In what ways do countries vary in their levels of economic development and quality of life? Flashcards
What is development?
A process of change within countries and their societies
What is international development?
the journey the world must take in order for poor countries to become prosperous countries (and so reducing global inequality)
What is the aim for most countries?
To develop sustainable economic growth that supports economic development
What does the best economic development create?
jobs, raises incomes and increases tax revenue so that governments can support both hard and soft infrastructure.
What is economic growth?
The growth of a country’s economy leading to a rise in the general level of prosperity
What is quality of life?
- Psychological – about happiness, fulfilment, security
- Physical – diet health
- Socio-economic – employment prospects, leisure
- Cultural
- Political – freedom, security
What are demographic quantitive measures of development?
- Level of birth rate (BR) death rate (DR)
- Population Density
- Diet: daily calorie supply (percentage of needs) percentage malnourished
- Health: infant mortality, life expectancy in years, percentage obese
What are economic quantitive measures of development?
- Income or wealth per head, e.g. gross domestic product (GDP) per head
- Possessions, e.g. cars per 100 people, percentage with TVs. Computers
- Employment: percentage in primary, percentage unemployed or underemployed
- Levels of saving/investment per head
- Infrastructure, e.g. kilometres of road, percentage with phones
- Consumption levels e.g. power consumption
- Average annual rate of economic growth
What are social quantitive measures of development?
- Percentage of total income/wealth that the richest 10% have
- Education: adult literacy (percentage), percentage of 5-year0olds in school, percentage at university
- Percentage of teenage pregnancies, percentage on drugs
- Services: doctors, dentists per 1000 people, number of library books taken out per year
- Crime/violence: murders per 1000 people, number in prison
- Housing, e.g. percentage with indoor toilet, percentage owner occupies
- Communications: phone subscribers per 1000
What are political quantitive measures of development?
- Percentage voting in elections
- Size of police force/army
- Percentage of industry that is state owned
- Number of political prisoners
- Environmental pollution e.g. CO2 emissions, percentage rivers polluted
Name two combined quantitive measures
- The Human Development Index HDI – this takes into account three variables, which are given equal weighting: income per capita, adult literacy and life expectancy.
- Quality of Life Index (QLI)
What are the three variables of HDI?
income per capita, adult literacy and life expectancy.
What is GDP?
Gross Domestic Product per capita – the total market value of all final goods and services produced in a country in a given year divided by its population
What is GNI?
Gross National Income per capita – the total value of all the goods and services produced by resident producers plus net receipts of primary income from domestic workers/firms abroad, divided by the total population of the country
What are qualitative measures?
- Literal descriptions of the lives of poor people provide us with a vivid and personalised view of what poverty really means
What is the advantage of using qualitative measures?
- Statistical measures fail to convey the suffering and the daily struggles of hundreds of millions of people, especially in LEDCs
What are the income bands?
Low Income: $1,005 or less
Lower Middle Income: $1,006 - $3,975
Upper Middle Income: $3,976 - $12,275
High Income: $12,276 or more
Name some problems of measures of development
- Often unclear what it means, e.g. population per doctor – what type of doctor? Where located? Ignores number of visits to doctors etc
- Accuracy of measurement is suspect in some countries e.g. North Korea
- Hides regional variations within countries, e.g. massive differences between Delhi in India and the remote mountains of Kashmir
- Hides distribution between groups in society e.g. gender, age, ethnicity differences
- Differences in the exchange rates often confuse things when all based on US$
Where is Afghanistan?
Asia - landlocked
Is Afghanistan poor?
One of the poorest and least developed countries in the world
How many % of the population live below the poverty line?
53%
What is the main source of income for people in Afghanistan?
- Agriculture is the mainstay of the Afghan economy, supporting 80% of the population
What is Afghanistan (LEDC, NIC, MEDC)
LEDC
Why is Afghanistan classed as an LEDC? (factors)
- Over half of all older children are not in school, public health is poor, and much of the population suffers shortages of housing, clean water, health care and jobs
