Development Indicators Overview

Development Definition

• A country's development is dependent on social, economic, political, and environmental factors.
• Development is measured using single and composite indicators.

Single Indicators

• Social:
  • Life expectancy: Average years a newborn is expected to live.
  • Infant mortality rate: Number of deaths to infants under 1 per 1000 live births annually.
  • GDP per capita: GDP divided by the population.
  • Fertility rate: Total number of children born to a woman over her lifetime.
  • Maternal mortality rate: Yearly deaths related to pregnancy per 10,000 live births.
• Economic:
  • Purchasing power parity (PPP): Measures what $1 buys in a country.
  • GDP: Total value of goods and services produced per year in a country (US$).
  • Poverty line: Minimum income required to meet basic needs (US$1.90 per person, per day, based on World Bank data).
• Other:
  • Literacy rate: Percentage of those over 15 who can read and write.
  • Gross National Income (GNI): A measure of national wealth, including wealth created outside the country by companies.
  • Birth rate: Number of births per 1000 population per year.
  • Death rate: Number of deaths per 1000 population per year.

Composite Indicators

• Human Development Index (HDI): Calculated using life expectancy, adult literacy rates, average years of schooling, and GDP per capita. It offers a more comprehensive measure of development than single indicators.
• HDI is ranked High/Very High/Low/Very Low.

Demographic Changes with Development

• Fertility, mortality rates, and maternal/infant mortality rates decrease with development due to better medical care and access to hospitals.
• Population structure changes, moving from a pyramid shape (high birth rate, low life expectancy) to a barrel shape (lower birth rates, longer life expectancy) as healthcare advances.

Global Inequality Causes

• Environmental: Extreme weather events (hurricanes, droughts) disrupt development and leave countries with less money to rebuild and recover.
• Social: Lack of investments in healthcare and education leads to slower development and affects living standards.
• Political & Economic: Corruption in governments and unstable political situations hinders development by diverting funds, creating uncertainty and discouragement for investment. Restricting trade also slows development.

Historical Influences

• Colonialism: The acquisition of political control over another country and the economic exploitation of resources, resulting in uneven development compared to colonizing countries.
• Neo-colonialism: A continuation of control by former colonial powers. Rich countries still influence past colonies.

Consequences of Global Inequality

• Income inequality: A significant gap between rich and poor countries. Income quintiles can illustrate this.
• Global income distribution: An uneven distribution of income globally, as shown by the "champagne glass" model. This inequality gap is demonstrated by measuring GDP per capita, ranking countries and dividing them into quintiles. The richest 20% of people own the most of the world GDP.

Rostow's Modernization Theory

• Five stages of development: Traditional society, preconditions to takeoff, takeoff, drive to maturity, age of high mass consumption.
• Countries must progress through these to become fully developed.

Rostow's Model Criticisms

• Eurocentric: Focused primarily on European development models, overlooking other pathways for development.
• Stages not always linear: Development is not always in sequence. Not every country will follow the same path.
• Universal applicability questionable: The model assumes all countries start in the same place with the same resources and opportunities and not all will follow this pattern. Countries may experience different stages with variations in their development.

Frank's Dependency Theory

• Countries are poor due to exploitation by richer countries.
• Theory divides the world into core and periphery countries, focusing on historical trade relationships.
• Developed countries, known as the "core", profit from resources extracted from developing nations (the "periphery").
• Semi-periphery countries have an intermediate position in this relationship.

India Development & Implications

• Growth Factors: Globalization's role in Indian development has been substantial due to companies wanting to produce goods in the cheapest locations, labor market advantages, and foreign direct investment. Economic liberalization has helped India become a market economy.
• Social Implications: Urbanization, changes in social customs, an increase in people living in urban areas, income inequality, higher literacy and better healthcare.
• Environmental Impacts: Deforestation, water/air pollution, increasing emissions, and climate change have been heavily impacted by economic growth in India.
• Historical Context: India's economic growth is dependent on its vast amounts of resources.