Why are some countries richer than others?

• Development

  • the improvement in people's standard or living.
  • economic, growth of the economy due to changes in economic activities and technology.
  • social, improvement in people's health, education, water and food supply.
  • environmental, more sustainable use of the environment.
• Distribution and characteristics of ACs

  • good level of services.
  • high GNI per capita.
  • high standard of living for most of the population.
  • tertiary economic activities are dominant.
• Distribution and characteristics of EDCs

  • levels of wealth are increasing.
  • secondary economic activities are increasing and primary are decreasing.
  • more exports and increased wages.
• Distribution and characteristics of LIDCs

  • high level of poverty.
  • GNI per capita is low.
  • low standard of living for most of the population.
• GNI per capita

  • the average wealth per person in a country, dividing it by the population means that more meaningful comparisons can be made between countries.
  • it is an average meaning the variation in wealth is hidden.
  • not all the wealth of the country is included, some wealth is hidden such as the income created in informal employment.
  • it doesn't give information about social or environmental development.
• HDI

  • a combined measure of average achievement in key areas of human development, health, education and standard of living.
  • uses life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling for adults aged 25, expected years of schooling for children at school and GNI per capita.
  • countries can be divided into VHHD, HHD, MHD and LHD.
• HDI map

  • HDI is scored from 0 to 1.
  • the higher the HDI the higher the level of development and quality of life.
  • Norway has the highest of 0.957.
  • Niger has the lower of 0.394.

  
• Happy Planet Index

  • a measure of sustainable well being which doesn't include economic development indicators or wealth.
  • its scored between 0 and 100, the higher the number the better the level of sustainable human development.
  • experienced well being, how satisfied people are with their lives.
  • life expectancy, how long people on average live for.
  • ecological footprint per capita, amount of land needed to sustain the country's resource consumption.
• HPI example 2019

  • Costa Rica has frequently placed 1st, outdoing countries considered to be more developed.
  • USA places 122nd below many poverty stricken countries like Haiti.
  • criticism of the HPI is that well being is highly subjective and ecological footprints of the least developed countries could be lower as its citizens cant afford to buy lots of material objects.
• Human and physical factors affecting development

  • development is not a smooth continuous process, but it occurs due to investment in agriculture which improves food supplies which improves the health of people.
  • improvements in supplies of power to rural areas, improvements in access to education for females and overall literacy rate.
  • it can be slowed, halted and even reversed by war and conflict, disease, disasters and economic recession causing uneven development.
• Cycle of wealth

  • economic development creates wealth, if a country has a stable and effective government this leads to the development.
  • as the economy grows more people work and earn more money.
  • government can then collect more taxes and people have more disposable income to spend which increases business profits.
  • taxes collected and profits made by companies can be invested in future growth as well as infrastructure, education and healthcare.

  
• Factors affecting development

  • human factors, education, health, colonialism, politics and aid.
  • physical factors, climate, geographic location, natural hazards and natural resources.
• Education and health

  • these are linked to the wealth of a country, the more wealth a country has the more it can invest in education and healthcare.
  • the better-educated a population is the more it can help with the development of secondary and tertiary economic activities which boosts the economy.
  • a healthier population has a longer life expectancy can work for longer which improves the economy.
• Colonialism

  • in the past countries have been conquered and ruled by European countries and as a result of colonialism the European countries became wealthier by selling or using natural resources of the countries they had conquered.
  • this slowed development as people in the countries weren't ruling themselves and were unable to invest in their own development.
  • African people were enslaved and transported to other countries to work on sugar and cotton plantations, further increasing the wealth of the European countries.
• Politics

  • in areas where there is political unrest or corruption this slows development.
  • war and conflict slow development as money is spent on weapons and the conflict rather than development.
• Climate

  • those areas without extremes of climate tend to be more developed.
• Geographic location

  • land locked countries find it harder to trade goods as they don't have access to ports and goods must pass through other countries.
  • flat, fertile land is better for growing crops and building.
• Natural hazards

  • some countries are affected by natural hazards, rebuilding and dealing with the impacts of these hazards are expensive.
  • this reduces the amount of money that can be invested in development.
• Natural resources

  • some countries have more valuable or abundant natural resources which increases the country's income.
• Debt keeping a country in poverty

  • most countries borrow money and the effect of debt on LIDCs is the greatest as they borrow more and have less money available to repay the debt.
  • repaying debt means a country may have to reduce spending on infrastructure, education and healthcare.
  • interest is charged on the debt so countries end up owing more than they borrowed.
  • these are essential for development.
• Trade keeping a country in poverty

  • most trade is between ACs and the majority of trade is controlled by TNCs that are mostly owned by and based in ACs.
  • ACs mostly trade manufactured goods and services, the price of these usually go up.
  • LIDCs mostly trade natural resources, the price of these fluctuates which impacts the income of the countries supplying them.
• Political unrest due to unstable or undemocratic government

  • political unrest is a situation where people are protesting against the government.
  • this country usually fails to invest in healthcare, education, social care, infrastructure, development or improving the economy.
  • this usually leads to further instability and slows development.
• Political unrest due to corruption within the government

  • where politicians within the government spend funds to their own benefit rather than improving the lives of their own citizens.
  • major development project contracts are given to family members or friends at highly increased costs, with minimal spending on materials.
• Political unrest due to conflict

  • civil war, terrorism and tribal disputes use valuable resources and distract governments from developing infrastructure.
  • any conflict and a country lose money as fewer people work, military equipment is expensive, buildings and land are destroyed.
  • conflict directly reduces the quality of life for the population through loss of life, food, water and housing.