The Formulation of a Regional Opportunity Index: Empirical Evidence from Tunisia

The aim of this paper is to propose a new measure of regional development which is based on a method developed by the World Bank called the Human Opportunity Index, which quantifies the total contribution of individual socioeconomic and demographic circumstances to inequality of opportunity in accessing basic services in 6 Tunisian regions and for three years 2005, 2010 and 2015. We use the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method to determine the weighting factors of the. Regional composite Human Opportunity Index (RCHOI). This regional development index makes it possible to compare the disparities in the level of development between regions, and the results show that Tunisia experienced during two periods considerable disparities between the different regions. The interior region of the country, particularly the central-western region, and north-west, lag behind other regions, and thus occupy the latest development rankings compared to coastal areas.