conomically speaking, Happiness and HDI – are conditions the same? The fuzzy sets approach

Abstract

The Human Development Index (HDI) has been an indicator used to evaluate various aspects of human development since the 1990s. Subject to several criticisms, namely the fact that it does not measure some kinds of relevant variables, the HDI has undergone several transformations in its calculation. In parallel, other indices have been used to measure other situations. For example, the World Happiness Report (WHR) is an annual publication of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, created to measure a happiness index, whose assumptions are different. The objective of this research is to identify the necessary and sufficient conditions for higher HDI levels and to determine whether the same pattern can be used to explain the happiness index. The questions under study are: “Is the HDI mostly driven by economic forces? In the end, do happiness and human development have the same basis? Which are the Life and Economic necessary and sufficient conditions to reach high levels of HDI and WHI?”