Development and its Indicators Flashcards
Define
Development
The progressive process of a countrry aimed at achieving economic growth, resulting in a conducive environment for individuals to enjoy a decent standard of living and quality of life
Define
Economic growth
The level of wealth that the people in the country have achieved
Define
Standard of living
Goods and services available to people in the environment they live in
Define
Quality of life
The well-being of the people
What are the areas that the indicators of development are found in?
EDS
1. Economic
2. Demographic
3. Social
What are the economic indicators of development?
- Income per capita
- Employment structure
What are the demographic indicators of development?
- Life expectancy
- Infant mortality rate
- Urban population
What are the social indicators of development?
- Access to water and sanitation
- Adult literacy rate
What is the difference between gross national product and gross domestic product?
GNP: Total value of goods and services produced by the citizens of the country, including contributions by citizens working and investing outside the country
GDP: Total value of goods and services produced by the citizens and non-citizens in a country in a given year, excluding contributions by citizens working and investing outside the country
What are the pros of using income per capita as an indicator?
- Can identify industrial levels. More developed–> Higher GDP/capita. Less developed–> Lower GDP/capita
- Easy to calculate
- Standard unit of measurement
What are the cons of using income per capita as an indicator?
- It is an average figure Does not show the extremes (affected by majority and leaves out outliers)
- Does not consider differences in cost of living
- Does not register informal economic activities
- Does not consider social and environmental costs (air pollution etc.) as a result of economic growth
What are the different industries?
Primary: extract natural resources from earth
Secondary: convert natural resources into useful products
Tertiary: provide services
Quaternary: Reseach
How does employment structure change in LEDCs and MEDCs?
LEDCs: Greater percentage of primary industries
1. Low capital requirements
2. Abundance of natural resources
3. Low level of education needed
Smaller percentage of secondary and tertiary industries
1. High cost of establishing them
2. Need for skilled workers
What are the pros in using employment structure as an indicator?
- Can identify industrial levels. Amount of income earned by the country can be seen through the proportion of industries
- Level of wealth of country. Countries with wealth are able to create more tertiary and secondary industries
- Level of wealth of people. Trained and knowledgeable citizens (sec and tertiary workers) will get a higher salary
What are the cons in using employment structure as an indicator?
- No information on number of people, amount of revenue generated–> can be misleading
- Narrow indicator–> no consideration of social, health and environmental development of country
What are the pros in using triangular graphs for employment structure?
- Shows dominant industries
- Easy to compare due to standard measure
What are the cons in using triangular graphs?
- Fails to recognise and capture other industrial sectors (quaternary and quinary) –> only 3 factors at once
- Unable to capture trends
- Does not reveal exact values–> in percentage that might distort the information
What is life expectancy as an indicator? What is the trend in DCs vs LDCs? What does this show (ie so what if it’s high?)
- Average number of years a person can expect to live
- In DCs, LE is much longer than those in LDCs
- Reflects the access to advanced healthcare and healthier diet
What are the pros of using life expectancy as an indicator?
- Level of healthcare and sanitation –> higher level increases LE
- Level of wealth of country –> countries with higher LE have better facilities –> government can afford them. Also people can afford to pay for these services.
What are the cons of using life expectancy as an indicator?
- It is only an average figure
- Does not show distribution of healthcare and food consumption
- Data from LDCs may not be accurate
What is infant mortality rate?
Number of deaths of children under the age of 1 per 1000 live births in a year
Why is infant mortality rate higher in LDCs than DCs?
DCs: Availibility of good sanitation and easy accessibility to hospitals and doctors.
Eg Singapore- 2 per 1000 live births
LDCs: High occurance of war, drought, shortage of food and life threatening diseases
Eg Ethopia- 100 per 1000 live births
What are the pros of using IMR as an indicator?
- Indicator of the state of healthcare and sanitation systems –> accessibility and availability
- Identify LDCs from DCs
What are the cons of using IMR as an indicator?
- Hard to get accurate figure as many births in LDCs would be unregistered
- High IMR may be the result of social or polictical factors, population policies –> Eg one child policy in China (1980-2015)
What is the difference in urban population between DCs and LDCs?
DCs: Higher %
- Have financial resources to develop cities
- Large % of workers work in secondary and tertiary industries, found mainly in the cities
LDCs: Lower %
* Larger % of people work in primary industries
What are the pros of using urban population as an indicator?
- Shows the amount of resources available to provide the goods and services as well as to build the infrastructure
- Shows the type of jobs available and thus level of wealth of people –> Urban areas have more secondary and tertiary industries. Thus more in urban areas, more in sec and tertiary industries –> higher income
What are the cons of using urban population as an indicator?
- Counter-urbanisation trend in DCs–> due to congestion and pollution in cities
- Development of slums and squatters in LDCs–> rapid growth in population, city cannot support–> overcrowding, poor living conditions
Higher population does not always mean better economics and vice versa!
Why is the access to water and sanitation different in DCs and LDCs?
DCs: Higher %–> Have financial resources for facilities
LDCs: Lower %–> limited financial resources
What are the pros in using access to water and sanitation as an indicator?
- Shows the level of hygiene available for the people–> linked to QoL and SoL
- Shows the wealth of the country in affording such facilities
What are the cons in using access to water and sanitation as an indicator?
- It is an average figure–> does not take into account varying levels in rural and urban areas in the same country
What is adult literacy rate as an indicator?
- The percentage of the population aged 15 and above who are able to read, write and understand simple statements
How and why is adult literacy rate different from DCs to LDCs?
DCs–> higher %
- Government subsides basic education
- More skilled workers (teachers)
LDCs–> lower %
- Parents have limited resources to send children to school
- Children expected to help out in farms–> less time for studying
What are the pros of using adult literacy rate as an indicator?
- Shows wealth of country –> amount of finances available for educational needs of its people. More cash= more schools, more teachers trained, subsidised education
- Shows proportion of children attending school
What are the cons of using adult literacy rate as an indicator?
- Does not take into account other skills (eg. good understanding of farming skills etc.)
- Does not take into account conservative countries–> girls not allowed to go to school
What is the Human Development Index and what indicators are used in its calculation? How do you read this index?
- Composite index that range from 0-1 to rank countries on level of human development and separate DCs, LDCs and developing countries
- This index combines GDP/capita (economic), life expectancy (demographic) and adult literacy rate (social)
- The closer the index is to one, the higher the development
What are the advantages of using the Human Development Index?
- More accurate as it is more comprehensive –> takes 3 development indicators from 3 categories
- Serves as a standard of measurement between countries
What are the drawbacks of using the Human Development Index?
- Unable to measure intangibles (human rights, freedom of speech etc.)
- Time lag of 1-2 years as data is collected
- Might not be accurate as some countries do not provide data
