Titel_SS06

societal stability and environmental boundary conditions. In Figure 13.6 a sketch is provided
indicating the complex interrelations of society, which in the end govern the conditions
subject to which the individuals of society have to live.

Safety

Production

Natural

Resources

Economy

Design and

maintenance

of infastructure

Preservation

of environment

Assets

Humans

Figure 13.6: Illustration of the interrelation of societal activities which affect the quality of life for the
individuals of society.

The performance of different societies in the world is being assessed and monitored by the
United Nations. The most widely used index to assess developments in the different nations is
called the Human Development Index, HDI. However, there is a large selection of different
indexes which each indicates special characteristics of developments in a given nation.

Following (http://unstats.un.org) the HDI is calculated through the average of three other
demographical indexes, the Gross Domestic Product, GDP Index, the Education Index EI and
the Life Expectancy Index LEI, i.e.:

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HDIGDP Index EI LEI

1

3

(13.3)

TheGDP Index is calculated as:

log( ) log(100)

log(40000) log(100)







GDP Index GDPPC (13.4)

where GDPPC is the purchasing power parity regulated GDP per capita in $US in a given
nation. In Equation (13.4) l and represent the logarithm of the highest
and lowest possible

og(40000) log(100)

GDPPC for the nations assessed.

The Education Index EI is assessed as:

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EIALIGEI (13.5)

where the Adult Literacy Index (ALI) is calculated as:

0

100 0







ALR

ALI (13.6)