A new class of multidimensional indices is axiomatically characterized to assess countries’ overall success in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). For that purpose we distinguish between the notions of progress and success functions. While the former basically measure changes...

In this article, we explore the impacts that education expansion and increased levels in educational homogamy have had on couples’ isolated illiteracy rates, defined as the proportion of illiterates in union that are married to an illiterate partner. First, we develop the methodology to...

This study critically reviews the Gender Inequality Index (GII), the new gender-related index proposed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the 2010 <italic>Human Development Report</italic>, arguing that its particular construction limits its usefulness and appropriateness as a global gender...