HUMAN DEVELOPMENT LEVEL AND ECONOMIC COMPLEXITY OF THE COUNTRY

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Oksana SOTULA
Julia TOBILEVICH

Abstract

Introduction. In modern economic research, consistency and interdisciplinarity are the most universal methods. Similar approaches are widely used by the UN and other international organizations to conduct research on the level and quality of life of the population in different countries. Various characteristics influence the differentiation of the economic development of states: the total cost of agricultural products, industry and services, the size of the urban population, the level of education, demographic characteristics, etc.


Economic complexity theory considers a country's export basket as a factor influencing economic growth and social development. The impact of economic complexity on differences in the economies of countries (income per capita, dynamics of economic growth, etc.) was the subject of research by scientists from the Center for International Development at Harvard University R. Hausmann and C.A. Hidalgo.


The positive impact of complexity on the dynamics of economic growth should be considered a proven fact. But the process of complicating the economy is also influenced by various factors of an economic, political and social nature.


Purpose. Since it is impossible to directly assess the impact of the state of human capital on the production of complex products, the purpose of the article is to conduct such an analysis indirectly.


Results. The human development index was chosen as an indicator that can have a significant impact on economic complexity.


It can be concluded that an increase in the level of human development contributes to an increase in the level of economic complexity of the country (direct relationship). For a more detailed analysis of the impact of the HDI index on ECI, taking into account the institutional characteristics of countries, similar calculations were carried out for a population structured by the HDI indicator.


The analysis includes countries that have changed HDI grouping (from low to medium, from medium to high, from high to highest) in recent years.


Originality. Statistical analysis of the relationship between the human development index and the indicator of economic complexity gave results that differed across groups with a transitional HDI. An explanation for this phenomenon can only be given by considering in more detail the components of the HDI index and the differences in the values of indicators in the considered groups of countries.


As the level of human development increases, statistical analysis shows that the impact of HDI on economic complexity decreases. Thus, in the group of countries that have changed the level of human development from high to the highest, the closeness of the relationship between these indicators is less than in the two previous groups.


Conclusions. The statistical analysis carried out showed a close relationship between the level of human development and the economic complexity of the country. The results of the analysis of a structured sample of countries indicate that as the level of human development increases, the strength of the influence of this indicator on economic complexity decreases. There may be several reasons for this. One of them is the strengthening of the influence of economic and political institutions in countries with a high level of human development and a labor market saturated with highly qualified specialists. Another reason should be sought in the relationship between the economic indicators that make up the human development index: life expectancy, education level and GDP per capita.

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References

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