The relationship between human development and economic growth: An example of Turkey

The human centered development and human development have received considerable attention in the economic development literature, and have become one of the most debated topics among policy makers. This is mainly due to the fact that human development has been argued to be one of the most important driving forces of economic development. In the line of this reasoning, in this study, we have analyzed the human development index (HDI) and its components, and we identify the conceptual framework of human development. Specifically, we examine the HDI and its components in the context of Turkey. Thus, we study the human development – economic growth nexus in Turkey over the period of 1998-2014. To do so, we have employed Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) estimation method. The results imply that there is a statistically significantly positive relationship between human development and economic growth in Turkey. This dissertation can be divided into 3 sections. Particularly, in the first section of this study, we introduce the concept of human development and human development index and it's components. We also emphasize the importance of human development and its historical development. On the other hand, this section provides the calculation methodology of HDI and its components. The theoretical background of human development – economic growth nexus is summarized in this section. In Section 2, we discuss human development in the context of Turkey. Specifically, we have examined the historical background of human development in Turkey and general level of human development in Turkey. We also evaluate the developments regarding human development in Turkey. Finally, in the last section, we empirically analyze the relationship between human development and economic growth and discuss the policy recommendations.