PHYSICAL QUALITY OF LIFE INDEX - USEFUL SOCIAL INDICATOR

The Overseas Development Council (ODC) provides a measurement called the Physical Quality of Life (PQLI). The PQLI combines infant mortality, life expectancy, and literacy into a single index for each of 150 countries. We assess the usefulness of the PQLI as a social indicator. In order to make this determination, we test the intensity of the association among the PQLI input variables. We also provide the appropriate Spearman's rank correlation between PQLI and Gross National Product per capita (GNP/C). Overall, our statistical tests confirm that the PQLI is not a major new indicator of inter-country human welfare. © 1979.