How has human development evolved during the last 150 years of globalization and economic growth? How has human development been distributed across countries? How do developing countries compare to developed countries? Do social systems matter for wellbeing? Are there differences in the performance of developing regions over time? Employing a capabilities approach, Human Development and the Path to Freedom addresses these key questions in the context of modern economic growth and globalization from c.1870 to the present. Leandro Prados de la Escosura shows that health, access to knowledge, standards of living, and civil and political freedom can substitute for GDP per head as more accurate measures of our wellbeing.

A new framework for measuring the evolution of human development and wellbeing in the modern world.

About the Author
Leandro Prados de la Escosura is Emeritus Professor of Economic History at Carlos III University. He is the author of Spanish Economic Growth, 1850-2015 (2017). He is the editor of Exceptionalism and Industrialisation: Britain and its European Rivals, 1688-1815 (2004) and former editor of the journal Revista de Historia Economica.


Book Information
ISBN 9781108708586
Author Leandro Prados de la Escosura
Format Paperback
Page Count 250
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 500g
Dimensions(mm) 228mm * 152mm * 20mm