National development continuum : a test of the Harbison-Myers Human Resource Development Index

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine whether or not the Harbison-Myers Human Resource Development Index (HRDI) method of ranking, classifying and comparing countries supported the idea of a continuum of national development through which countries progress and whether or not the HRDI could reliably detect a nation's position on that continuum. It was found that the longitudinal application of the HRDI supported the existence of a continuum of national development and that it could detect a nation's position on that continuum. With the establishment of a continuum of national development, national policy makers could locate their countries in relation to other nations and identify key human resource areas that merit attention in both the present and the future.