Development: improvement in the quality of life.

 

Indicators of Development 

• GNP per capita

• Employment structure / percentage employed in primary/secondary/tertiary

• Literacy

• Percentage in secondary education

• Life expectancy

• Infant mortality rate

• Birth rate

• Average number of people per doctor

• Percentage with access to clean water/improved sanitation

• Food intake/ calories per capita per day

• Average amount of energy used per person

• Percentage with Internet access

 

National income

1. GNP (gross national product): total value of goods and services produced by a country’s citizens, both domestically & abroad

2. GDP (gross domestic product): total value of goods and services produced within a country’s borders by citizens & non-citizens.

3. GNI (gross national income): GDP + income from overseas sources (like businesses)

 

Literacy: Ability to be able to read/write.

 

Why there is a relationship between GDP/GNP per capita and life expectancy

MEDCs have higher GDP/GNP per capita. MEDCs have:

• Better/more access/more investment in health care/hospitals/clinics

• More/better qualified doctors/nurses

• Cures for diseases/medicines are more readily available/can afford medicines

• Education about healthcare/diet

• Improved/safe water supply

• Better hygiene/sanitation

• Better food supplies/good diet/investment in agriculture

• Less likely to suffer malnutrition

• Pensions paid to elder

 

Why there is a relationship between GNP per person and adult literacy

• With high GNP, more money can be spent on education/can afford to send children to school/more schools built/more teachers/more adult education

• Education is compulsory in most countries with high GNP

• So skills are learned/people become more qualified

• People are more productive/can earn more money

• Better healthcare so children can attend school

• Farming becomes less important so children can attend school

• Less time spent collecting wood and water so children can attend school

 

Why there is relationship between GDP per person and energy use per person

Countries with high GDP:

• Have more vehicles/cars/transport/low GDPs will walk

• So will use more oil

• Are more likely to use air travel

• As they travel for business/leisure

• Have more industries/lower GDPs have more farming

• (Industries) which will use fuel/power

• More mechanised/less manual labour/in low GDP

• More likely to have electricity in homes/lighting/heating/electrical gadgets/examples such as phone/washing machine

 

Human Development Index (HDI)

Uses 4 indicators of development:

1. Life expectancy at birth

2. Mean years of schooling (for adults aged 25)

3. Expected years of schooling (for children of school entering age)

4. GNI per capita

 

Explain how HDI measures level of development of a country

• It is a composite index/combines 4 different indicators:

1. Life expectancy at birth

2. Mean years of schooling

3. Expected years of schooling

4. GDP/GNI per capita

• An overall score is calculated between 0 and 1

• The higher the score the more developed the country is

 

Explain why HDI is a good method of comparing development between countries

• It is a composite indicator/takes into account a variety of factors

• Incorporates information on life expectancy, income/GNI, education/years of schooling

• 0 to 1 index is used/gives an overall score from 0 to 1

• Easy to carry out statistical comparisons between countries / directly compare countries / rank countries / observe changes over time, etc.

 

Sectors of the economy

Economic activity: The production and distribution of goods and services 

Employment structure: How the population is divided up by the type of work they do/in which sector people are employed

 

4 sectors of economy

1. Primary sector: Exploitation/extraction of raw materials from land/water/air

2. Secondary sector: Manufacturing/making things/assembling things/factories 

3. Tertiary sector: Provides services & businesses to people

4. Quaternary sector: Uses high technology to provide information & expertise

 

Changes in employment structure as a country develops

Initially, the primary sector is the largest sector, but when developed, the tertiary sector will be the largest sector.

• Primary sector reduces in percentage

  • Exhaustion of resources

  • Primary work is hard/can be dangerous/may be unreliable

  • Low pay in primary industry 

  • Less dependence on subsistence agriculture

  • More foods is imported/no need to be self-sufficient

  • Mechanisation/automation/use of technology in agriculture - tractors

  • Improved education/skills

  • Growth of factories/industrialisation/people move to cities

  • Loss of farmland to urbanisation

 

• Secondary sector first increases in percentage, but will eventually begin to decrease 

  • Growth because factories are built/country industrialised/manufacturing industries introduced/TNCs & MNCs/globalisation

  • Eventual decline

• Mechanisation/automation/use of technology in manufacturing - assembly line

• Local supplies of raw materials running out

• Competition from abroad

• Manufacturing industries not profitable

• Cheaper to import manufactured goods 

 

• Tertiary sector increases in percentage

  • More demand for services/leisure/retail 

  • Lots of shops/businesses

  • Growth of tourism 

  • Improved education/skills

  • Improvements in healthcare/transport 

  • High paying jobs/people or country earns more money/more wealth available SO People have more disposable income for services 

 

• Quaternary industry increases in percentage

  • Many people have the skills to be employed in these industries

  • Makes large amounts of profit/foreign exchange/money

  • Provides information technology services/support for other businesses

  • Investment in research and development/research and development allows other businesses to improve

  • Enables innovation to take place/new inventions

 

Why importance of primary, secondary & tertiary activities varies between countries

The structure will be dependent on level of development / how rich the country is / whether it is LEDC or MEDC:

• Proportion of primary is higher in LEDCs

  • More natural resources to exploit 

  • More subsistence farmers in LEDCs

  • Impact of colonialism on resource development

• Proportion of primary is lower in MEDCs 

  • Due to mechanisation/technology 

  • Due to exhaustion of resources

  • They can import more food

• Proportion of secondary is higher in MEDCs

  • Industrialisation/investment by TNCs

  • Automation/mechanisation 

• Proportion of tertiary is higher in MEDCs

  • More education/skills in MEDCs

  • More tourism in MEDCs

  • Population has greater wealth/higher affordability of services

 

How employment structure can be used to assess level of development

• Percentage of working population in each sector can be compared with other countries

• Change in % of working population in each sector can be compared over time

• Primary sector is smaller as a country becomes more developed

• Secondary sector grows as country becomes developed

• Secondary sector decreases as it becomes even more developed

• Tertiary sector grows as a country becomes more developed

• Quaternary sector grows when countries have very high GNP 

 

Inequalities in development

Why there may be inequalities in levels of development within a country  

• Variation in availability of/some parts have more resources, E.g. oil, coal etc.

• Variation in availability of/some parts have more water supplies/rivers

• Variation in ability to produce food/soil quality/some parts have more fertile soils

• Extremes of climate, e.g. desert areas tend to be less developed // natural hazards

• Variation in terrain/mountain areas less developed/flat land

• Some areas more accessible 

• Coastal or inland location/proximity to ports/docks/trade

• Variation in accessibility/roads/railways

• Variation in availability of/some parts have more energy supplies

• Variation in amount of government investment

• Government policy/corruption 

• Variation in employment/some parts have more employment e.g. industry, tourism

• Variation in access to education

• Variation in access to health care

• Whether areas are urban or rural/area close to cities/urban area will develop more // Core area will develop more than periphery due to greater investment

• Civil wars/conflict 

 

Why there may be inequalities in levels of development between countries 

• Variation in availability/amount of resources

• Variation in availability of/some countries have more water supplies/rivers

• Variations in relief/soil fertility

• Variation in climate

• Depends on whether country is landlocked or not // Variation in accessibility/ roads/ports

• Predominance of a specific economic activity such as tourism, mining, commercial agriculture or manufacturing // predominance of subsistence farming

• Variation in amount/number of industries/amount of exports // Presence of transnationals

• Trading policy / free trade

• LEDCs may have lower wages than MEDCs

• Variation in levels of education / skills

• Variation in amount/quality of healthcare

• Variations in the hygiene / sanitation / provision of clean water

• Different government policies / political systems

• Stability of government / levels of corruption may vary 

• LEDCs may have been more adversely affected by colonialism

• Impact of war / conflict

• AIDS/HIV

• Impacts of historical development/length of time development has been occurring

• Investment/aid from other countries/loans

 

Globalisation 

The increasing interconnectedness and interdependence of the world, economically, culturally & politically.

 

Causes of globalisation 

• To make more profit/seek new markets/make more money

• Trade has become cheaper and more efficient

• Improved transport/rapid growth in air-travel/easy movement of people and goods across the globe

• Reduced costs of transport

• Containerisation (system of freight transport for use in sea shipping)

• Improved communications/technology/easier to communicate and share information around the world/information spreads quickly e.g. internet

• Growth of global media/social media

• Growth of multinational companies/TNCs

• Growth of global trading blocks: Which have reduced national barriers e.g. European Union, NAFTA, ASEAN

• Reduced tariff barriers/free trade

• Firms exploiting gains from economies of scale

• To gain increased specialisation

• Improved mobility of capital

• Increased mobility of labour

• Cheaper labour in other countries/LEDCs

• Going to places with higher skill levels e.g. IT skills

• Government incentives/cheap taxes/free ports

 

Explain how changes in technology have enabled globalisation to occur

• Improvements in/faster transport

• Quicker/cheaper air travel

• Development of containerisation/container ships

• Development of communications systems/networks

• Rise of Internet/e-commerce

• Instant/electronic movement of money

 

Impacts of globalisation 

Global scale

• Increasing number of NICs

• Growing power of TNCs and global brands

• Development of a hierarchy of global cities (financial & decision-making centres)

• International movement of workers

• Global movement of commodities 

• Increasing uniformity of landscapes

• Cultural diffusion (spreading of cultural traits from one place to another)

• Development of mass tourism

• Development of global civil society (environmental groups, protest movements, charities, trade unions, etc)

• Environmental degradation

 

National scale

• Loss of sovereignty; power of national governments lost to TNCs & global civil society 

• Increased cultural diversity from international migration

• High levels of incoming & outgoing international tourism 

• TNCs employ large % of workforce 

• Loss of jobs due to closure of businesses (TNCs can close operations in a country and open up in another very quickly)

• TNCs avoid paying tax in some countries through ‘creative accounting’

• Increasing consumption of resources & competition for resources

• Increasing trans-boundary pollution (major pollution incident in one country may have consequences in neighbouring country)

• Growth of anti-globalisation movements

 

Local scale

• Small local business unable to compete with major global companies

• Loss of jobs/ unemployment for locals

• Local communities have become more multicultural / culturally diverse

• Greater variety of international cuisine

• Families likely to be spread over different countries due to international migration 

• Lower cost of international travel

• Development of ‘ethnic villages’ in large urban areas

 

Transnational Corporations (TNCs)

• Has links/factories/sales all over the world/many countries involved

• Has suppliers/raw materials mainly from LEDCs

• Headquarters are usually in an MEDC