Patryk Babiarz,

University of Georgia,

Athens, GA, USA

E-mail: pbabiarz@uga.edu

The Application of Customized HDI to the Analysis of Socio-Economic Development of the European Union Member States

Tadeusz Grabiński,

Cracow University of Economics,

Kraków, Poland,

E-mail: tg@uek.krakow.pl

Aldona Migała-Warchoł,

Rzeszów University of Technology,

Rzeszów, Poland,

E-mail: amigala@prz.edu.pl

Elżbieta Szczygieł,

Rzeszów Regional Development Agency,

Rzeszów, Poland,

E-mail: eszczygiel@rarr.rzeszow.pl

Abstract. The purpose of this publication is to examine the determinants of socio-economic development of the European Union member states and to rank order the analysed countries by the value of synthetic index of well-being. The study implements a framework modelled after the Human Development Index to obtain a customized synthetic measure of the standard of living. The proposed index accounts for a rich set of variables related to the performance of economy, science and technology, health, education and living conditions. The data for empirical analysis are drawn upon the Eurostat databases and cover years 2006 through 2016. The analysis presented in this study is intended to advance the efforts to adjust the traditional measures of development so that they better reflect the contemporary challenges faced by diverse societies.

Received: May, 2018

1st Revision: September, 2018

Accepted: December, 2018

DOI: 10.14254/2071-789X.2018/11-4/22

JEL Classification: C15, C240, D31, I31, O15

Keywords: socioeconomic development, HDI index, synthetic index, modified development index