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Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia

46 (2) 2012 37 – 53


The Social Economic Development Index: A New Measurement of Development
Indeks Pembangunan Ekonomi Sosial: Satu Pengukur Pembangunan Baru

Planning and Development Department
Free Zones Corporation
Zarqa Governorate-Zarqa City-Free Zones Corporation-general
management
JORDAN

e-mail: thaer_ayasreh@yahoo.com

Abstract

The human development index (HDI) is published annually by the United Nations Development Program and has played an influential role in the debate on human development for many years. However, it has been widely argued for severalreasons that the HDI contains several weaknesses and is an inappropriate mechanism by which to  measure human development. Additionally, the HDI does not take into account further important indicators, such as unemployment, poverty and environment, alongside GDP per capita; expected years of schooling and mean years of schooling; and life expectancy at birth. No index is perfect and the HDI of the UNDP reflects this fact. The present study proposes the social economic development index (SEDI) as a new means to measure the development level of countries. The SEDI uses more indicators than the three presently examined in the HDI. The study also suggests applying the development status matrix (DSM), which assists in classifying countries into groups according to development status, specifically focusing on the dynamic characteristics of underdeveloped countries. In conclusion, this study clearly demonstrates the importance of utilizing the SEDI and the DSM to measure a country’s development.

Keywords

Development; development status matrix; economic development; human development; human development index; ranking of countries; social-economic development index

Bibliography

Export Bibliography

Ayasrah, (2012). The Social Economic Development Index: A New Measurement of Development. Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, 46(2), 37–53.

@article{Ayasrah2012Thesocial,
  title={The Social Economic Development Index: A New Measurement of Development},
  author={Ayasrah, Tha'r},
  journal={Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia},
  volume={46},
  number={2},
  pages={37—53},
 

year={2012},
}


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