India, China and the East Asian Miracle: A Human Capital Development Path to High Growth Rates and Declining Inequalities

The High-Performing Asian Economies (HPAEs) have been unusually successful compared to large parts of Asia (including India), Africa and Latin America at matching high growth rates with significantly declining income inequalities. This paper looks at India and the HPAEs from a human capital development perspective, and it seeks to explain the reasons for the possible causes of these different patterns of growth rates and income inequalities. The paper proposes a new Human Capital Index, and argues that the notion of fair wage is the key factor linking human capital development to high growth rates and declining inequalities.