2.4 Public policy inputs in human development The element differentiating the approach of the present report from others is the attempt to construct a Human Development Index that would also take into consideration the various public policy expenditures devoted to improving human development (or human-development related inputs). The purpose is to use this index for evaluating the long-term effects of public policy in Poland. In a democratic country, good governance is characterised by public authorities building institutions and implementing projects which reflect the true needs of the citizens as well as rooting these decisions in established knowledge and critical data analysis. In order to evaluate the public policies (their efficiency and effectiveness), the human development outcomes need to be analysed against the human development related inputs. For that reason and following the logic of the three dimensions of the human development index, the Local Human Development Policy Inputs index (LHDIPI,) is designed. The index shall depict public policy inputs (resources devoted to the dimensions included in the LHDI). Table 2.3 Dimensions of public policy inputs included in the Local Human Development Index (LHDIPI) Dimension
Health
Education
LHDIPI dimensional Local Dental- and indicators Healthcare Index (Number of doctors and dentists according to employment location per 100,000 people)
LHDIPI dimensional indices
Education Expenditures Index (Education expenditures per student in general: pre-schools, primary schools, lower secondary schools and high schools)
Nurse- and Obstretic Care Index (Number of nurses and midwifes according to employment location per 100,000 people)
Students per Teacher Index (Number of students per teacher: primary and lower secondary schools)
Health Index – Policy Input
Education Index – Policy Input
Welfare Local Expenditures Indices (Total of expenditures from municipality and county budgets, within given counties excluding EU expenditures and budgets points financed from EU measures in local territory governments divided by the number of inhabitants) Local Expenditures Index – Policy Input (a proxy for Economic Welfare Inputs)
Local Human Development Index – Policy Input (LHDIPI) – county and voivodeship Public policy human development relevant inputs on a local and regional level Source: Own study.
The formula for the public policy input on the LHDI dimensions is as follows:
LHDIPIi = 3 HIPIi × EIPIi × LEIPIi
i = 1, 2, ...n;
where: LHDIPIi – is the public input in local human development dimensions for the voivodeship and county i, HIPIi – is the Health Index – Policy Input for the county i, EIPIi – is the Education Index - Policy Input for the county i, LEIPIi – is the Local Expenditures Index - Policy Input for the county i.
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