Development gap
Introduction
The development gap refers to the unequal levels or disparity of
economic, social, and technological progress between different countries
or regions.
Reasons
Physical geography
Landlocked countries have generally developed more slowly than coastal
nations.
Tropical countries have grown more slowly than those in temperate
latitudes.
Economic policies
Open economies which welcomed and encouraged foreign investment
have developed faster than closed economies.
Demography
The highest rates of economic growth was experienced by those nations
whose the birth rate had fallen the most.
Consequence
Economic
Poor countries frequently lack the ability to pay for food, agricultural
innovation and investment in rural development.
Environmental
Poor countries experience increased vulnerability to natural disasters.
They lack the capacity to adapt to droughts induced by climate change.
Poor farming practices lead to environmental degradation.
Political
Poor countries often have non-democratic governments or they are
democracies that function poorly.
Development indicators
Economic
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Gross National Income (GNI)
Gross National Product (GNP).
GNI per capita (per person)
Social
Life expectancy
Infant Mortality rate
The percentage of people living below US$1 per day.
The percentage of the population with access to clean water and sanitation.
The average number of people per doctor.
The percentage of children and young people who attend primary school,
secondary school and higher education.
Literacy rate: the percentage of adults who can read and write.
The percentage of the population who have possessions such as mobile
phones, television and the Internet.
Development key definitions
Gross National Product (GNP) - The total value of goods and services
produced by one country in a year, plus income earned by the country's
residents from foreign investments and minus income earned within the
domestic economy by overseas residents.
Gross National Product per capita - The total GNP of a country divided by
the total population.
Development gap - The differences in wealth, and other indicators, between
the world's richest and poorest countries
Human Development Index (HDI) - Combines four indicators of
Development: life expectancy at birth; mean years of schooling for adults aged
25 years; expected years of schooling for children of school entering age; GNI
per capita (PPP$).
Newly industrialized countries (NICs) - Nations that have undergone rapid
and successful industrialization since the 1960s.
Gini coefficient - Technique used to show the extent of income Inequality.
Cumulative causation - The process whereby a significant increase in
economic growth can lead to even more growth as more money circulates in
the economy.
Formal sector - That part of an economy known to the government
department responsible for taxation and to other government offices.
Product chain - The full sequence of activities needed to turn raw materials
into a finished product.
Globalization - The increasing interconnectedness and interdependence of
the world economically, culturally and politically
Transnational corporation (TNC) - A firm that owns or controls productive
operations in more than one country through foreign direct investment (FDI).
Diffusion - The spread of a phenomenon over time and space
New international division of labor (NIDL) - Divides production into different
skills and tasks that are often spread across a number of countries.
Development
Introduction
Development is the measurement of how economically, socially, culturally
or technologically advanced a country is. It accounts for different factors like
Economic
Economic development measures a country's wealth.
It includes Income, Job security, Standard of living
Social
Social development measures the access the people in a country have to
education, food, health and political freedom.
It includes Family /Friends, Education, Health
Physical
It includes Nutrition, Water supply, Climate, Environmental quality
Psychological
It includes Happiness, Security, Freedom
Economic sectors
Primary sectors
The primary sector exploits raw materials from land, water and air.
Farming, fishing, forestry, mining and quarrying make up most of the jobs
in this sector.
Secondary sectors
The secondary sector manufactures primary materials into finished
products. Activities in this sector include the production of processed food,
furniture and motor vehicles.
Tertiary sectors
The tertiary sector provides services to businesses and to people. Retail
employees, drivers, teachers and nurses are examples of occupations in
this sector.
Quaternary sectors
The quaternary sector uses high technology to provide information and
expertise. Research and Development is an important part of this sector. Jobs
in this sector include aerospace engineers, research scientists and
biotechnology workers.
Human Development Index
HDI (The Human Development Index) was devised by the United Nations in
1990. The current index combines four indicators of Development:
Life expectancy at birth
Mean years of schooling for adults aged 25 years
Expected years of schooling for children of school entering age
GNI per capita (PPP$, namely purchasing power parity, i.e. how much you
can buy for your income related to local prices).
The HDI divides the countries of the world into four groups:
Very high human development
High human development
Medium human development
Low human development.
Inequality
Introduction
The Gini coefficient is used to show the extent of income inequality.
It is defined as a ratio with values between 0 and 1.0.
A low value indicates a more equal income distribution while a high value
shows more unequal income distribution.
Factors
Residence: where people live can have a big impact on their quality of life.
There could be more conflict in one place than another.
Ethnicity: some ethnicities could be discriminated than others.
Employment: Jobs in the formal sectors usually have higher wages and
greater security than jobs in informal sectors.
Education: higher levels of education generally lead to better-paid
employment.
Pattern of development
Stage 1: Traditional society
Limited technology: the community is only a static society
Transition
Transition triggered by external influence interests, or market.
Stage 2: Preconditions for take-off
Commercial exploitation of agriculture and extractive industry
Transition
Installation of physical infrastructure like roads and railways and emergence
of social and political elite
Stage 3: Take off
Development of a manufacturing sector.
Transition
Investment in manufacturing: Development of modern social, economic
and political institutions
Stage 4: Drive to maturity
Development of wider industrial and commercial base.
Transition
Exploitation of comparative advantages in international trade
Stage 5: High mass consumption
Stages of cumulative causation
Stage 1: New manufacturing industry
Economic growth begins with the location of new manufacturing industry in
the region with the best combination of advantages.
Stage 2: Material flow
Once growth begins in this 'core' region, flows of labor, capital and raw
materials develop to support it. The growth region undergoes further
expansion by the cumulative causation process.
Stage 3: Back wash effect
The backwash effect is transmitted to the less developed regions (the
periphery) as skilled labor and locally generated capital are attracted
away.
Stage 4: Regional economic divergence
Manufactured goods and services produced under the economies of scale
of the core region undercut smaller-scale enterprises in the periphery. The
wealth gap between the core and the periphery widens and regional
inequality increases.
Stage 5: Regional economic convergence
Increasing demand for raw materials from resource-rich parts of the
periphery may stimulate growth in such regions. This may set off the
process of cumulative causation, leading to the Development of new
centers of self-sustained economic growth (spread effects). If the process
is strong enough, the Inequality between core and periphery may begin to
narrow.
Stages of development
Introduction
There are four stages of Development. Those are
Least developed countries
Developing countries
Newly industrialized countries
Developed countries
Least developed countries (LEDCs)
They are the poorest of them all
Their face issues related to geographic handicaps or man made disasters.
Newly industrialized countries (NICs)
Newly industrialized countries (NICs) are nations that have moved up the
Development ladder, having previously been considered developing
countries.
The first countries to become newly industrialized countries were South
Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong also known as the "Asian
Tigers".
Their success has guided other countries like Malaysia, Brazil, China and
India.