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Change in Effi ciency Level in Achieving Human Development:
Inter-Temporal Comparison of Indian States |
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Swati Dutta |
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In India, research on human development has received considerable importance from
both the academic and policy point of view. However, all the previous studies on human
development mainly focused on the equity aspects of development without considering
the resource base. Therefore, the current study seeks to analyse the change in the effi -
ciency level of the states in achieving the various dimensions of human development
through Panel Data Envelopment estimation of effi ciency by using the Malmquist index
for the periods 1981, 1991, 2001 and 2011. It has been found that the technical effi -
ciency change is signifi cant but technological change is not at all prominent in achieving
human development from 1981 to 2011. This indicates that the states are basically
attempting to catch up with the production frontier by changing their input levels rather
than through new technological improvements. One of the major fi ndings is that
Uttar Pradesh faced a negative factor productivity in the health and education sectors,
and in terms of the standard of living, which implies that the levels of outcome are extremely
poor and still provide no scope for improvement by using the current level of
inputs. This is a cause for serious concern and it must be addressed by increasing input
allocation and the effi cient utilization of such inputs. The public sector also needs to be
strengthened in such states. |
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