4.3 Emerging and developing economies Flashcards
what is development?
the sustained improvement in the standard of living, well-being and economic opportunities
what is economic growth?
- a sustained rise in a country’s productive capacity
- an increased in real value of GDP/GNI per capita
- increase in the productivity of factors of production
what is economic development?
- progress in expanding economic freedoms
- sustained improvement in economic and social opportunities
- growth in personal and national capabilities
what is the Human Development Index?
focuses on longevity (long, healthy life), basic education and a decent standard of living (minimal income)
- a broad measure of improvements in people’s lives
- each of the three measures is given a value between 0 and 1 (0 being very low development and 1 very high)
- it can be expressed as number between 0 and 100 (if the measure is multiplied by 100) or 0 and 1
what are the disadvantages of using HDI?
- does not take into account qualitative factors
- takes no account of income distribution
- Purchasing power parity values used to adjust GNI data change quickly
what are the advantages of using HDI?
- relatively easy data to collect and compare
- as objective as possible
- measures such as longevity and education levels are indicative of other development factors
what are the other indicators of development?
- changing structure of national output, trade and employment
- access to clean water
- energy consumption per capita
- fertility rate
- prevalence of HIV
what is primary product dependency?
a country’s economy is heavily reliant on the export of primary products or raw materials
- risk of over-specialisation especially when the terms of trade from their main exports decline
- resources rich countries may suffer from the natural resources curse, extractive rents often fuel corruption, inequality and wasteful consumption causing natural resources to be depleted
what is the Prebisch-Singer Hypothesis?
suggests that, over the long run, prices of primary goods such as coffee or cocoa decline in proportion to prices of manufactured goods such as cars and washing machines
- likely to be long-term decline in real commodity prices
- this is because the income elastic of demand for commodities is lower than for manufactured goods which worsens the terms of trade for primary exporters over time
➡️countries would be better off focusing on import substitution policies which encourage rapid industrialisation and improved export diversification so they are more resilient to price shocks
what is Dutch Disease?
the adverse impact of a sudden discovery of natural resources on the national economy via the appreciation of the real exchange rate and the decline in export competitiveness
- if natural resources are found and extracted while the world price is rising then export revenues will increase and there will be investment into the sector
➡️ there is a risk that there investment into other industries will lack + the surge in export incomes can cause an appreciation of the exchange rate
strategies for reducing Primary Product dependency and price volatility?
- better government, more transparency and accountability
- Stabilisation Fund/ Sovereign Wealth Fund ➡️ eg to fund human capital and infrastructure
- higher taxes of natural resource profits
- Buffer stock schemes, when the government or firms stockpile good
- Diversification, including shifting resources into processing, light manafacturing and toursim ➡️ giving higher value added and making the economy less susceptibel to external shocks
whats the saving gap?
- many rich countries have excessive savings while poorer countries with extreme poverty makes it impossible to generate sufficient savings for investment
- banking sector may be underdeveloped causing reliance of foregin aid
➡️ savings lead to investment (if theres a big saving gap then there will be a lack of investment)
what is the Harrod Domar Model of growth?
stresses the importance of savings and investment
- the rate of growth depends on the level of national savings and the productivity of capital investment
what is a foreign currency gap?
imbalance between inflows and outflows of foreign currencies such as $ and euro
when does a foreign exchange gap happen?
- a country is running persistent currency account deficit
- there is an outflow of capital investors
- a fall in the value of inflows of remittances from nationals living and working overseas
➡️ key consequence is that the nation does not have enough foregin currency to pay for essentail imports such as medicines, food and critical raw materials
➡️ severly hamper short run economic growth
what is capital flight?
the uncertain and rapid movement of large sums of money out of a country (outflow of resident capital which is motivated by economic and political uncertainty)
what are the causes of capital flight?
- political turmoil
- fears that a govt plans to take assets under state control
- exchanges rate uncertainity
- fears over the stability of a country’s fiscal system
which demographic factors affect economic growth?
concerned with the size and composition of a population
- life expectancy is rising
- ageing population and population decline
➡️changes patterns of consumer demand in markets, govt spending, housing market (micro)
➡️rate of productivity, business competitiveness, increased demand for state-funded health care
what are the effect of brain drain?
the movement of highly skilled/ professional people from their own country to another country where they can earn more money
✅
- remittances fro emigrants flow back
- people living overseas may help finance private sector capital projects in the future
- may help offset risks from rapid population growth
❌
- loss of human capital
- loss of enterprising younger workers
- skill shortages
- risk of fall in AD
what is external debt?
debt owed to external (overseas) creditors
- govt bonds sold to foreign investors
- private sector credit borrowing from foreign banks
when do external debts rise?
- govt is running a budged deficit which is financed by;
- the selling of govt bonds to overseas creditors
- borrowing from overseas institutions such as the IMF
- households and businesses borrow money in a foreign currency including mortgages and corporate bonds
whats the risk of external debt?
- returns on investment might fall short of expectations
- if the currency depreciates/devalues the real value of the debt will be harder to pay
- if international investors become nervous about the ability of a govt to repay external debt the country may suffer a downwards credit-rating
how do access to credit and banking impact the economy?
- improving access to basic financial services such as a bank account, credit, insurance is crucial to improve people’s lives
- millions of the worlds poorest people rely on informal loans often at high rates of interest
- many find it difficult to find loans for businesses or to fund education as they have no collateral infrastructure
how does education/skills in human capital impact the economy?
human capital is the skill, knowledge, talent, experience and ability of workers
➡️ affects labour productivity and ability to harness/adapt to new technologies as low productivity keeps wages down
what are property rights?
- land rights
- tragedy of the commons (individual consumer resource at the expense of society)
- intellectual property (copyrights)
- rights to own businesses
why are property rights important for development?
- crucial for wealth creation
- protection of property rights is a major barrier to corruption
- help tackle gender inequalities
- laws on patents are important to secure investment in research industries
- common rules encourage trade and investment
how is gender inequality a barrier to growth and development?
- economies cannot achieve their full and equal participation of women and men
- adolescent birth rate is higher in LDCs