economic growth and development

Question 2

what is economic development ?

Answer 2

Economic development is the sustainable increase in living standards for a country, typically characterised by increases in life span, education levels, and income

Question 3

what is economic growth?

Answer 3

Economic growth is defined as an increase in output and does not involve a change in structure in society. Measured using GDP, GNP, etc

Question 4

what are the main characteristics of less developed countries

Answer 4

High rate of population growth
high foreign debts
uneven distribution of wealth
over dependence on ne product
large primary sector - High percentage of the population engaged in extractive/primary industries
This results in not enough workers in secondary & tertiary sectors, resulting in low standards of living.
poor levels of education
poor living conditions

Question 5

advantages of using HDI

Answer 5

-It is a composite indicator which provides a more useful comparison metric than single indicators do

-It incorporates three of the most important metrics for households i.e. health, education and income

-It is widely used all over the world which provides an opportunity for meaningful comparisons

-It provides a goal for governments to use when developing their policies e.g. it may help identify that the education levels are holding back improvements to the HDI and government policy can target that

-It provides citizens with an understanding of how their quality of life compares to other countries

Question 6

disadvantages of using HDI

Answer 6

It does not measure the inequality that exists as it uses the mean GNI/capita

It does not measure or compare the levels of absolute and relative poverty that exist

For many countries it does not provide useful short-term information as gathering the data required for the calculation is difficult. This means the data often lags reality by several years