3.2.2 Section B: The Changing Economic World - Development Flashcards
What is development?
development means positive change that makes things better
as a country develops it usually means that people’s standard of living and quality of life will improve
Different factors that affect a country’s level and speed of development:
environmental factors such as natural hazards e.g. earthquakes
economic factors such as trade and debt
social factors such as access to safe water and education
political factors such as a state government or civil war
Development gap:
the difference in standards of living between the world’s HIC’s, LIC’s and NEE’s
Gross National Income (GNI):
- wealth and income can be used to describe a country’s level of economic development
- a common measure used by the World Bank
- GNI is the total value of goods and services produced by a country, plus money earned from and to other countries
- is expressed as per head (per Capita) of the population
- the World Bank uses 4 levels of different levels of income to divide the countries of the world into: high, upper middle, lower middle, low
- the UK, most of Europe, North America, Australia, Argentina and Japan are all HICs
- not all LICs are in Africa
- some countries may seem to have a high GNI as they are relatively wealthy and have a small population - doesn’t always mean that their citizens enjoy a good quality of life
- some countries have begun of experience higher rates of economic development with a rapid growth of industry
- known as NEEs e.g. Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS countries) and the MINT countries (Malaysia, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey)
What is the HDI?
- devised by the UN, HDI links wealth to health and education
- it aims to show a country’s economic growth
- it is a social measure
What measures are used by the HDI?
- life expectancy at birth
- number of yrs of education
- GNI per capita
How is HDI expressed?
HDI is expressed in values of 0-1 where 1 is the highest - this enable countries to be ranked
What were the top 3 countries in HDI in 2014?
highest ranked country in 2014 was Norway (0.944), followed by Australia (0.935) and then Switzerland (0.930)
What place was the UK in terms of HDI in 2014?
- in 2014 UK was ranked 14th (0.930)
What was the lowest ranked country in 2014 in terms of HDI?
lowest ranked country was Niger (188th) with a HDI of (0.348)
Where were the top 10 lowest ranked countries in terms of HDI all found in 2014?
the lowest ranked 10 countries were all in Africa
Factors that may limit the usefulness of social and economic measures of development:
- a single measure of development can give a false picture, and it gives the average for the whole country which can skew statistics
- data could be out of date or hard to collect
- data may be unreliable (infant mortality rate is way higher than the figures given by some countries)
- focus on certain aspects may not take into account subsistence or informal economy which are important in many countries
- government corruption may mean that data is unreliable
- in many countries the top 10% may own 80% of the countries wealth
- wealth may also be concentrated in cities rather than rural areas
How useful is the birth rate for measuring development?
- a reliable measure
- as a country develops women are more likely to become educated and have a career rather than staying at home
- they may marry later and have fewer children
How useful is the death rate for measuring development?
- a less reliable measure
- developing countries may have proportionally lower death rates than developed countries as there may be proportionally more young people
How useful is the infant mortality rate for measuring development?
useful measure of a country’s healthcare system
How useful is knowing the number of doctors per 1000 people for measuring development?
indicates how much money a country has for medical services
How useful is the literacy rate for measuring development?
- shows whether a country has a good education system
How useful is the % of people who of access to clean water for measuring development?
- shows a country has a modern infrastructure such as dams, reservoirs and water treatment plans
What sort of indicators are generally more useful?
an indicator with several variable e.g. the Human Development Index (HDI) or the Physical Quality of LIfe Index (PQLI)
How can we measure quality of life?
- economic and social measures use broad statistics to measure standard of living for whole countries - they cannot give an accurate measure for an individuals quality of life
- a good quality of life will mean different things in different countries e.g. safety and security, freedom, right to vote, women’s rights, happiness etc.
How can we compare people’s quality of life and standard of living?
- people in different countries have different ideas of what affects their quality of life
- refugees fleeing war-torn Syria in 2016 to seek sanctuary in Europe - they have virtually nothing but are at least relatively safe
- very difficult to use social indictors to compare different countries’ level of development
Standard of living:
the level of wealth, comfort, material goods, and necessities available to a certain socioeconomic class or geographic area
Quality of life:
an individuals perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live, and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns
What does a demographic transition model show?
- the changes over time in the population of a country
What is the demographic transition model based on?
- the changes that took place in Western countries such as the UK
What is a part of and what isn’t a part of the demographic transition model (DTM)?
- the gap between birth rate and death rate (natural change) is included on the DTM - is usually shows the natural increase in population but in Stage 1 and Stage 5 of the DTM natural decrease happens
- the total population of a country responds to variations in birth and death rates (natural change) - it will also be affects by migration, immigration and emigration which is not part of the DTM
What links the demographic transition model with development?
- as a country becomes more developed its population characteristics change - the DTM graph shows the general increase of development from stage 1 to 5
Examples of areas in stage 1 of the demographic transition model:
- traditional rainforest tribes
- indigenous people living in isolation - in parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Brazil small groups of people live separately with little contact with the outside world, they have high birth and death rates
Characteristics of stage 1 of the demographic transition model:
- high birth rate
- high death rate
- both fluctuate because of disease, famine and war
- population is fairly stable
Examples of areas in stage 2 of the demographic transition model:
- Afghanistan - One of the poorest and least developed countries in the world. Its birth rate is 32 per 1000 and its death rate is 6.4 per 1000. About 60% of the population are farmers who often need children to support them in the fields and tending livestock
Characteristics of stage 2 of the demographic transition model:
- death rate decreases
- birth rate remains high
- population grows
Examples of areas in stage 3 of the demographic transition model:
- most countries at lesser stages of development e.g. India, Kenya, Brazil etc.
- Nigeria - An NEE experiencing economic growth
- the death rate is much lower than the birth rate
- the country’s population is growing rapidly
Characteristics of stage 3 of the demographic transition model:
- birth rate drops rapidly
- death rate continues to decrease but more slowly
- population still continues to grow but not quite as fast
Examples of areas in stage 4 of the demographic transition model:
- most countries at further stages of development e.g. USA, France, UK
- USA - The USA is one of the most developed countries in the world. Good quality health means death rates are low (8.2 per 1000). Women tend to have small families, choosing to study and follow careers. Therefore, birth rate is low (12.4 per 1000). Population growth is mainly due to immigration
Characteristics of stage 4 of the demographic transition model:
- low birth rate
- low death rate
- birth rate tends to fluctuate depending on the economic situation
Examples of areas in stage 5 of the demographic transition model:
- Italy, Germany and Japan
- Germany - Germany is a well-developed country experiencing population decline as death rate exceeds birth rate. The birth rate is 9.4 per 1000, one of the lowest in the world. Women often have careers and few children. Germany’s death rate (11.5 per 1000) will continue to rise.
Characteristics of stage 5 of the demographic transition model:
- birth rate very low and falls below death rate
- death rate increases slightly because of ageing population
- total populations starts to decrease
How can a falling birth rate reflect increased economic development?
a falling birth reflects increased economic development as women may tend to have smaller families choosing to study and follow their career paths
How can an increased death rate reflect increased economic development?
- an increased death rate reflects high levels of development because it may me due to an ageing population which shows people living longer due to a more developed healthcare systems and higher standard of living and quality of life
What are the negative impacts of Germany being in Stage 5 of the demographic transition model?
- well-developed country experience population decline as death rate exceeds birth rate - the birth rate is 8.2/1000 which is the lowest in the world
- women have careers and fewer children
- with an ageing population Germany’s death rate (11.2/1000) will continue tor rise
What does a population pyramid show?
- is a type of graph which shows the % of number of males and females in each age group - how many ages 0-4yrs, 5-9yrs etc.
What does a population pyramid mean if it is wide at the bottom?
it means that there is a high proportion of young people in the population
What may shorter bars on a population pyramid show?
- shorter bars could indicate high death rate intros certain age groups - perhaps through war or famine
Historical causes of uneven development:
- many richer countries have long histories of industrial and economic development
- whilst some in Asia, South America, China, Malaysia and Mexico have recently emerged as industrialised nations
- many other countries are yet to experience economic growth
How is colonialism a historical cause of uneven development?
- by the end of the 19th C much of Africa and parts of South America and Asia were divided up between the Europeans superpowers
- UK, Germany, Spain, France etc. had powerful empires and colonies
- since 1950 former Europeans colonies have gained independence - in many cases, this has been difficult resulting in civil wars and political struggles for power
- money has been spent on armament and some governments have been corrupted
How is trade an economic causes of uneven development?
- North America and Europe dominate world trade
- most of the world’s trade is between richer countries
- important of Asia has increased as it includes Japan and NEEs e.g. India and China
- rich countries and large TNCs have a lot of power
- they want to pay as little as possible for their raw materials, many of which come from LICs
- there is often more supply than demand for raw materials - this keeps prices low
- processing (which adds value) takes place in HICs - this means rich countries get richer and poor countries aren’t able to develop
- LICs and NEEs have traditionally exported primary products such as minerals and agriculture products
- in the last 20yrs many of these countries have developed manufacturing
- manufactured products now make up about 80% of exports of NEEs
- some countries have trade surpluses, while others have trade deficits
- trade deficits often lead to a ‘debt trap’ that makes further development difficult
In Zambia what % does copper account for for its total value of exports?
in Zambia copper accounts for over 60% of the total value of exports
What are Zambia’s main exports?
- copper
- sugar
- tobacco
- gemstones
- cotton
Who is Zambia’s main trading partners?
its main trading partner is Switzerland (45% of total exports)
How has the price for copper changed?
the price for copper has fluctuated a lot since 2000
What is the HDI of Zambia?
with a HDI of 0.39 Zambia is described as having a low human development
What are the physical causes of uneven development?
- geographical location
- diseases
- weather conditions
- lack of safe water
How is geographical location a physical cause of uneven development?
- most landlocked countries on Earth are in Africa
- with no access to seas country cut off from seaborne trade which is important for development
How are diseases a physical cause of uneven development?
- Tropical Africa, South America and Asia have more climate related diseases and pests (mosquitoes can spread malaria) that cooler parts of the world don’t have
- diseases effects the ability of country’s population to work
How are weather conditions a physical cause of uneven development?
- extreme weather, such as cyclones, droughts of floods, often hit Tropical regions - Africa in particularly is badly affected
- extreme weather season can slow development and it can be costly to repair damaged infrastructure
How is a lack of safe water a physical cause of uneven development?
- the lack of adequate supplies of safe water us a barrier to economic development
- many countries lack the money to develop water storage and distribution systems
- clean water is essential to ensure a good health and enable people to work effectively
- people spend several hours a day asking to collect water
- drought affects many of the world’s poorer countries, particularly in Africa
- poor irrigation limits the development of commercial farming
What are the consequences of uneven development?
- disparities in health
- disparities in wealth
- International migration
Immigrant:
a person who moves into a country
Emigrant:
a person who moves out of their country
Refugee:
a person forces to move from their country of origin as a result of civil war or a natural disaster such as an earthquake
What has happened to Syria?
a country in the Middle East that has been torn apart by civil war
What was Syria like the yr before civil war broke out?
- in 2010 Syria was moderately wealthy, depending upon oil and agriculture - accounted for approx. half the country’s GDP
- 25% of population worked in a agriculture, living off the land and enjoying a modest standard of living
When did the Syrian civil war start?
- has been raging since 2011
By March 2021 how many people did the UN estimate had died in Syrian civil war and how many had fled the country and what % of the world’s refugees does this represent?
- 594,000 people had died
- 6.6. mn people fled the country - accounting for 25% of the world’s refugees
What % of people live below the poverty line in Syria and what does this mean?
80% - means they earn less than US$1 per day and 9.3mnn Syrians don’t have enough food
How did Syria’s HDI change from before the civil war to now?
- 109th in 2010
- 151st in 2019
What is the economic impact of the civil war in Syria and what has this forced many Syrians to do?
unemployment rate of 55% or more - forced many Syrians to leave Syria and to find employment and a better way of life
By 2020 how many Syrians had sought refuge and where had they done this primarily?
- 6.6 mn and primarily in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Turkey (currently the largest host community for Syrian refugees)
- in Lebanon there are no formal refugee camps - over 1 mn Syrians live in crowded temporary apartments
By 2021 how many Syrians had settled in Europe?
- 1000s of Syrians had settles in Europe, mainly in Germany (800,000) and Sweden (190,000)
- By 2021 approx. 20,000 Syrians were resettled in the UK
Benefits of economic migrants to the UK (host country):
- UK has long history of accepting migrants from all over the world
- UK known for its tolerant approach and many parts of the UK benefit from being multicultural
- most migrants pay tax - good for the economy
- migrants prepared to work hard, often during manual jobs such as working on farms
Negatives of economic migrants to the UK (host country):
- since 2004 over 1.5 mn economic migrants have moved to the UK - 2/3 are Polish
- unemployment rate in Poland is over 10% and can earn up to 5x much in UK - money often sent home to friends and relatives - remittance payment
- migrants can put pressure on services such as health and education
What is the Gini Coefficient?
a measure of statistical dispersion intended to represent the income inequality or the wealth inequality within a nation or a social group
How did Nigeria get ‘promoted’?
- newfound trading has helped Nigeria get ‘promoted’ from an LIC to NEE status
- however, wealth is not distributed evenly across the nation
Gini Capacities:
- studied using the Gini Coefficient
- ratio of values evenly across the nation
- 0 means wealth is evenly distributed (everyone has the same income)
- 1.0 means all the income in the nation controlled by one person
What is a global scale impact on uneven development on LICs?
- LIC’s become dependent on HIC’s and some NEE’s for aid
- many LIC’s had to borrow money from the World Bank - become in debt
In LIC’s what is the main cause of death from children under the age of 5?
childbirth
In LICS’s how many children die under 15?
4 in 10 children
In LIC’s how many people die over the age of 70?
2 in 10 people
What are the main causes of death in LIC’s?
- communicable diseases - infectious diseases e.g. lung infections + malaria account for 1/3 of deaths
What are the main causes of death in HIC’s?
- chronic diseases + cancer + dementia + diabetes
What is the only main infectious cause of death in HIC’s?
lung infections
Which age group has the most deaths in HIC’s?
7 in 10 deaths in people over the age of 70