Human Capital vs. Physical Capital: A Cross-Country Analysis of Human Development Strategies

This study estimates a small simultaneous equation model using panel data from sixty-four countries for the years 1996 and 2004. The model is estimated by various techniquesOLS, TSLS, dummy variable approach introducing variation at the regional level, and fixed and random effect approaches introducing variation at the individual country level. The objective is to identify the importance of basic needs in human development strategies in Asia, Africa, and the rest of the world (ROW). The results show that income per capita has priority over basic needs expenditure in development strategies of all regions despite being quantitatively different. However, the importance of basic needs expenditure cannot be denied in terms of capabilities development (improvement in health) that ultimately increases productivity.