Measuring development

• What is development in the context of a country?

  Improvement for the people living there
• What are the different aspects of development?

  • Economic: progress in economic growth
  • Social: improvement in standard of living
  • Political: stable political system and institutions
• What does GDP stand for?

  Gross Domestic Product
• What does GDP measure?

  Total value of goods and services produced
• How is GDP often expressed?

  In US dollars
• What is GDP per head?

  GDP divided by the population of a country
• What does GNI stand for?

  Gross National Income
• What does GNI include?

  Income from overseas and domestic production
• What is the birth rate?

  Number of live babies born per thousand
• What does a lower birth rate indicate?

  Improvement in women's rights
• What is the death rate?

  Number of deaths per thousand of the population
• What does a lower death rate indicate?

  Improvement in health conditions
• What is the infant mortality rate?

  Number of babies who die under 1 year old
• What does a lower infant mortality rate indicate?

  Improvement in healthcare access
• What does "doctors per 1000 of population" measure?

  Number of working doctors per thousand people
• What does a higher number of doctors per 1000 indicate?

  Better access to healthcare
• What does the literacy rate measure?

  Percentage of adults who can read and write
• What does a higher literacy rate indicate?

  Improvement in education access
• What does access to safe water measure?

  Percentage of people with clean drinking water
• What does a higher access to safe water indicate?

  Improvement in health conditions
• What does life expectancy measure?

  Average age a person can expect to live
• What does a higher life expectancy indicate?

  Improvement in health conditions
• What does the Human Development Index (HDI) measure?

  Life expectancy, education level, and income
• What is the range of HDI values?

  Between 0 (least developed) and 1 (most developed)
• What does the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) measure?

  Level of corruption in the public sector
• What does a lower CPI score indicate?

  More perceived corruption
• Why can single indicators be misleading?

  • Some aspects develop before others
  • May misrepresent a country's true development level
• What is a composite indicator of development?

  • Uses multiple measures for assessment
  • Example: Human Development Index (HDI)
• How are countries classified based on wealth?

  • Higher Income Countries (HICs)
  • Lower Income Countries (LICs)
  • Newly Emerging Economies (NEEs)
• What characterizes Higher Income Countries (HICs)?

  High GNI per head and high living standards
• Give an example of a Higher Income Country (HIC).

  UK
• Give an example of a Lower Income Country (LIC).

  Afghanistan
• What characterizes Newly Emerging Economies (NEEs)?

  Rapidly getting richer, moving to secondary industry
• What characterizes Lower Income Countries (LICs)?

  Extremely low GNI per head and low quality of life
• Give an example of a Newly Emerging Economy (NEE).

  China
• What are the problems with using GNI per head alone?

  • Hides regional variations
  • Doesn't reflect class differences
• How can human development be classified?

  • Developed countries: high human development
  • Emerging countries: medium to high human development
  • Developing countries: low human development
• What was Chad's HDI in 2014?

  0.392
• What was India's HDI in 2014?

  0.609
• What was the UK's HDI in 2014?

  0.907