Development Flashcards
Sources of economic growth
- Increase in quality/quantity of Natural factors
- Increasing quantity and quality of human and physical capital
- Improvement in state of technology
- Institutional factors ( eg banking system, structured legal system, good education system)
Consequences of economic growth in terms of economic development
- Higher Incomes (dependent on how fairly income distributed)
- Improved economic indicators of welfare (growth has lead to increased average life expectancy)
- Higher Gvt revues received as result of more economic activity. (in better position to provide essential services but depends ion corruption and how representative gvt is of pop.)
- Creation of inequality (growth brought by market-based initiatives often leads to increase in equality
- Negative externalities and lack of sustainability (growth often leads to pollution, soil degradation, deforestation, reduction in biodiversity)
Common characteristics of developing countries (according to Michael P. Todaro)
- Low standards of living characterised by low incomes, inequality, poor health and inadequate education (e.g. high levels of malnutrition, high infant mortality rates)
- Low levels of productivity (because of poor education, poor health and lack of investment)
- High rates of pop growth (e.g. Nigeria had 51.08 live norths per 1000 people, Japan had 7.41) leading to dependency burdens
- High and rising level of unemployment/underemployment (usually between 10 and 20%)
- Substantial dependence upon agricultural production and primary product exports
- Prevalence of imperfect markets and limited information.
- Dominance, dependence and vulnerability in international relations
Diversity among developing countries
- Resource endowment (eg Angola rich in Oil and diamonds but developing)
- Historical background (length and nature of colony countries were a part of varies)
- Geographic and demographic factors (ranges form China down to Fiji)
- Ethnic and religious breakdown
- Structure of industry
- Per capita income levels
- Political structures.
International development goals
eg millennium development goals
- Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
- Achieve universal primary education
- Promote gender equality and empower women
- Reduce child mortality
- Improve maternal health
- Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
- Ensure environmental sustainability
- Develop a global partnership for development.
Single indicators
i) Financial measures
- 1) GDP per capita or GNI per capita
- 2) GDP or GNI per capita at PPP
ii) Health measures
- 1) Life expectancy at birth
- 2) Infant mortality rate
iii) Education measures
- 1) Adult literacy rate
- 2) Net enrolment ratio in primary education
Composite Indicators
HDI
GDI
HPI
Institutional factors affecting development
- Education
- Health care
- Infrastructure
- Political stability & lack of corruption
- Legal system
- Financial system
- Taxation
- Appropriate technology
- Empowerment of Women
How education affects development?
Improvement in education improve well-being of population.
Leads to:
-more efficient workforce
-better communication and debate on topics meaning more likely to lead to social change (improve role of women in society, improvement in health of pop.)
BUT:
-requires large funding
-necessity of children to earn an income in some areas
-might be large geographical disparities (within countries) in provision of good education
How health care affects development?
Increase life expectancy
How infrastructure affects development?
Provide the structure necessary to improve communication, transportation and population size necessary to create economic growth and economic development.
How political stability and lack of corruption affects development?
More stable countries are more likely to attract FDI (which is more likely to create growth than development) and aid.
More likely to enforce law fairly: incentivising people to invest and increase consumption of products.
Citizens more likely to have an input in the running of the country
Gvt planning more long term and structured
How legal system affects development?
If a person cannot guarantee his/her ownership of a property there is no incentive to improve property or buy new ones.
How financial system affects development?
Saving is necessary to make funds available for investment. Investment allows low-income people to invest in health care, shelter, education ultimately necessary to break poverty cycle.
Micro-financing provides financial services such as small loans, savings accounts, insurance, cheque books. Leads to micro-entrepeneurships.
How taxation affects development?
Tax revenue provides government wight he means to finance necessary public services, healthcare and generally to improve the infrastructure of the country.
How use of appropriate affects development?
In most developing economies labour is in excess so technology which requires large amount of labour is quite often useful in developing countries. It also has to be durable and cheap.