Dear Bhanu Phani Krishna,

Economic Development is a qualitative, psychological and  intangible concept. 

Since Economic Development comes next to the Economic Growth in the process of advancement of a country, we have to focus on the following  variables:

1.      Human Development  Index  

2.      Happiness Index

3.      Life Span( Longevity)

4.      Gender   Empowerment Index

5.      Nerworked  Readiness  Index

6.      Innovations  

7.      Leisure Enjoyed By The Human Beings

8.      Sanitation

9.      Availability of Safe Drinking Water

10.  Health Status

11.  Status of Pollution

12.  Safety and Security 

13.  Economic Stability etc.

 With best wishes

Economic development is a long run process of raising GDP, Per capita Income, Savings, Investment, Employment and General Standard of Living. There is correlation between Population Changes and these variables or indicators.

Resources for development as variable factors in determining success or failure in the development process is generally divided into:

* Natural resources (natural resources),

* Numan resources (human resources),

* Capital resources (capital), and the resources in the form of technology. Capital  and technology resources often also classified as artificial (man made resources). Natural resources include, for example land, minerals (oil, coal), woods and so on.

In development activities some experts believe that different types of resources in different position, in accordance with their respective contributions to the development activity. Land ownership limitations that are not critical factors that lead to poverty. A critical factor causes of poverty is the low quality of human resources. Improved quality of population and investment in education is crucial for development efforts and poverty alleviation in the region.

In the critical success factors of development, human resources together technology resources are separated from the group, and classified in the other group is more critical of the resources and assets, the ability to manage. Good quality of human resources when combined with the ability and mastery of advanced technology will provide greater opportunities for a person or group of people to find alternative efficient use of resources and its assets more efficiently so that the results achieved to become more optimal.

Adding to the above: demographic indicators.

Bhanu Phani Krishna, first you construct 'Economic Development Index' then it may help you define the indicators and their relation with population change/growth. It definately help you to assess the impact of population change/growth on economic development of a nation under question.

 Thank you all for your answers. This gave me lot of insights on the index and it was really helpful.

Regards,

Bhanu Phani Krishna.

Sustainable economic development must be inclusive and transformative. So look at the impact on the "backward regions" and not only the cities. How much impact is it having on poverty and inequality? Are the women left behind? Are the youth having access to gainful employment?

The key variables to measure economic development are as contained in the human development index. In the UN Human Development  Index, income, education (literacy) and health  factors are included.  In a situation where environmental factors are not factored in the computation of national income, this variable could also be added if at all reliable data is available

Economic development is impacted by a number of factors of different nature. Among those the following stand out: skilled labor, capital, technology, natural resources, political environment, market access, financial capacity, education, social capital.  

You can count leisure, quality of life, sustainability, quality of politics and state, level of corruption, type of institutions, etc. When you try to study economic development without consider economic growth, the work is too complicated. 

The most significant factor that stops development of a country is the way the land ownership is distributed. So when there is a lot of speculation in land values you can be sure that the rate of development is low.

If interested in the translation of economic growth to development, you may wish to look at: Fosu, A. K., "Transforming Growth to Human Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Elite Political Instability," Oxford Development Studies, Vol. 30, No. 1 (February 2002), pp.9-19.

 Best wishes.

I always like to alert students in my Seminar in Economic Growth & Development class Myrdal's definition of Economic Development in his Asian Drama book as "an upward movement of the whole society," or what contemporary economic development specialists simply like to call "structural social transformation"  using the recent phenomenal economic growth of the likes of the Peoples Republic of China. In addition to the many economic development indicators listed, perhaps, we should also consider factors such as: good governance (institutional quality), food security, income inequality (equitable distribution of income), some measure of environmental quality, and economic and political freedom. 

Best wishes,

Sofia, By distribution I certainly include the way the land is owned by landowners, and exploited by them too! When much of the useful and valuable land is controlled by a small minority of the population it is most likely that the progress of the whole country will be severely limited.

Have you ever heard of a beneficial dictator? Such a person would ensure his/her land-owning friends were not able to monopolize the opportunities to earn through access to useful sites!

It`s really hard to measure a qualitive variables, but you may include also "access to healthcare", "access to education", "social security and pensions", "access to modern transportation" and etc. Also you can have a look in the World Bank`s "World Development Indicators" for more variables. 

Best wishes.

I quite agree with all the contributors on this discussion. However, the variables employed to capture economic development depend on the availability of data in each country

Economic development neans creating the conditions for the realization of human personality. Its eveluaton must therefore, in its simplest and most measurable form, take into account three linked economic criteria: whether there has been a reduction in (i) poverty (ii) unemployment and (iii) inequality. 

https://www.hewlett.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/CGD_pop_dynamics_and_econ_dev_elements_research_agenda.pdf

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTSOCIALDEVELOPMENT/Resources/244362-1164107274725/3182370-1164107324437/Socio-Eoconomic-CSA-ESW-wb.pdf?resourceurlname=Socio-Eoconomic-CSA-ESW-wb.pdf

The literature on the developmental state suggests another two variables that are key:.policy coherence and institutional rigor.

You can also consider democracy index

To measure development, we can consider Dudley seers definition on economic development.

Pls, Lankapotu how do we measure health status.

I suppose, HDI is appropriate index to proxify the economic wellbeing of a society, Since this index constests for three main element of a society = economic wellbeing, health and education.

The key variables to measure economic development are as contained in the human development index. In the UN Human Development Index, income, education (literacy), and health factors are included

Desde mi perspectiva, el desarrollo económico va más allá del simple crecimiento del PIB. Implica una mejora integral de la calidad de vida de la población. Las variables clave a considerar son:

• Índice de Desarrollo Humano (IDH): Refleja esperanza de vida, educación e ingreso per cápita. México, por ejemplo, tenía un IDH de 0.779 en 2019, situándose en desarrollo humano alto (PNUD, 2020).
• Distribución del Ingreso (Coeficiente de Gini): Mide la desigualdad. Un coeficiente de Gini alto, como el de México (0.47 en 2022, INEGI), indica alta desigualdad.
• Acceso a servicios básicos: Agua potable, saneamiento, electricidad. A nivel global, miles de millones aún carecen de acceso seguro a agua y saneamiento (OMS/UNICEF, 2021).
• Salud: Esperanza de vida al nacer (México 75.3 años en 2023, INEGI) y tasas de mortalidad infantil (12.9 muertes por cada 1000 nacidos vivos en América, OPS, 2021).
• Educación: Años de escolaridad esperada y acceso a todos los niveles educativos. En México, 6.4 millones de niños y jóvenes no asisten a la escuela (IMCO, 2024).

Estas variables cualitativas y cuantitativas son cruciales para un desarrollo equitativo y sostenible.

1. Human Capital

One of the most critical drivers of development is human capital, which includes both education and health.

Education and Skills: A well-educated population contributes to increased productivity, innovation, and competitiveness. Investment in schools, vocational training, and higher education fosters a workforce capable of adapting to technological changes.

Health: A healthy workforce is more productive and incurs fewer costs related to healthcare and absenteeism. Countries with better healthcare systems often enjoy higher labor efficiency.

and

2. Physical Capital and Infrastructure

3. Natural Resources

4. Technology and Innovation

5. Institutional Framework

6. Economic Policies

7. Social and Cultural Factors

8. Global Integration

9. Environmental Sustainability