Politická ekonomie 2023, 71(2):130-152 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1378

Human Development Index: Changes in East Central Europe, 1913-2010

Stanislav Holubec ORCID...a, Béla Tomka ORCID...b
a Institute of History, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
b Institute of History, Philosophical Faculty of the University of Hradec Králové, Department of Contemporary History, University of Szeged, Hungary

Studies on the long-term trends of quality of life, and more specifically, the Human Development Index (HDI), have thus far largely neglected East Central Europe, and the existing scholarship tends to be fragmented. The paper seeks to address these shortcomings in research by investigating the trends of the HDI in Poland, Czechoslovakia and its successor states, Czechia and Slovakia, as well as Hungary between 1913 and 2010 within a broader international context. The analysis is based on a new data set developed by the authors. The results demonstrate that the HDI performance of the later decades of state socialism was more moderate than it is commonly assumed.

Keywords: Human development index of East Central Europe, 20th century, measuring, labour and consumers, demography, education, health, welfare, income, wealth, religion, philanthropy
JEL classification: N3, O11, O15

Received: April 5, 2022; Revised: November 24, 2022; Accepted: December 29, 2022; Published: April 25, 2023  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Holubec, S., & Tomka, B. (2023). Human Development Index: Changes in East Central Europe, 1913-2010. Politická ekonomie, 71(2), 130-152. doi: 10.18267/j.polek.1378
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Badia-Miró M., Pinilla V., Willebald H. (2015). Natural Resources and Economic Growth: Learning from History. London: Routledge. ISBN 9781138339620. Go to original source...
    2. Baines, D., Cummins, N., Schulze M-S. (2010). Population and living standards, 1945-2005. In: Broadberry, S., O'Rourke, K. H. The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe, Vol. 2: 1870 to Present. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 390-420, ISBN: 9780521882033. Go to original source...
    3. Barro, R. J. (2013). Health and Economic Growth. Annals of Economics and Finance, 14(2), 329-366.
    4. Brainerd, E. (2010). Human Development in Eastern Europe and the CIS since 1990. Human Development Research Paper 2010/16. New York: United Nations Development Programme.
    5. Costa, D. L., Steckel, R. H. (1997). Long-term trends in health, welfare, and economic growth in the United States. In: Steckel, R. H., Floud, R. Health and Welfare during Industrialization. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 47-90.
    6. Crafts, N. F. R. (1997a). Some Dimensions of the 'Quality of Life' during the British Industrial Revolution. Economic History Review, 50(4), 617-639. Go to original source...
    7. Crafts, N. F. R. (1997b). The Human Development Index and Changes in the Standard of Living: Some Historical Comparisons. European Review of Economic History, 1(3), 299-322, https://doi.org/10.1017/S1361491697000142 Go to original source...
    8. Crafts, N. F. R. (2002). The Human Development Index, 1870-1999: Some Revised Estimates. European Review of Economic History, 6(3), 395-405. Go to original source...
    9. Eichengreen B. (2007). The European Economy since 1945: Coordinated Capitalism and Beyond. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691138480. Go to original source...
    10. Eurostat (2020a). Graduates in tertiary education by age groups - per 1000 of population aged 20-29. Luxembourg: Eurostat. [Retrieved 2020-12-12] Available at: https://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/submitViewTableAction.do
    11. Eurostat (2020b). Life expectancy by age and sex. Luxembourg: Eurostat. [Retrieved 2020-12-12] Available at: https://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=demo_ mlexpec⟨=en
    12. Feinstein, C. H., Temin P., Toniolo, G. (2008). The World Economy between the World Wars. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195307559. Go to original source...
    13. Fialová, L., ©procha, B. (2018). The population of Czechia and Slovakia in 1918-1945. Demografie, 60(3), 161-83.
    14. Floud, R., Harris, B. (1997). Health, Height, and Welfare: Britain, 1700-1980. In: Steckel, R. H., Floud, R. Health and Welfare during Industrialization. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 91-126. Go to original source...
    15. Greskovits, B., Bohle, D. (2012). Capitalist Diversity on Europe's Periphery. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-5110-2.
    16. Harrison, M. (1998). Trends in Soviet Labour Productivity, 1928-85: War, Postwar Recovery, and Slowdown. European Review of Economic History, 2(2), 171-200, https://doi.org/10.1017/S1361491698000082 Go to original source...
    17. Harrison, M. (2014). Communism and Economic Modernization. In: Smith, S. A. The Oxford Handbook of the History of Communism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 387-406. ISBN 9780191756603. Go to original source...
    18. Holubec S., Tomka B. (2020). Family and Demography. In: Borodziej, W., Holubec, S., von Puttkamer, J. The Routledge History Handbook of Central and Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century, Volume 1: Challenges of Modernity. New York: Routledge, pp. 235-312, ISBN 9781138301641. Go to original source...
    19. Holubec, S., Tomka, B. (2022). Online Appendix to "The Human Development Index: Changes in East Central Europe, 1913-2010". Available at: https://jelenkor.bibl.u-szeged.hu/hdi-in-ece-appendix/ Go to original source...
    20. Kaelble, H. (2007). Sozialgeschichte Europas: 1945 bis zur Gegenwart. München: C. H. Beck. ISBN 978-3-406-54984-7.
    21. Klugman, J., Rodríguez, F., Choi, H-J. (2011). The HDI 2010: New Controversies, Old Critiques. Human Development Research Paper 2011/01, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10888-011-9178-z Go to original source...
    22. Maddison, A. (2010). Maddison Project Database. Groningen: University of Groningen. [Retrieved 2020-12-12] Available at: https://www.rug.nl/ggdc/historicaldevelopment/maddison/releases/maddison-database-2010
    23. Maddison, A. (2020). Maddison Project Database. Groningen: University of Groningen. [Retrieved 2021-12-12] Available at: https://www.rug.nl/ggdc/historicaldevelopment/maddison/releases/maddison-project-database-2020
    24. Mau, V., Starodubrovskaya, I. (2001), Challenge of Revolution. Contemporary Russia in Historical Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780199241507. Go to original source...
    25. Mau, S., Verwiebe, R. (2009). Die Sozialstruktur Europas. Bonn: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung. ISBN 9783893319657. Go to original source...
    26. Milward, R., Baten, J. (2010). Population and living standards, 1914-1945. In: Broadberry, S., O'Rourke, K. H. The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe, Vol. 2: 1870 to Present. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 232-263, ISBN: 9780521882033. Go to original source...
    27. Murgescu, B., Lazor, J. (2020). Economic development. In: Holubec, S., Borodziej, W., von Puttkamer, J. The Routledge History Handbook of Central and Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century, Volume 1: Challenges of Modernity. New York: Routledge, pp. 314-384. ISBN 978-1-138-30164-1.
    28. Nunn, N. (2014). Historical Development. In: Aghion, P., Durlauf, S. N. Handbook of Economic Growth. Oxford: North Holland, pp. 347-402, ISBN 9780444520418. Go to original source...
    29. O'Neill, A. (2019). Life expectancy (from birth) in Poland, from 1885 to 2020. Hamburg: Statista. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1041400/life-expectancy-poland-all-time/
    30. Popov, V. (2011). Mortality Crisis in Russia Revisited: Evidence from Cross-Regional Comparison. MPRA Paper No. 21311; CEFIR and NES Working Paper No. 157. Go to original source...
    31. Popov, V. (2014). Mixed Fortunes, An Economic History of China, Russia, and the West. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0198703631. Go to original source...
    32. Pounds, N. J. F. (1974). An Economic History of Medieval Europe. London: Routledge.
    33. Prados de la Escosura, L. (2010). Improving Human Development: A Long-run View. Journal of Economic Surveys, 24(5), 841-894, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6419.2010.00639.x Go to original source...
    34. Prados de la Escosura, L. (2019). Human Development in the Age of Globalisation. Working Paper Series No. 421. Coventry: University of Warwick.
    35. Reisz, R., Stock, M. (2006). Zwischen Expansion und Kontraktion: Zur Entwicklung der Hochschulbildung in Osteuropa 1950-2000. Berliner Journal für Soziologie, 16(1), 77-93, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11609-006-0006-4 Go to original source...
    36. Roser, M., Ortiz-Ospina, E. (2013). Literacy. Oxford: Global Change Data Lab. Available at: https://ourworldindata.org/literacy
    37. Rothenbacher, F. (2002). The European Population 1850-1945. London: Palgrave. ISBN 978-1349656110. Go to original source...
    38. Rothenbacher, F. (2005). The European Population since 1945. London: Palgrave. ISBN 978-1349656141. Go to original source...
    39. Sanchez-Sibony, O. (2014). Red Globalization: The Political Economy of the Soviet Cold War from Stalin to Khrushchev. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139628778. Go to original source...
    40. Sil, R. (2016). Post-Communist Human Development in World-Historical Perspective. Unpublished research paper for presentation at the Annual Conference of the Western Political Science Association, Atlanta, March 24, 2016. Available at: http://www.wpsanet.org/papers/docs/Postcomm_HDI_Sil.pdf
    41. Stanton, E. A. (2007). The Human Development Index: A History. Political Economy Research Institute Working Paper Series No. 127, https://doi.org/10.7275/1282621 Go to original source...
    42. Szilágyi, Z. (2019). Regional Differences in Development and Quality of Life in Hungary During the First Third of the Twentieth Century. Hungarian Historical Review, 8(1), 121-152.
    43. Tomka, B. (2020). Austerities and Aspirations: A Comparative History of Growth, Consumption and Quality of Life in East Central Europe since 1945. Budapest and New York: Central European University Press. ISBN 978-963-386-351-0. Go to original source...
    44. Tridico, P. (2007). Institutions, Human Development and Economic Growth in Transition Economies. European Journal of Developmental Research, 19(4), 569-593, https://doi.org/10.1080/09578810701667607 Go to original source...
    45. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), (1990). Human Development Report 1990. New York: United Nations.
    46. UNDP (1993). Human Development Report 1993. New York: United Nations.
    47. UNDP (2001). Human Development Report 2001. New York: United Nations.
    48. UNDP (2002). Human Development Report 2002. New York: United Nations.
    49. UNDP (2009). Human Development Report 2009. New York: United Nations.
    50. WB (2020a). Life expectancy at birth, total (years) - Russian Federation. Washington, D.C.: World Bank. [Retrieved 2020-12-12] Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN?locations=RU
    51. WB (2020b). GDP per capita, PPP (current international $) - European Union. Washington, D.C.: World Bank. [Retrieved 2020-12-12] Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.CD?locations=EU
    52. Zamfir, C. (2014). Quality of Life in Communist Regimes. In: Michalos, A. C. Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 1025-1032. ISBN 978-94-007-0752-8. Go to original source...
    53. Zeira, J. (2009). Why and How Education Affects Economic Growth. Review of International Economics, 17(3), 602-614, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9396.2009.00836.x Go to original source...

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0), which permits non-comercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content