Development and Human Welfare 9.3 Measuring Development and Quality of Life

Question 1

What are the two indicators that are widely used to assess the strength of a country’s economy? (2)

Answer 1

• Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

- Gross National Income (GNI)

Question 2

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Answer 2

the total value of a country’s economic production over the course of a year

Question 3

Gross National Income (GNI) (2)

Answer 3

• different from GDP in that it includes the total value of a country’s economic production plus net income received from abroad
• also calculated for a year (used to be called Gross Domestic Product-GNP)

Question 4

What do GDP and GNI not take into account? (3)

Answer 4

• that countries vary enormously in size
• a large country is likely to have a large GDP
• if we divide the GDP or GNI values by the number of people in a country, we have two measures that allow us to compare countries (these are known as per capita GDP and per capita GNI

Question 5

How do the ways in which a country’s economic wealth is produced change as it develops? (4)

Answer 5

• in the early stages of economic development, the primary sector generates the most growth (agriculture, fishing, forestry and mining)
• gradually the seconday sector becomes the main generator of economic growth (raw materials manufactured into goods that have a higher value than food or minerals)
• as personal wealth increases, the tertiary or service sector takes over as the most important part of the economy
• in most developed countries a new sector is now appearing= the quaternary sector, which is based on information and communications technology (ICT) and research and development (R & D)

Question 6

in what way does energy consumtion indicate development? (2)

Answer 6

• the greater the economic development of a country, the greater its consumption of energy for manufacturing and transport
• energy consumption also increased by the use of electricity in the home

Question 7

in what way do population rates indicate development? (3)

Answer 7

• with economic development, birth rates fall due to increased birth control
• death and infant mortality rates also fall due to advances in medicine and healthcare and of people living in better housing and better diet
• due to this, life expectancy increases

Question 8

what are some quality of life indicators? (3)

Answer 8

• housing= percentage of dwellings with running water/electricity/indoor toilet
• education= percentage of GNP or GDP spent on education/ average number of years in full-time education/literacy rate
• health= infant mortality rate/life expectancy/ percentage of GNP or GDP spent on health/doctors per 1000 people

Question 9

in what way does literacy affect quality of life? (2)

Answer 9

• education is thought to be the key to better quality of life, as it opens the door to regular employment
• the % of population able to read and write is a good indicator of the general level of education in a country

Question 10

Human Development Index (HDI) (5)

Answer 10

• most widely used measure of the quality of life and level of development
• only takes into account three variables= per capita income, literacy and life expectancy
• in the calculation, it assumes that the three values are of equal importance
• scores range from 0 to 1
• the higher the HDI, the higher the level of development and quality of life

Question 11

Gini index (3)

Answer 11

• used to analyse the distribution of wealth or income among the citizens of a country
• a low index value indicates distribution that is close to equal between rich and poor
• a high index value indicates inequality between rich and poor

Question 12

Index of corrupution

Answer 12

scores each country on how corrupt their government is seen to be by researchers for Transparency International