Paths to Success: The Relationship between Human Development and Economic Growth

49 Pages Posted: 16 Jan 2004

See all articles by Michael Boozer

Michael Boozer

Yale University - Economic Growth Center

Gustav Ranis

Yale University - Department of Economics (Deceased)

Frances Stewart

University of Oxford - Department of Economics

Tavneet Suri

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Sloan School of Management

Date Written: December 2003

Abstract

This paper explores the two-way relationships between Economic Growth (EG) and Human Development (HD), building on an earlier work by Ranis, Stewart, and Ramirez (2000). Here, we show that HD is not only a product of EG but also an important input to it. The paper develops new empirical strategies to estimate the strength of the two-way chains connecting HD and EG. Building on existing growth literature, we explore the empirical determinants of positive growth trajectories running from HD to EG and find that HD plays an essential role in explaining growth trajectories. Our findings point to the empirical relevance of endogenous growth models in general, and threshold effect models in particular. We also develop a measure of the strength of the EG to HD relationship and explore some of its empirical determinants. A strong sequencing implication of our findings that HD must be given priority for the achievement of both higher EG as well as HD.

Keywords: Human Development, Economic Growth, Threshold Models

JEL Classification: O15, O57, C23

Suggested Citation

Boozer, Michael A. and Ranis, Gustav and Stewart, Frances and Suri, Tavneet, Paths to Success: The Relationship between Human Development and Economic Growth (December 2003). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=487469

Michael A. Boozer (Contact Author)

Yale University - Economic Growth Center ( email )

Box 208269
New Haven, CT 06520-8269
United States

Gustav Ranis

Yale University - Department of Economics (Deceased)

United States

Frances Stewart

University of Oxford - Department of Economics ( email )

Manor Road Building
Oxford, OX1 3BJ, Oxfordshire OX13UQ
United Kingdom

Tavneet Suri

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Sloan School of Management ( email )

100 Main Street
E62-416
Cambridge, MA 02142
United States

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