A Review of Past 32 Years of Human Development Reports: Conceptualization Challenge and Way Forward.

This paper reviews the Human Development Reports (HDRs) of the past 32 years to evaluate changes in the conceptualization of the Human Development Index (HDI) in determining human development over time. Using a genealogical approach, the data is extracted from HDRs that were published during 1990-2022. We identify that no significant change occurred in the conceptualization of human development over a period of more than three decades. It was also identified that the changing needs of human development were not addressed holistically in the measurement of human development overtime. The changes that occurred over time were either event-driven or remained tentative to include more important attributes of human development. Furthermore, the human development concept as identified in HDRs and measured through HDI is neither grounded in theory nor takes into account the interdisciplinary nature of human development. We discuss how interdisciplinary knowledge could be used to overcome challenges in the better conceptualization of human development for preparing a more representative human development index (HDI). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]