This paper examines the variation across countries and evolution over time of life expectancy. Using historical data going back to the beginning of the 20th century several basic facts about the relationship between national income and life expectancy are established. The paper shows that even...

The 2010 Report continues the tradition of pushing the frontiers of development thinking. For the first time since 1990, the Report looks back rigorously at the past several decades and identifies often surprising trends and patterns with important lessons for the future. These varied pathways...

The aim of this paper is to measure the returns to migration using non-experimental data taking both observed and unobserved characteristics into account. A significant challenge related to migration research and the issues of unobserved heterogeneity is that the standard 2stage least squares...

Human Development, if not engendered, is endangered. That is the simple but far-reaching message of Human Development Report 1995. The Report analyses the progress made in reducing gender disparities in the past few decades, highlighting the wide and persistent gap between women's expanding...

Eradicating poverty everywhere is more than a moral imperative - it is a practical possibility. That is the most important message of the Human Development Report 1997. The world has the resources and the know-how to create a poverty-free world in less than a generation. The Report focuses not...

Throughout history water has confronted humanity with some of its greatest challenges. Water is a source of life and a natural resource that sustains our environments and supports livelihoods – but it is also a source of risk and vulnerability. In the early 21st Century, prospects for human...

The 2001 Report, like all previous Human Development Reports, is about people. It is about how people can create and use technology to improve their lives. It is also about forging new public policies to lead the revolutions in information and communications technology and biotechnology in the...