Measures of Development

Question 1

GDP (economic)

Answer 1

• the total value of goods and services produced by a country in a year

Question 2

GDP strengths

Answer 2

• quantitative, not opinion based, = reliable + measurable
• growth rate useful to show health of economy
• easily comparable between countries so relative performance can be assessed

Question 3

GNI (economic)

Answer 3

• GNI is the total income earned by a country’s residents (both domestically and abroad)
• GDP + net income earned abroad

Question 4

GNI strengths

Answer 4

• includes income earned both domestically and internationally
• means more comprehensive picture of a countries overall economic well being

Question 5

GDP/GNI weaknesses

Answer 5

• doesnt show social inequalities
• doesnt account for informal sector (reduces validity)
• doesn’t account for size of population
• doesn’t assess welfare of citizens, only economic growth

Question 6

GNI/GDP per capita

Answer 6

GNI/GDP divided by population of country

Question 7

per capita strengths

Answer 7

• accounts for population
• without pop, can seem like a country is more wealthy than they are

Question 8

per capita weaknesses

Answer 8

• fails to account for social ineq
• masks income ineq in a country

Question 9

Gini coefficient

Answer 9

• measures wealth ineq
  0 = perfect equality, 1 = perfect inequality

Question 10

gini strengths

Answer 10

• measures income inequality which isnt shown on GDP/GNI/per capita
• v imp for social + econ wellbeing, as wealth may be concentrated in top of society

Question 11

gini weaknesses

Answer 11

• doesnt show a countries overall wealth or income
• opposite to GDP/GNI
• HIC and LIC can have same gini, so standards of living cld be v. diff but look same

Question 12

Life expectancy at birth (social)

Answer 12

how long, on avg, a newborn can expect to live, if current death rates don’t change

Question 13

LE at birth strengths

Answer 13

• shows overall health + living condition in country
• accounts for healthcare access, nutrition, sanitation, safety etc
• shows effectiveness of countries healthcare system: higher LE = better healthcare quality, access outcomes etc

Question 14

LE at birth weaknesses

Answer 14

• doesnt show quality of life: person cld have long life expectancy but live a bad life (disability)
• can be disparities from unequal access to healthcare
• doesn’t consider political state

Question 15

Infant mortality rate (social)

Answer 15

number of deaths per 1000 live births of chidren under the age of 1

Question 16

IMR strengths

Answer 16

• highly sensitive to quality and accessibility of healthcare services
• high IMR shows wider determinants of health, e.g poverty, lack of clean water, malnutrition

Question 17

IMR weaknesses

Answer 17

• regional differences (rural vs urban)
• only focuses on first year, doesn’t look at health past the first year
• accuracy can vary between countries

Question 18

Avg schooling years (social)

Answer 18

• The average number of years of education a student over the age of 25 has actually received

Question 19

Avg schooling strengths

Answer 19

• provides simple and understandable measure of educational attainment in a population
• quantifies human capital
• shows investment in education, and the potential skills available

Question 20

avg schooling weaknesses

Answer 20

• doesnt show political context of a party (Cuba)
• doesn’t show quality of education, only quantity

Question 21

HDI (composite)

Answer 21

• summary of a country’s avg achievements in three basic aspects of human development:
• health (LE at birth)
• knowledge (mean yrs of scl, expected yrs of scl)
• standard of living (GNI per capital in PPP)

Question 22

HDI strengths

Answer 22

• combines three fundamental dimensions of human development
• holistic view of well-being past just econ factors

Question 23

HDI weaknesses

Answer 23

• doesnt show income ineq within countries
• SA has high HDI, as good in health, edu, income, BUT v.high income ineq
• doesn’t look at factors like political freedom, gender equality etc
• Saudi has relatively high HDI, but lots of gender disparities, e.g. limited women rights