Introduction
Economic growth has long been the default yardstick of development. Policymakers chase growth rates and media judge governance by economic data. Yet the quality of growth — whether it is inclusive, sustainable and converted into better lives — is becoming a more prominent question. This is not a rejection of growth but a demand to see it more completely.
The rise of multidimensional development
The meaning of development is expanding: beyond income levels, health, education, environment, social inclusion and institutional quality are all entering assessment frameworks. The strength of multidimensional indicators is revealing structural problems hidden by aggregates: average income in an economy may rise while internal gaps widen and resource consumption accelerates. Single indicators cannot capture these tensions; policy debate needs finer scales.
From indicators to policy: three threads
- Distribution: how growth outcomes are shared across groups and regions has become a core variable of policy legitimacy.
- Sustainability: whether current growth overdraws future environmental and fiscal space requires intertemporal accounting.
- Capability: whether development strengthens the autonomy of individuals and communities to cope with change rather than creating dependence.
Methodological implications for research institutions
Development quality research demands more of evidence: longitudinal data to track long-term change, interdisciplinary integration of economic and social dimensions, and treating measurement itself as an object of study — indicator choices embed value judgements, and researchers have a duty to make those judgements transparent. The Institute places development quality among the long-term themes of its economic research line on exactly this methodological conviction.
Conclusion
How we measure shapes where policy goes. A more complete measure of development is a precondition for more responsible governance, and building measurement tools that withstand scrutiny is a public good that knowledge institutions can supply.
Sources and version: this is an editorial opinion piece; version v1.0 (2026-09).