Transcript Chapter 9 Key Issue 1

Chapter 9
Development
Key Issue 1
Why Does Development Vary
Among Countries?
Economic Indicators of
Development
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The United Nations Human Development
Index (HDI) identifies gross domestic
product per capita (GDP) as its economic
indicator of development.
Other economic indicators that help to
distinguish between levels of development
include economic structure, worker
productivity, access to raw materials, and
availability of consumer goods.
GDP is the value of all goods and services
produced in a country, usually in a year.
Types of Jobs
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The percentage of workers in the different
sectors of the economy will help to show
the level of development of a country.
Workers in the primary sector of the
economy extract materials from the Earth,
usually through agriculture. This sector of
the economy still employs the highest
percentage of workers in LDCs whereas in
MDCs it is a very low percentage.
The secondary sector is the industrial
sector of the economy, and the tertiary
sector is the service sector of the
economy.
Productivity
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Productivity is the value of a particular
product compared to the amount of labor
needed to make it.
It can be measured by the value added
per worker, which in manufacturing is the
gross value of the product minus the costs
of raw materials and energy.
Productivity is much higher in MDCs
because of higher technology and capital
intensive industries.
Production in LDCs is still very labor
intensive.
Raw Materials
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Development requires access to raw
materials, although some developed
countries such as Japan, Singapore, and
Switzerland lack significant resources;
some developing countries such as those
in Sub-Saharan Africa have significant raw
materials.
Development also requires energy to fuel
industry and transform raw materials into
finished products.
Consumer Goods
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Countries that produce more quality
nonessential consumer goods are
able to promote expansion of
industry and the generation of
additional wealth.
Consumer goods such as
automobiles, telephones, and
televisions are very accessible to
many people in MDCs but only to the
few who are wealthy in LDCs.
Social Indicators of Development
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Education and health are key social indicators of
development. High levels of development are associated
with high levels of education.
The quality of education is typically measured by
student/teacher ratio and literacy rates.
The literacy rate is the percentage of a country’s population
who can read and write.
Literacy rates in MDCs usually exceed 98%, whereas many
LDCs have rates that are below 60%.
There are also huge differences between literacy rates for
men and women in developing countries.
People are also healthier in more developed countries
because they have better nutrition and access to health
care.
Demographic Indicators of
Development
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The U.N.’s HDI includes life expectancy as a measure of
development. Other demographic indicators include infant
mortality, natural increase, and crude birthrates.
Life expectancy is a measure of health and welfare; some
developed countries have life expectancies that are twice as high
as developing countries.
Infant mortality rates speak to levels of health care in a country.
Rates of natural increase are much higher in LDCs and force them
to allocate increasing percentages of their GDPs to care for a
rapidly expanding population.
Developing countries have higher rates of natural increase
because they have higher crude birthrates.
One has to be careful when looking at crude death rates to help
measure levels of development for two reasons. Firstly, the
diffusion of medical technology from MDCs to LDCs has reduced
death rates in less developed countries. Secondly the high crude
death rates of some MDCs are a reflection of their higher
percentages of elderly and lower percentages of children.