Un Índice Histórico de Desarrollo Humano de América Latina y algunos países de otras regiones: metodología, fuentes y bases de datos

In this paper we present new database which is used to estimate different historical human development indices. Different functional forms for GDP per capita, life expectancy at birth and the average years of education are used to construct each index. We present data for the period 1900-2000 of a group of 33 countries in seven different regions: 17 Latin American countries, the 4 major developed countries, 2 countries from Latin Europe, 2 Scandinavian countries, 2 settler countries from Australasia, 2 Asian countries and 2 African countries. From different methodological decisions and different combinations of the component índices, 8 Historical Human Development Indices are constructed. Finally, we present a comparative view of Latin America and other regions.