Is development still possible? A study on the relationship between economic complexity and human rights

Economic complexity is an economic theory and measure created by Cesar Hidalgo and Ricardo Hausmann in 2009 that captures through the outputs of an economy the capabilities contained in it and determines its level of complexity with regard to other countries. There is evidence that the economic complexity of a country is positively related to its economic growth possibilities. Economic complexity guides the industrial and development policies of some countries and regions. Nevertheless, for economic complexity to be considered a sustainable development strategy with human well-being as the final goal, its relationship with other areas needs to be investigated. This monograph studies the relationship of economic complexity with human rights, with the following research questions: Is economic complexity positively correlated to human rights? If so, what are the possibilities and obstacles to countries' complexification? To answer the research questions, a multi-method approach that includes a case study of South Korea's development and a quantitative study using regression analysis of cross-country panel data on the Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and the Social Progress Index (SPI) for more than 120 countries for the period 2010-2019 were used. Lastly, a qualitative analysis was done on the challenges and opportunities developing countries can have to implement an economic complexity development strategy considering international trade, technology dominance and corporate power, as well as macro issues such as climate change, income and wealth inequality, demographic dynamics and multilateralism. The case study showed an apparent relationship between the economic development strategy adopted by South Korea and the improvement of human rights, especially education and health. The regression analysis confirmed the existence of a positive and strong correlation between economic complexity and human rights. A unit increase in ECI corresponds to a 4.6 unit increase in SPI. Lastly, the qualitative analysis showed that challenges today outnumber opportunities in number, likelihood and impact.