Long-run Homogeneity in Asian Countries Pertaining to Economic Development Indicators: A Study Based on Human Development Index

Abstract: For sustainable development of any country, long-term
economic development is essential. Developed countries over
the world exhibits gradual economic development from decade
to decade. This paper aims to group thirty-seven Asian countries
based on long-term homogeneity of HDI (Human Development
Index) trend from 1990 to 2018. The source of data is United
Nations Development Program (UNDP). Out of forty-seven
United Nations’ (UN) listed Asian countries, thirty-seven Asian
countries were selected due to missing data of the remaining
ten countries. Hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted to
visualize existing homogeneous groups and K-means cluster
analysis was used to determine optimum number of clusters. The
result of cluster analysis determines three distinguish clusters
of Asian countries. Three clusters labeled as high HDI cluster
(11 countries), medium HDI cluster (17 countries) and low HDI
cluster (9 countries). Countries within clusters are found with
similar economic development status and also geographically
adjacent to each other. However, one-way ANOVA also indicates
that, the average long-run HDI of three clusters were significantly
different.