustrate
progress of a country in meeting a range of economic, social
and environmental goals. Development Indicators can also
be defined as a numeric measure of quality of life in a country
(Wikipedia, 2017). Development Indicators show the progress
that has been made in a particular area such as health, education
or gender equality (ibid).

In a technical perspective, Gallopin (1997) defined

indicators as ‘an operational representation of an attribute
(quality, characteristic, property) of a system’. This can be simply
and specifically referred to as ‘social indicators’. Kao & Liu (1984)
defined social indicator as indicator that represents and measures
wherever possible certain aspects of the progress or retrogression
of such processes or activities (such as industrialization, health,
welfare and educational services) and areas that are of special
concerned to society. Therefore, it is understood that ‘social
indicators’ as a measurement of the social aspects of life become
an integral part of ‘development indicators’.
The Indicators and Indices of Development 85

In other way, De Greene (1994) stated that indicators are not

necessarily collected or used in a purely ‘objective’, ‘scientific’
manner but they are used by people on a day-to-day basis for
making decisions. Action (2000) stated that the major positive
indicators of development include natural resources; education
rate; industrial/agricultural production; political stability;
and peaceful neighbourhood. Paul & Garrett (2014) identified
two indicators of development which include traditional and
individual. Traditional indicators of development include the
Gross National Product (GNP) and Gross Domestic Product
(GDP), while literacy; life expectancy; infant mortality; school
enrolment; percentage of the population with access to an
improved water supply; percentage of the population living in
urban areas; food intake (calories per capital per day); energy
consumption per capital; doctors per 100, 000 people; internet
penetration rate; and number of motor vehicles per 1000
population belong to individual indicators.

There are some aspects of development that are measurable and

some that are not measurable. Table 1 shows aspects of developments
which can be measured and which cannot be measured. The development
indicators and indices that are discussed in subsequent subsections
include: indicators of economic development (GNP, GDP, literacy, life
expectancy, infant mortality rate), measurement of poverty, measuring
Human Development and Gross National Happiness.
Table 1: Aspects of Development.

Measurable Not Measurable

Employment Freedom
Poverty Security
Health Sustainability
Education Conservation
Social Cohesion
Safety and Security
Good Governance

Source: Wikipedia (2017).

86 Geography in Development: Issues and Perspectives

I. Indicators of Economic Development

The most well-known of these indicators used to gauge

economic performance of a country are the Gross National
Product (GNP; also known as Gross National Income, GNI) and
the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Sweeney (1999) posited that
GNP and GDP can be adjusted to allow for the consumption of
fixed capital (Net Domestic Product, NDP, and Net National
Product, and NNP respectively). This is because it allows for a
flow of money into the economy arising from a depreciation of
fixed capital by both the private and government sectors. Because
it takes account of capital depreciation, some commentators have
suggested that NNP can be seen as an indicator of sustainability
(Asheim, 1994). Environmentally Adjusted GDP and the GPI
need to be added in capturing the ability of GDP. The EDP is
the NDP minus the environmental costs incurred, such as
degradation of water, air, forests, etc. EDP is an example of what
some term ‘green accounting’ (Mitchell, 1996; Bartelmus, 1997).
GNP, GDP, and other economic development indicators such as
literacy, life expectancy and infant mortality rate are highlighted
below.

i. The Gross National Product (GNP) is the total value of

goods and services produced by a country in a year,
plus income earned by the country’s residents from
foreign investment, minus the income earned within
the domestic economy by overseas residents (Paul &
Garrett, 2014). GNP was developed by Kuznets and
Keynes as a tool for measuring economic development
(Chatterjee, 2008). The total GNP of a country is divided
by the total population. Thus: GNP = GDP + income from
the rest of the world payments to the rest of the world. For
instance, the total GNP of China is greater than of UK,
but GNP per capital is much higher in the UK (Paul &
Garrett, 2014). The variation in the cost of living between
countries was not put into consideration.

ii. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the basis for a host
of other economic performance indicators normally
published in national accounts. World Development
Report (2001) gives a technical definition of GDP as “the
The Indicators and Indices of Development 87

gross value added, at purchaser prices, by all resident

(nationals and foreigners) producers in the economy
plus any taxes and minus any subsidies not included
in the value of the products’. When calculated, the
national total is divided by the total population, to give
the value of goods and services produced per head of
the population. As GDP is a gross value of economic
activity within a country, it will have some relationship
with the size of the population living in that country –
generally the larger the population, the larger will be the
GDP. There are various ways of calculating the GDP, but
the most intuitively straightforward is to estimate the
expenditure in an economy. The expenditure approach
to GDP measures total economic activity by adding the
amount spent by all final consumers of products and
services (WDR, 2001). Thus, “GDP = C + I + G + (EX –
IM).

iii. Literacy (i.e. Education) is a very important key to socio-

economic development of a country and has been
regarded as a very important individual indicator of
development. Paul & Garrett (2014) described literacy
as the process of acquiring knowledge, understanding
and skills. Adult literacy is one of the main ways in
which differences in educational standards between
countries can be shown. In 2010, it was further stated
that the world’s adult literacy rate was 84 per cent but
many African countries have rates below 50 per cent.
About 775 million adults globally are illiterate (ibid).
Therefore, a low adult literacy rate is a great obstacle to
development. Studies show that people who are literate
are able to access medical and other information that
will help them to attain a higher quality of life compared
with those who are illiterate.

iv. Life Expectancy is also considered as a very important

measure of development because it is the end result of
all factors contributing to the quality of life in a country.
As to measure the inequalities of different countries,
governments should know about variations in life
expectancy. The incidence of diseases (such as malaria),
88 Geography in Development: Issues and Perspectives

physical environmental conditions (such as very low

rainfall), human environmental conditions (such as
pollution), and personal life style (such as smoking)
influence the life expectancy (Paul & Garrett, 2014).

v. Infant Mortality Rate is regarded as one of the most

sensitive indicators of socio-economic progress of a
country. This is because it is an important measure of
health inequality (both between and within countries).
Studies have shown that infant mortality rates had fallen
in many developing countries of the world over the last
few decades. It has been observed that there is still a
considerable gap between the richer and the poorer
world regions. Paul & Garrett (2014) note that the infant
mortality rate in African continent is more than thirteen
times that of European continent.

The GDP and the GNP are important suit indicators of

economic development because they take into account various
aspects of an economy, such as consumption of fixed capital.
It is important to note that it is possible for an economy to
have a high GDP while incurring significant damage to its
environment and natural resource base. Such an economy will
not be sustainable and, even if the damage were aesthetically
and morally defensible at some stage, there will be a need for
realignment. Figure 4 shows 2016 world’s GDP per capital.

Figure 4: World Map Showing GDP per Capital in 2016.

Source: https://knoema.com
The Indicators and Indices of Development 89

II. Measurement of Poverty

This indicator is usually expressed in terms of monetary

income per day. Indeed, development is sometimes almost
defined as the process by which we reduce or eliminate poverty.
At this period, poverty is seen more broadly than just monetary
income, and terms such as ‘social exclusion’ are commonly
applied (Stephen, 2004). Poverty is obviously an important
element to consider in development, and indeed stated ‘goals of
development’ often emphasize a reduction in poverty as a main
measure of success (Anand & Ravallion, 1993).

The term ‘poverty’ has been formally identified in different

ways over the last few hundred years and an early example is the
notion of ‘subsistence’ (Poor Laws, early 19th century); people are
said to be in poverty if their incomes are not sufficient to maintain
a minimum level of subsistence, typically defined in terms of
essential requirements for life such as food, rent and clothing
(Stephen, 2004). Another view about poverty is the ‘basic needs’
approach adopted by the International Labour Organization
(ILO) in the 1970s (Khan, 1991; Brinkerhoff et al., 1997). Poverty
includes shelter, drinking water, sanitation, education, health
care etc., as well as food and clothing. Other things which are
included in this ‘basic needs’ perspective are issues such as social
participation, right to work, self-reliance and a voice in decision
making.

There have been problems in the measurement of poverty

due to differences in meanings. An important approach of
measuring poverty is to consider the notion of a ‘poverty line’.
This defines poverty in terms of an income below which people
are deemed to be in poverty (Stephen, 2004). The concept of
‘poverty line’ is a useful device and also widely applied, and pre-
dates the modern era of development. There are four ‘income
based’ indicators of poverty which employ the poverty line as a
standard. These include Headcount Ratio (or Headcount Index)
(H), Income Gap Ratio (I), Poverty Gap Index (P1) and Sen’s
Poverty Index (P).
90 Geography in Development: Issues and Perspectives

III. Measuring Human Development

Rather than money, people are the central priority of

human development. Economic growth is still regarded as
important, but the emphasis is on such growth being one element
in an improvement in the well-being of humankind (Anand &
Ravallion, 1993; Aturupane et al., 1994; Streeten, 1994). An index
of measuring human development is Human Development Index
(HDI). The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite
statistic of life expectancy, education, and per capita income
indicators, which are used to rank countries into four tiers of
human development (Wikipedia, 2017). A country scores higher
HDI when the life span is higher, the education level is higher,
and the GDP per capita is higher.

The HDI was developed by the Pakistani Economist

Mahbub ul Haq (UNDP, 2010). In 1989, the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) promoted the Human
Development Index (HDI) as a wider measure of development
and its data were published for the first time in 1990 in the
inaugural Human Development Report 1990 as a measure of the
disparities between countries (UNDP, 1990). HDI is an example
of a single index that encompasses but a few of these ‘essentials’ –
health, education and income. Human Development is a process
of enlarging people’s choices. In principle, these choices can be
infinite and change over time. But at all levels of development,
the three essential ones are for people to lead a long and healthy
life, to acquire knowledge and to have access to resources needed
for a decent standard of living. If these essential choices are not
available, many other opportunities remain inaccessible. (UNDP
HDR, 1990). The end of development must be human well-being
(UNDP HDR, 1990).

The HDI as a composite index, has changed slightly in

composition in recent years. Paul and Garrett (2014) stated
that the current index contains four indicators of development
namely: life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling for
adult aged 25 years, expected years of schooling for children
years of school entering age, and GNI per capital (Figure 5). In
2010, an Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI
and Gender Inequality Index (GII) were introduced. While
The Indicators and Indices of Development 91

the simple HDI remains useful, it stated that "the IHDI is the
actual level of human development (accounting for inequality),"
and "the HDI can be viewed as an index of 'potential' human
development (or the maximum IHDI that could be achieved if
there were no inequality)."
Human
Development
Index

nd g
s
Sta Livin
io
lth

ard
Three Dimensions
at
ea

uc
H

Ed
lin rs
bir cy

oo ars

oo yea

Prod nal
Natio ss
pe e

l
g
at ctan

per C uct
apita
g
ex Lif

sch ye
lin

Gro
th

Four Indicators
sch d
of ean

of cte
pe
M

Ex

Figure 5: Components of Human Development Index.

Source: Paul & Garrette (2014)

The Gender Inequality Index (GII) looks at disparities existing

between males and females over the dimensions of reproductive
health, empowerment and participation in the labour force, as shown
in Figure 6 (Rob et al., 2012). The countries of the world are divided
into four groups which include very high human development, high
human development, medium human development and low human
development based upon the value of the HDI.

Figure 6: The Gender Inequality Index (GII).

Source: Rob et al.(2012
92 Geography in Development: Issues and Perspectives

IV. Gross National Happiness (GNH)

Gross National Happiness (GNH) measures the quality of

a country in more holistic way (than GNP) and believes that
the beneficial development of human society takes place when
material and spiritual development occurs side by side to
complement and reinforce each other (Karma, Sabina, Tshoki
& Karma Wangdi, 2012). Meaning that, it is an index used to
measure the collective happiness in a nation. The concept is
indigenous to the country of Bhutan, and was enshrined in the
country’s 2008 constitution which states that “the State shall
strive to promote those conditions that will enable the pursuit
of Gross National Happiness” (Royal Government of Bhutan,
2017). 

The term ‘Gross National Happiness’ was inadvertently

coined by the fourth king of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck
in 1979 during an interview in Bombay Airport when he said
“We do not believe in Gross National Product (Dorji, 2012).
The concept implies that sustainable development should take
a holistic approach towards notions of progress and give equal
importance to non-economic aspects of wellbeing. The most
recongnizable analytical features of GNH are its four pillars
which are: economic self-reliance, environmental conservation,
cultural preservation and promotion, and good governance
(RGB, 2009). The four pillars are classified into nine domains in
order to create widespread understanding of GNH and to reflect
the holistic range of GNH values.

These domains represent each of the components of

wellbeing of the Bhutanese people, and the term ‘wellbeing’ here
refers to fulfilling conditions of a ‘good life’ as per the values
and principles laid down by the concept of Gross National
Happiness. Karma et al. (2012) stated that the nine domains
articulate the elements of GNH more fully and form the basis
of the GNH index. The Gross National Happiness Index is a single
number index developed from 33 indicators categorized under
nine domains (Figure 7). The GNH Index is decomposable by
any demographic characteristic and so is designed to create
policy incentives for the government, NGOs and businesses
of Bhutan to increase GNH. The 33 indicators under the nine
The Indicators and Indices of Development 93

domains aim to emphasize different aspects of wellbeing and

different ways of meeting these underlying human needs. The 33
indicators are statistically reliable, normatively important, and
easily understood by large audiences.

Karma et al., (2012) identified two kinds of threshold which

GNH index uses. These include sufficiency thresholds and one
happiness threshold. Sufficiency thresholds show how much
a person needs in order to enjoy sufficiency in each of the 33
indicators. The overall happiness threshold meanwhile answers
the question “how many domains or in what percentage of
the indicators must a person achieve sufficiency in order to be
understood as happy”? The domains are equally weighted.
Within each domain, the objective indicators are given higher
weights while the subjective and self-reported indicators are
assigned lower weights.

In 2007, Karma Ura proposed that a GNH index would

be used in setting an alternative framework of development;
providing indicators to sectors to guide development; allocating
resources in accordance with targets and GNH screening tools;
measuring people’s happiness and wellbeing; measuring
progress over time; and comparing progress across the country
(RGB, 2008). The GNH methodology basically provides three
types of results: headcount, intensity and the overall GNH index
(Bhutan GNH Index, 2010). In 2005, Med Jones, an American
economist, proposed a second generation American GNH
concept also known as Gross National Well-being or GNW, the
first GNW / GNH Index and the first Global GNW / GNH Index
Survey. The proposal served as a blueprint for the later well-
being development frameworks and happiness econometric
models (Gross National Happiness, 2015).

In 2006, the International Institute of Management

published a policy white paper calling for the implementation of
GNH philosophy in the US (Wikipedia, 2017). The international
Multidimentional Poverty Index (PMI) was launched by the
Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI)
at the University of Oxford in UK and published in the
United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Human
Development Reports in 2010. OPHI promotes collection and
94 Geography in Development: Issues and Perspectives

Figure 7: The Nine Domains and 33 Indicators of the GNH Index.

Source: Karma et al. (2012).

analysis of data on multiple indicators based on three domains:

health, education, and living standards (Alkire, Sabina, Santos
& María, 2011).  Kramer (2017) developed a behavioral model
of "Gross National Happiness" based on the use of positive and
negative words in social network status updates, resulting in a
quantitative GNH metric.

In 2016, the governments of Thailand and Dubai adopt the

GNH index as an indicator of development. Thailand launched
its own GNH centre by conceiving the similar philosophy of
“Sufficiency Economy) and the government of Dubai established
the Ministry of Happiness and referenced GNH as the background
for the initiative ((Thailand GNH Center, 2016; UAE, 2016). For
policy action, the GNH Index enables the government and others
to increase GNH in two ways. It can either increase percentage of
people who are happy or decrease the insufficient conditions of
people who are not-yet happy (Karma et al., 2012).

Every nation of the world should adopt Bhutan Gross

National Happiness model because it recognize all the aspects
The Indicators and Indices of Development 95

of people’s needs (be these spiritual or material, physical or

social); emphasis balanced progress towards the attributes of
GNH; views happiness to be an all-encompassing collective
phenomenon; pursues wellbeing for both current and future
generations; and achieves reasonable and equitable distributed
level of wellbeing. In general, GNH measures the quality of a
country in more holistic way than GNP and believes that the
beneficial development of human society takes place when
material and spiritual development occur side by side to
complement and reinforce each other. GNH can also be used by
policy makers as well as institutions and agents across society on
how people are happier – or unhappier – than previously.

Indicators of Sustainable Development

The use of environmental indicators at the international
level was pioneered by the Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development (OECD), which published in 1974
its “Core Set of Indicators” (OECD, 1998) recommending to use
them by the EU Member States. There are several composite
indicators being proposed in environmental sustainability
which include but not limited to Environmental Sustainability
Index (ESI), Wellbeing Index (WI), Corruption Perception Index
(CPI), Ecological Footprint (EF), Living Planet Index (LPI), Direct
Material Consumption (DMC), Geobiosphere Load Index (GBL).
This paper briefly explained few from the aforementioned
indicators of sustainable development.

The Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) is an index

designed to gauge the environmental sustainability of countries.
The assumption is that for sustainable development to take
place, there must be no damage to the environment (Stephen,
2004). ESI is published by the World Economic Forum (World
Economic Forum, 2002). The ESI permits cross-national
comparisons of environmental progress in a systematic and
quantitative fashion. It represents a first step towards a more
analytically driven approach to environmental decision making
(Bedřich, Tomáš, Jan, Miroslav & Petra, 2004). Meaning that
it is a measure of the overall progress towards environmental
sustainability, developed for 142 countries. Just like the HDI, it
96 Geography in Development: Issues and Perspectives

utilizes published data sets, but has 20 components rather than

just three. Its calculation is also more complex than the HDI, and
again there are critical issues over selection of the components
and their relative weighting.

Bedřich et al. (2004) described Wellbeing Index (WI) as a

combine of 36 indicators which include health, population,
wealth, education, communication, freedom, peace, crime, and
equity into the Human Wellbeing index, and 51 indicators of
land, biodiversity, water quality and supply, air quality and
global atmosphere, and energy and resource use pressures
into an Ecosystem Wellbeing index. The two indexes are then
combined into the Wellbeing/Stress Index (Prescott, 2001). The
Corruption Perception Index (CPI) is meant to reflect an important
aspect of ‘good governance’, a feature that is today seen as an
important requisite for development (Stephen, 2004). Without
good governance, development efforts can be wasted or even
be detrimental. The control of corruption is seen as an essential
element for this, hence the various efforts to derive indices of
corruption.

CPI draws its data from questionnaires completed by

business people, mostly based in the developed world, designed
to gauge their perceptions of the level of corruption in the
countries of which they have experience. Ecological Footprint (EF)
was firstly published in 1996 by Wackernagel & Rees (Bedřich
et al., 2004). The EF of a specified population can be defined as
the area of ecologically productive land needed to maintain its
current consumption patterns and absorb its wastes with the
prevailing technology. People consume resources from all over
the world, so their footprint can be thought of as a sum of these
areas, wherever on the planet they are located (Wackernagel &
Rees, 1996).

Living Planet Index (LPI) is an indicator promoted by the

World Wildlife Fund. It tries to assess the overall state of the
Earth’s natural ecosystems, which includes national and global
data on human pressures on natural ecosystems arising from the
consumption of natural resources and the effects of pollution
(Loh, 2002). Direct Material Consumption (DMC) is defined as a
sum of all domestic extraction flows (extracted raw material,
The Indicators and Indices of Development 97

harvested biomass, etc.) including imported and excluding

exported material flows (both raw materials, biomass and semi-
manufactured/manufactured products) (Eurostat, 2001).

Conclusion
Through literature search, this chapter has dealt with
several indicators and indices of development and sustainable
development which include but not limited to GNP, GDP,
HDI, GNH, ESI, CPI, WI, DMC to name a few. It is observed
that indicators can be seen as a tool within a broader policy of
facilitating ‘informed choice’ by a much wider group than just
policy makers and managers. These indicators have closely
reflected the various paradigms of development that have been
advanced and embraced over the years. GDP and GNP per
capita have been used since the 1960s as measures of economic
growth. The HDI was developed by the United Nations in the late
1980s to reflect three major dimensions of human development
– longevity, knowledge and standard of living. The HDI can
be adapted and rendered as a strongly gendered measure of
development. Wider sets of dimensions, including those involved
in the MDGs, can be used to measure the multidimensional nature
of development, including social welfare issues and human
rights – as in the Gender Inequality Index. GNH indicators serve
as evaluative tools to track developmental progress over time.
GNH indicators as targets display a common sense of purpose,
offering us direction to the programmes and policies which are
coherent with the values of GNH. The indices of sustainable
development are briefly discussed in this chapter. However, we
need other tools to maneuver towards GNH targets in order to
know whether we are actually advancing in the right direction.
98 Geography in Development: Issues and Perspectives

References
Acton, C. (2000). Community indicators for sustainability: A European
overview. Environ Trust, Leicester.

Adams, W. M. (2007). Green development: Environment and sustainability

in the Third World. 3rd Edition. London: Routledge.

Alan, G. (2004). Introduction to exploring sustainable development.

In P. Martin & G. Alan (Eds.), Exploring sustainable development:
Geographical perspectives. Earthscan Publication Limited: UK and
USA, 24.

Alkire, Sabina, Santos & María, E. (2011). Acute multidimensional

poverty: A new index for developing countries. Proceedings of
the German Development Economics Conference (3). Retrieved from
https://www.econstor.eu/handle/10419/48297.

Anand, S. & Ravallion, M. (1993). Human development in poor

countries: On the role of private incomes and public services. Journal
of Economic Perspectives, 7(1), 133–150.

Arthur, M. (1998). Geography and development. UCL Press Limited, 1

Gunpowder Square London EC4A 3DE UK.

Asheim, G.B. (1994). Net national product as an indicator of

sustainability. Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 96(2), 257–265.

Aturupane, H. Glewwe, P. and Isenman, P. (1994). Poverty, human

development and growth: An emerging consensus? The American
Economic Review, 84(2),244–249.

Bartelmus, P. (1997). Greening the national accounts. In B. Moldan, S.

Billharz & R. Matravers (Eds.), Sustainability indicators: A report on
the project on indicators of sustainable development. John Wiley and
Sons, Chichester, 198–205.

Bebbington, A. (2002). Geographies of development in Latin America?

Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers Yearbook, 27,105–48.

Bedřich, M., Tomáš, H., Jan, K., Miroslav H. & Petra K. (2004). Composite
indicators of environmental sustainability. Retrieved from http://
www.oecd.org/oecdworldforum
The Indicators and Indices of Development 99

Brinkerhoff, M.B., Fredell, K.A. & Frideres, J.S. (1997). Basic minimum
needs, quality of life and selected correlates: Explorations in villages
in Northern India. Social Indicators Research, 42,245–281.

Chatterjee, S. (2008). The anatomy of recent growth and transformation of

the economies of China and India. Palmerston North, NZ: Massey
University.

Cowen, M. P. & Shenton, R. W. (1996). Doctrines of development. London:

Routledge.

De Greene, K.B. (1994). The rocky path to complex-systems indicators.

Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 47, 171–188.

Dorji, T. (2012). The story of a king, a poor country, and a rich Idea. Business
Bhutan. Retrieved from http://earthjournalism.net/stories/6468.

Dowrick, S., Dunlop, Y. & Quiggin, J. (2003). Social indicators and

comparisons of living standards. Journal of Development Economics,
70,501–529.

Eurostat, S. (2001). Economy-Wide material flow accounts and derived

indicators. A Methodological Guide, 92.

Escobar, A. (1995). Encountering development: The making and unmaking of

the Third World. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Gallopin, G.C. (1997). Indicators and their use: Information for decision-
making. In B. Moldan, S. Billharz, & R. Matravers (Eds.), Sustainability
indicators: A report on the project on indicators of sustainable development.
John Wiley and Sons, Chichester, 13–27.

Gross National Happiness Report (GNHR) (2015). A compass towards

a just and harmoneous society: 2015 GNH Survey Report. Thimphu,
Bhutan: Centre for Bhutan Studies & GNH Research. ISBN 978-
99936-14-86-9.

Kao, C.H.C. & Liu, B.C. (1984). Socio-economic advance in the Republic
of China (Taiwan): An intertemporal analysis of Its quality of life
indicators. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 43(4), 399–
412.

Karma, U., Sabina, A., Tshoki, Z. & Karma, W. (2012). A short guide
to gross national happiness index. The Centre for Bhutan Studies:
Thimphu, Bhutan.
100 Geography in Development: Issues and Perspectives

Khan, H. (1991). Measurement and determinants of socio-economic

development. A critical conspectus. Social Indicators Research,
24,153–175.

Kramer, A. (2017). An unobtrusive behavioral model of gross national

happiness. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in
Computing Systems: 287–290.

Loh, J. (Ed.) (2002). Living planet report 2002. World Wildlife Fund, 39.

Mitchell, G. (1996). Problems and fundamentals of sustainable

development indicators. Sustainable Development, 4, 1–11.

Monbiot, G. (2007). Heat: How to stop the planet from burning. Cambridge,
MA: South End Press.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

(1998). Towards sustainable development. Environmental Indicators.
OECD Publications, 129.

Othick, J. (1983). Development indicators and the historical study of

human welfare: Towards a new perspective. The Journal of Economic
History, 43(1), 63–70.

Paul, G. & Garrett, N. (2014). Cambridge IGCSE geography. 2nd Edition,

Hodder Education: An Hachette UK Company, London.162-181.
ISBN: 9781471807275.

Peet, R. & Hartwick, E. (1999). Theories of development. New York:

Guilford Press.

Perreault, T. (2003). A people with our own identity: Toward a cultural

politics of development in Ecuadorian Amazonia. Environment and
Planning D: Society and Space, 21, 583–606.

Prescott-Allen, R. (2001). The wellbeing of nations. A country-by-c Index

of quality of life and the environment. Island Press, 341.

Potter, R. B., Binns, T., Elliott, J.A. & Smith, D. (2008). Geographies of
development: An introduction to development studies, 3rd Edition.
Harlow, London and New York: Pearson-Prentice-Hall.

Rob, P., Dennis, C., Ruth, E. & Sally, l. (2012). Key concepts in development
geography. SAGE Publications Ltd: London.
The Indicators and Indices of Development 101

Royal Government of Bhutan (2008). Bhutan tenth round table meeting

report. In G. N. H. (Ed.), Commission. (February 17-18): Thimphu.

Royal Government of Bhutan (2009). Tenth five-year plan: 2008-2013.

Thimphu, Bhutan: Gross National Happiness Commission - Royal
Government of Bhutan. Retrieved from http://www.gnhc.gov.bt/
wp-content/uploads/2011/10thplan/TenthPlan_Vol1_Web.pdf.

Royal Government of Bhutan (2017). The constitution of the kingdom of

Bhutan. National Council. Royal Government of Bhutan. Retrieved
from http://www.nationalcouncil.bt/assets/uploads/files/
Constitution%20%20of%20Bhutan%20Eng lish.pdf.

Seers, D. (1972). The meaning of development. In T. U. Normal, & W.

F. Ilchman (Eds.), The political economy of development. Berkeley:
University of California Press. 123-139.

Stephen, M. (2004). Indices and indicators in development: An unhealthy

obsession with numbers? Earthscan Publication Limited: UK and
USA.

Streeten, P. (1994). Human development: Means and ends. The American

Economic Review, 84(2), 232–237.

Sweeney, P. (1999). The celtic tiger. Ireland’s continuing economic miracle.

Oak Tree Press, Dublin.

Thailand GNH Centre (2016). Thailand GNH centre. Retreived from

http://thainews.prd.go.th/website_en/news/news_detail/
WNPOL5910120010021.

Tilakasiri, S.L., Olarewaju, R. M. & Salami, A.A. (2016). Global warming

and climate change: Past, present and future. In S.L. Tilakasiri
(Ed.), Water, land and people in climate change Stamford Lake Pvt Ltd.
Pannipitiya: Sri Lanka. 3-30.

United Arab Emirates (2016). With new minister, United Arab Emirates
want to top the world in happiness, too. New York Times. 9 February
2016. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/10/
world/middleeast/emirates-want-to-top-the-world-in- happiness-
too.html?_r=0.

United Nations Development Programme (2010). The human development

concept. UNDP. 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
 102 Geography in Development: Issues and Perspectives

United Nations Development Programme (1997). Human development report

1997. Human Development Report, 15. ISBN 978-0-19-511996-1.

United Nations Development Programme (1991). Human Development Reports

1991. UNDP, New York: Oxford University Press.

Veenhoven, R. (1996). Happy life-expectancy. A comprehensive measure of

quality of life in nations. Social Indicators Research, 39, 1–58.

Wackernagel, M. & Rees, W. (1996). Our ecological footprint: Reducing

human impact on the earth. Gabriola Island. BC, New Society Publishers.

World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) (1987). Our

common future. WCED. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

View publication stats