The impact of globalization on human quality of life (QOL) is an issue highly debated by academics, policy makers, the private sector, social organizations, and even by the general public in Asia and elsewhere in the world. There is no doubt that globalization has had a signicant im- pact on the lives of millions of Asian people; however, it is unclear that globalization has reduced or increased the gap in human QOL among the rich and poor countries. This paper examines whether human QOL in the Asian countries is converging (or diverging), and assesses the impact of globalization on QOL trends in the region. Using panel data of selected countries from 1975 to 2005 over ve-year intervals, and applying the dynamic panel data model, the study nds that human QOL of most countries in the region is moving closer to that of Japan (the benchmark country in this study) and that globalization has signicant impacts on this convergence. More specically, overall indicators of human QOL, measured by the human development index (HDI), is converging in Asia and the overall as well as economic, social, and political indicators of glo- balization are highly signicant in the converg