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PRWP

Reproducibility package for Measuring Human Capital Over the Life Cycle: The World Bank Human Capital Index Plus

2026
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Reference ID
RR_WLD_2026_806
Author(s)
Brian William Stacy, Norbert Schady, Joana Silva, Benoit Decerf, Ritika D’Souza
Collections
World Bank Policy Research Working Papers
Metadata
JSON
Created on
Nov 10, 2026
Last modified
Nov 10, 2026
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36
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  • Overview
  • Reproducibility Package
  • Description
  • Scope and coverage
  • Disclaimer
  • Access and rights
  • Contacts
  • Information on metadata

    • Overview

    Abstract

    Global measures of human capital have attracted substantial attention from policymakers, but prominent measures capture only the human capital accumulated by age 18. Human capital continues to develop through tertiary education and work experience. This paper introduces the Human Capital Index Plus (HCI+), an extension of the World Bank Human Capital Index (HCI) that incorporates tertiary education and on-the-job learning. The HCI+ focuses on outcomes rather than inputs, aggregating health, education, and employment according to their contributions to lifetime earnings. The paper presents the conceptual framework and methodology underlying the index. The HCI+ data reveal that the average low- and middle-income country could raise a child's expected future earnings by roughly 50 percent by matching top performers at its income level.

    Reproducibility Package

    Scripts
    Get Reproducibility Package
    File name
    RR_WLD_2026_806
    Zip package
    RR_WLD_2026_806.zip
    Title
    Reproducibility package for Measuring Human Capital Over the Life Cycle: The World Bank Human Capital Index Plus
    Date
    2026-11
    Dependencies
    R dependencies are listed in the file renv.lock.
    Instructions
    See README in reproducibility package.
    Notes
    Computational reproducibility verified by Development Impact (DECDI) Analytics team, World Bank.
    Source code repository
    Repository name URI
    Reproducible Research Repository (World Bank) https://reproducibility.worldbank.org
    Software
    Name
    R
    Version
    4.4.0

    Reproducibility

    Technology environment

    Paper exhibits were reproduced on a computer with the following specifications:
    • OS: Windows 11 Enterprise
    • Processor: Intel(R) Xeon(R) Platinum 8562Y+ (2 processors)
    • Memory available: 128 GB
    Technology requirements

    Runtime: 1 minute.
    Reproduction instructions

    To reproduce the findings in this paper, a replicator must:

    1. Open HCI-Plus-PRWP.Rproj in RStudio, or start R with the package root as the working directory. renv activates automatically; use renv to restore the R packages listed in renv.lock. File paths are built with the here package, so no directory needs to be changed.
    2. Run 02_programs/00_main.R. It renders 02_programs/HCIplus_WorkingPaper.qmd, which computes every table, figure, and number quoted in the text, and writes the manuscript to 03_output/HCIplus_WorkingPaper.docx, the figures (PNG and CSV) to 03_output/figures/, and the table data (CSV) to 03_output/tables/.

    All input data are included in 01_raw_data/. Setting pull_fresh_data to TRUE at the top of 00_main.R re-downloads the World Development Indicators and country metadata through the World Bank API; because WDI series are revised over time, a fresh download may move some results slightly away from the published values.

    Data

    Datasets
    Name
    Human Capital Index Plus
    Note
    Filename: 01_raw_data/hci_plus_index.csv. Country-level dataset of HCI+ totals, the health, education, and on-the-job learning components, and the underlying indicators (adult survival, stunting, schooling, harmonized learning outcomes, tertiary completion, labor force participation, unemployment, and wage employment) for 2010, 2015, 2020, and 2025, for both sexes combined, males, and females. Copied without modification from the worldbank/HCI-Plus GitHub repository (03_output/hci_plus/hci_plus_index.csv, version of August 1, 2026). The paper uses the 2025 values for both sexes combined in all exhibits.
    Access policy
    Data is publicly available and included in the reproducibility package.
    License
    Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)
    License URL
    https://www.worldbank.org/ext/en/legal/terms-conditions/datasets
    Data URL
    https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/search/dataset/0067030/human-capital-index-plus
    Citation
    World Bank. (2026). Human Capital Index Plus [dataset]. World Bank Data Catalog, dataset 0067030. https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/search/dataset/0067030/human-capital-index-plus
    Name
    World Development Indicators (WDI)
    Note
    Filename: 01_raw_data/wdi_for_hci_plus.csv. Total population (SP.POP.TOTL), GDP per capita, PPP in constant and current international dollars (NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.KD, NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.CD), and population ages 0 to 4 by sex (SP.POP.0004.FE, SP.POP.0004.MA), 2010 to 2024, downloaded through the World Bank API with the wbstats R package in March 2026. The file was built by 02_programs/01_data_pull.R, which fills gaps with the nearest available year within each country, keeps 2010, 2015, 2020, and 2024, and constructs the population and GDP per capita variables. The paper uses 2024 population and GDP per capita as the 2025 reference values.
    Access policy
    Data is publicly available and included in the reproducibility package.
    License
    Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)
    License URL
    https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
    Data URL
    https://data.worldbank.org
    Citation
    World Bank. (2026). World Development Indicators [dataset]. World Bank. Accessed March 2026. https://data.worldbank.org
    Name
    World Bank Country Metadata
    Note
    Filename: 01_raw_data/wb_country_metadata.csv. Country list from the World Bank API (wb_countries function of the wbstats R package), downloaded in January 2026 by 02_programs/01_data_pull.R and saved without modification. The paper uses country names, regions, and income groups.
    Access policy
    Data is publicly available and included in the reproducibility package.
    License
    Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)
    License URL
    https://www.worldbank.org/ext/en/legal/terms-conditions/datasets
    Data URL
    https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country
    Citation
    World Bank. (2026). World Bank country metadata, World Bank API v2 [dataset]. World Bank. Accessed January 2026. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country
    Data statement

    The reproducibility package relies on one type of data: open data. For the source, access type, file location, and citation of each dataset, refer to the Datasets section and the README file.

    Description

    Output
    Type
    Working Paper
    Title
    Measuring Human Capital Over the Life Cycle: The World Bank Human Capital Index Plus
    Description
    Policy Research Working Paper (PRWP)
    Authors
    Author Affiliation Email
    Brian William Stacy World Bank Group bstacy@worldbank.org
    Norbert Schady World Bank Group nschady@worldbank.org
    Joana Silva World Bank Group jsilva@worldbank.org
    Benoit Decerf University of Namur benoit.decerf@unamur.be
    Ritika D’Souza World Bank Group rdsouza@worldbank.org
    Date of production

    2026-11-06

    Scope and coverage

    Geographic locations
    Location Code
    World WLD
    Keywords
    Human Capital Development Accounting Education Experience Health
    Topics
    ID Topic Parent topic ID Vocabulary Vocabulary URI
    I1 Health I Journal of Economic Literature (JEL)
    I2 Education and Research Institutions I Journal of Economic Literature (JEL)
    O1 Economic Development O Journal of Economic Literature (JEL)
    O4 Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity O Journal of Economic Literature (JEL)

    Disclaimer

    Disclaimer

    The materials in the reproducibility packages are distributed as they were prepared by the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this event do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank, the Executive Directors of the World Bank, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the materials included in the reproducibility package.

    Access and rights

    License
    Name URI
    MIT License https://opensource.org/license/mit
    World Bank IGO Rider https://github.com/worldbank/metadata-editor/blob/main/WB-IGO-RIDER.md

    Contacts

    Contacts
    Name Affiliation Email
    Brian William Stacy World Bank Group bstacy@worldbank.org
    Reproducibility World Bank Group World Bank Group reproducibility@worldbank.org

    Information on metadata

    Producers
    Name Abbreviation Affiliation Role
    Reproducibility WBG DECDI World Bank - Development Impact Department Verification and preparation of metadata
    Date of Production

    2026-11-06
    Document version

    1
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