Economic development

• Development


  The process of economic growth through the use of technology and improving the place's welfare
• The level of development is different in different countries
• Global development gap


  The difference in development between more and less developed countries
• Measures of development


  • Access to safe water
  • Birth rate
  • Death rate
  • GNI (Gross National Income per person)
  • Infant mortality rates
  • Life expectancy
  • Literacy rate
  • People per doctor ratio
• GNI (Gross National Income per person) can be misleading since it is an average and variations don't show social indicators
• Social indicators can also be misleading as a country develops, some aspects develop much faster than others and thus might seem like a country is developing when it actually is not
• Country classifications based on wealth

  • High income country
  • Low-income country
  • Newly emerging economy
• Human Development Index (HDI)


  Calculated using GNI, life expectancy and education level. The closer to 1, the more developed a country is.
• Countries have an HDI value between 0 and 1
• Physical factors affecting level of development of a country

  • Poor climate
  • Poor farming land
  • Few raw materials
  • Lots of natural disasters
• Poor climate


  Lack of growth, malnutrition, low quality of life, fewer crops to sell, less tax revenue, less money spent on healthcare
• Poor farming land


  Difficult to grow crops or graze animals, produce food
• Few raw materials


  Fewer products to export, less money made, can't afford infrastructure to extract
• Economic factors affecting level of development of a country

  • Poor trade links
  • Lots of debt
  • Economy based on primary products
• Poor trade links


  World trade patterns influence economy, less money
• Lots of debt


  Borrowed money must be paid back, less money for country's development
• Economy based on primary products

  Primary products make less money than manufactured goods, economic disadvantage
• Causes of uneven development

  • Colonization
  • Conflict
• Colonization


  Countries colonized are often at a lower development level, raw materials removed, profits made
• Conflict, especially Civil War


  Slows or reduces development, money spent on arms and training soldiers instead of development, people killed, damage done, important services disrupted, increase in infant mortality rates
• Consequences of uneven development

  • Wealth inequality
  • Healthcare inequality
• Wealth inequality


  People in more developed countries have higher income than those in less developed countries
• Healthcare inequality


  Healthcare more developed in countries with better development, worse in less developed countries, people in high income countries can live longer, lower infant mortality rate
• UK economy


  • Declined manufacturing, increased tertiary and quaternary industries
  • In 2017, 4 million employed in services, 670,000 in IT and finance
  • £33 billion spent on R&D in 2016
• Quaternary industries


  • Found in science/business parks
  • High demand for high-tech products
  • UK has many respected research universities
• De-industrialization


  UK's industrial base declined due to increased automation and competition from other countries
• Globalization


  Manufacturing moved overseas where labor costs are lower, some TNC operations moved to UK
• Government policies


  Decisions on investment and support for business affect the economy, privatization of state-owned manufacturing in 1980s led to job losses
• Industry


  Negative environmental impacts like pollution, greenhouse gases, water/energy use
• Improvements to transport network

  Expanding motorway capacity, new rail projects, new airports and ports
• UK links to other countries

  • Trade (£160 billion exports per year)
  • Culture (e.g. Shaun the Sheep shown in 170 countries)
  • Transport (Channel Tunnel, communications)
• North-south divide


  Decline of heavy industries negatively impacted the north, growth of service sector benefited the south
• Government resolving regional differences

  1. Devolving more powers to local councils

  2. Creating enterprise zones with tax/financial benefits

  3. Northern Powerhouse plan to attract investment and improve transport links in the north