Contrasts in World Development

Indicators of development, economic, social and composite, pros and cons of each

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Measuring Development

  • GNP= Gross National Product
  • MEDC=More economically developed country- Rich, industrialised countries of North e.g UK.    USA, Canada
  • LEDC= Less economically developed country- e.g. Sierra Leone, Nepal, Burkina Faso.

PROBLEM: -As GNP is beased on averagesit hides the existance of widespread poverty in rich                        countries and great wealth in poorer countries.

Economic Indicators of Development:

  • GNP per Capita
  • Primary employment
  • Trade

Social Indicators:

  • Birth rate
  • Literacy rate
  • life expectany
  • people per doctor
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Problems with Indicators and Composite Indicators

Problems With Indicators 

  • Info obtained from census or servey may not be accurate 
  • Some social indicators are directly related to wealth of counry i.e no.of TVs per 100 people
  • Use of separate indicators can disguise variations 

Composite Indicators =Combination of different indicators to give overall fairer view:

  • The Human Decelopment Index 
  • The Human Poverty Index 
  • The Gender Related Development Index 

1) The Human Development Index:

  • Expressed as figure between 0-1 
  • The closer the score is to 1, the more deveped a country is 
  • Combines measures of health, wealth and eduation as follows:
  • Life expectancy at birth
  • Literacy rate for adults
  • Income per Capita 
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Composite Indicators

2) Human Poverty Index (HPI)- Measure Deprovation:

  • Early Death Rates
  • Adult illiteracy 
  • Living Standards 

Life expectancy is  a good indicator as it shows change over time, shows info on foo supply, water, living conditions, health care.  PROBLEM-Not all deaths registered in LEDCs.

Development Gap- This is the difference in Standard of living between MEDCs and LEDCs, attention is focused on how to reduce this difference. 

Employment Structure:

  • Primary Sectore: e.g. Farming, Mining, Fishing 
  • Secondary: e.g. Food manufacturing, Clothes manufacture 
  • Teritary : Envolves providing a skill or service for community e.g. medical, schools, banks
  • Quaternary: Connected with IT, research and development. High tech-elctronic inustry.



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Indicators

  • LEDCs tend to have high% in primary not many in secondary, some in teritary.
  • MEDCSs to have low% in primary, falling% in secodary, majority in teritary.

Birth Rates:no. babies born per 1000 in population Death Rates: no. deaths per 1000 in pop.

Natural Increase= When birth reate is higher than death rate.  Natural Decrese= When birth rate is lower than death rate.

Subsistance Farming: This is growing small quantities of variety of foods or keeping small no. of animals. Produce used to feed family and little is sold - mainly LEDCs

Agribuisness: This is large scale, often high tech growing of crops or keeping animals for sale.  Farmer may use little of produce, will probs sell it and use money to buy food.- mainly MEDCs.

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Factors Influencing Development

Historical

  • Raw materials and energy to develop industry and create wealth e.g. UK
  • PROBLEM: Colonialism- good, developed some roads and railways, education and medicalcar
  •   However, raw materials taken cheaply, little inductry developed, locals not given power in gov. (from colonialism) After independance still heavilt dependant on ex ruler.

Enviromental Factors

  • GOOD= temperature/moderate climate- grows crops, good water supply, no earth movements
  • PROBLEMS= Earth movements- volcanoes, Earthquakes, Tsunami etc, drought, deforetation e.g. Samalia 

Dependance on Primary activities  - Some countries v.reliant on a few exports e.g. Ghana around 80% coca, Cuba-77% sugar, Nigeria-99% oil.  

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Strategies for reducing development Gap

A Statedgy for reducing Global development Gap

- Millenium Deveopment Goals:

  • Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
  • Provide universal pormary education 
  • Promote gender equality 
  • Reduce Child mortality 
  • Combat HIV/ AIDS, tuberculosis and maleria 
  • Ensure enviromental sustainable 
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Case StudyL One organisation

  • Advocacy organisation- it is putting forward the situation for the poor accross the world

Action strategies

  • Using modern technology e.g. internet, socila networking, to spread info, aimed at educating and motevating young people.
  • Aim: To try to get the public to influence politicians and thereofre the policies. AND achieve millenium development goals.
  • They want to get enoug people in MEDCs concerned that politicians across the world will have to take action.
  • Use of famous people for publicity.

Achievements/Success?

  • Its difficult to be absolutely sure about what has been achieved because they were not doing set pratical jobs.  Their aim was to influence politians who would then change things on large scale.
  • more than 3 million people have joined 
  • managed to get support from famous people. -Good quality, attractive videos on utube 
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Globalisation

 This is the way that countries all over the world are becoming interlinked by trade, spread of ideas/ culture and industry.

Multinational Corporation(MNCs) / Tansnational Corporates (TNCs)

- Large Companies which have branches in many different countries. Generally work in particular way:

  • MEDCs: -headquaters were decisions are made e.g. Ford, coca-cola, nike,mcdonals
  •      -high volume, high priced sales 
  •      -marketing and advertising 
  •      -big profits
  • LEDCs: -most of the manufacturing 
  •     -may have some of the raw materials 
  •     -money from wages 
  •     -have little power in decision makeing 
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Case Study: Globalisation in India

Since the 1990s India has opened up to world trade.  The economy is gorwing very rapidly and it may be the worlds third biggest economy.  As it has grown economically, it has grown politicallly.

Why did it develop so quickly?   Result: -Rapid deveopment, Brain gain

  • Low labour costs as educated idians, who had moved 
  • Large english speaking workforce over seas, were returning.
  • Encouraged MNCs to come

Good?  Bad:

  • Living standard/ expectancy increase -widening gap between rich and poor
  • Adult litaeracy rose  -harmed chance of ordinary indians get job
  • Enormous shopping centre being built -can make it slow on helping indias pool
  • Brain gain- educated indians returning  -half of children under 5 malnourished
  • has become more important politically -shopping centres dont benefit poor.
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Newly Industrializing Countries (NICs)

These are countires which are changeing rapidly, from LEDCs but not yet being MEDC.

 First phase in 1960s e.g. Hong kong, Sounth Korea, singapore and Taiqan.  Now well develped countries. 

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World trade

Trade: This is the buying and selling of goods between one area or country and another. We trade beacause no country can produce all that it needs or wants.

  • Import= Bringing goods into country
  • Export= Sending goods out of country

Trade defeciet: The value of imports is more than value of exports.

Trade patterns of MEDCs:

  • MEDCs control around 80% world trade.  EU and US control over half of world trade
  • many of MEDCs export moe than they import
  • Some countries join into clubs like EU and trade between themselves & less with LEDCs
  • MEDCs put up trade barriers e.g. putting taxes or tariffs on imports to protect MEDC jobs

Trade petterns of LEDCs:

  • Most have trade defeciet 
  • Trae gap between LEDCs and MEDCs is becoming wider as trade become moreunbalanced
  • producers often get a very small% profit of the value of the final product for sale.
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Fair Trade

Fair trade means that people who make or gorw a product are paid fairly for their work, cutting out the middlemen.

'Fairtrade'= Organisation set up to oversee and organise this 

Main products: Coffee, tea, bananas, cotto, sugar, cocoa

Coffee: This is one of the biggest products in the world market.  The price can be variable and the fairtrade organistaion are trying o help many producers.

Benefits to producers:

  • Get a higher price fore their product(more profit)
  • Guarenteed price = stable/ steady income = Farmer can plan ahead
  • Money to send children to school- better education = brighter future
  • Better water supply, better health care
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Fair Trade

Advantages to Community:

  • Each producer gives a small % of their income to community.  This can be invested in; health care, education, providing local transport.
  • Provides reasonable crdit facilities for farmers to improve the farming.
  • promotes enviromental schemes
  • prper employment rules e.g. hours worked, age of workers 

Advantages to MEDC:

  • We can buy with a clear conscienous because we know we are helping people who are less fortunate 
  • The item should be of high quality and farmed properly
  • If people in LEDCs become richer they may be able to pay of loans, the country will need less aid, the gov. will be able to buy more products from MEDCs and they will become richer.
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Comments

Mr A Gibson

Report

Accurate and precise... Just what you need to help you learn the definitions and main points associated with economic development at a range of scales.

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