The impact of economic variables on the social dimension of development

The panel data analysis of the 11 countries reviewed in this study shows that per capita spending on both health and education have a positive and significant direct impact on the different health and education indicators. Without negating the role of per capita GDP and its effectiveness in promoting human development, this approach places more emphasis on the public policy stance, through which social spending on human capital results in better education and improved health indicators. This public policy stance, using a human development approach, can play a very important role in human development and can be more important in ESCWA member countries in achieving United Nations Millennium Development Goals than policies that focus on economic growth using an income-centred approach.