Iveta Stankovičová, Faculty of Management, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Alena Mojsejová, Faculty of Economics, Technical University of Košice, Slovak Republic

Pages: 9 – 39

Abstract

Quality of life and human development in the countries of the world have recently been frequently discussed. This compound phenomena can be measured only by using several indicators. Experts from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) have proposed a methodology for calculating an integral indicator for assessing the countries of the world in the area of human development. The indicator is called the Human Development Index (HDI) and currently consists of four measurable sub-indicators. Based on the achieved HDI values, they also proposed the classification of countries (or regions) into groups. The aim of the paper is to compare the HDI values in 34 European countries and to create a ranking. For this purpose, we will use HDI values calculated by the UNDP methodology, but also the HDI calculated using multivariate statistical methods such as principal component analysis and factor analysis. We will use cluster analysis for the classification of countries into groups. We will compare the results and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of these different approaches for evaluating human development.