Development
Economics
Characteristics of Developing Nations
Topic 5.1

Development is..
“A process where nations
achieve higher standards of living,
happiness and fulfilment often
through economic growth.”
Obstacles to Development……
Exporting produce Less reliance on
with the world Subsistence Agriculture
Breaking the poverty cycle
Political stability
Utilising Natural Resources

Common characteristics of
developing countries
Low level of
productivity
Imperfect world
Low living markets
standards
Colonial
dominance and
High levels of
dependence
population growth
Overdependence
High levels of
on agriculture
unemployment

What are some differences
between developing countries?
Geographic and Demographic factors
Resource Endowment Political Structure
Historical Background Structure of Industry
Ethnic and Religious Breakdown Per capita income levels

Development Indicators
Quantitative Indicators – are based on

objective and truthful pieces of
information. Often collected in surveys
or by in a census.
Qualitative Indicators – are based on

subjective feelings, impression and
opinion. These provide a good indication
of the social health of a country.

Ways to evaluate Happiness Index
development?
HIV Infection Rate
Birth Rate
Human Development Index
Population Density
Gross National
Income per capita
% employed in
Human
agriculture
Freedom
Index Unemployment Rate
Infant Mortality Rate
Access to clean
water
Internet Users People per
per 1000 doctor
Income Equality
Average Wage
Cars per 1000 people
(US$) per day

GNP per capita for
regions of the world
Beyond Economic Growth, World Bank 2000, Pg 2

World Population
Beyond Economic Growth, World Bank 2000, Pg 4

In what ways can development be
measured?
Composite Indicators

Human Development Index (HDI) composite of

GNP per capita

Adult literacy rate

School enrolment rate

Life expectancy

A HDI between 1 and 0.8 is
considered high, 0.8 and 0.6 is
considered medium and 0.6 to 0.4 is
considered low
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index

Japan = 0.956
8th in world
USA = 0.944
10th in world
Singapore = 0.918
28th in world
Zambia = 0.394
167th in world
NZ = 0.933
19h in world
Human Development Index (HDI) composite of

GNP per capita

Adult literacy rate

School enrolment rate

Life expectancy


Strengths of the HDI as tool to
measure Development
A strength of HDI may be selected from the list below:
It is an indicator that is a combination of social and economic

measures/indicators. It combines levels of education, life
expectancy and income. It is a comprehensive measurement.
The HDI is based on quantitative data that measure quality of life.

The use of an economic figure such as GDP/GNP does not give

an indication of social well-being or the quality of life in a country
such as how the wealth of a country may be spent to improve
the lives of its inhabitants. The HDI does this by including social
measures, such as education.
The index is based on a 0-1 scale so it is easy to judge the social

well-being of the people in a country. A figure closer to 1 shows
that the quality of life is high, a figure closer to 0 shows that the
quality of life is low.

Views of Development
What perspective of development does this cartoon depict?
What are reasons for this?

Views of Development
What perspective of development does this cartoon depict?
What are reasons for this?

Homework
Difference between Developing Nations
Using one page, compare two nations on their level of

Development using appropriate statistics.
Use wikipedia – HDI to find countries to compare.

Use websites to collect the data for comparison. Useful

websites include
www.gapminder.org

www.nationmaster.org

www.oecd.org

www.cia

Summary should be no more than one page, use Pg 320 of

your text book as a guide on how to compare.

What kind of disparities exist
between Zambia and USA?
Zambia United States of America
Human 0.434 (low) 0.951 (high)
Development Index 165th in world 12th in world
% living below 86% 12%
poverty line
GDP per capita $900 $39,700
(2004)
GDP growth rate 5.1% 4.4%
(2004)
5.5 (58th in world) 12 (1st in world)
Average years of
schooling (2004)
80% (145th in world) 97% (68th in world)
Adult Literacy rate
2.5% (129th in world) 72.6% (1st in world)
Tertiary enrolment
(2000)

What kind of disparities exist
between Zambia and USA?
Zambia United States of America
Forested Land 43.9% 24%
Arable Land 7% 19%
Irrigated Land 1,560 sq km 214,000 sq km
(1998)
Living with AIDS 0.9 million 0.9 million
(2003) 165 per 1000 3.1 per 1000
Life expectancy 40 years 77 years
Labour force by agriculture: 22% agriculture: 1%
occupation industry: 29% industry: 20.4%
services: 48.9% services: 78.7%

Satisfaction with Life Index
Zambia = 148th score 163
USA = 23rd score 246
green = happiest
blue
purple
orange
red = least happy

Differences and Similarities
Economic Economic
Growth Development
Readings from McGee Pg 328 - 330