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Development Processes

Contents 1 Defining development 2 Measures of Development 2.1 Gross National Product (GNP) 2.2 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) 2.3 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) 3 Also See 4 Comments

Defining development

It is difficult to define the level of development as there is a continuum from more to less developed and so they are relative concepts.

There are 4 main areas for defining development:

• Economic progress
• Technological improvement
• Social, cultural & political freedom
• Justice

Measures of Development

• % of people in each sector of industry
• GNP per person
• Birth rate / death rate / infant mortality rate
• Number of doctors per 1000 people.
• % of urban population
• Life expectancy
• Income
• Manufacturing workforce.

The most common measure of development is the Human Development Index (HDI).

However it is difficult to measure development, particularly cultural & political factors. There are also some problems with the measurements:

• Data from country to country may not be comparable.
• The data is not necessarily reliable
• There may be variations within a country making the average unreliable.

The results are very dependent on what indicators are used & their relative importance.

Gross National Product (GNP)

A measure of the wealth of a country. It is the total amount of money made from products & services by companies from a particular country. However there are some problems:

• Doesn’t include income inequalities.
• Don’t show regional variations.
• Does not take into account the cost of living.
• Fails to pick up the social & environmental impacts of development.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

This is instead a measure of the output of goods & services produced in that country which may not necessarily all belong to that country. The difference between GNP & GDP is likely to increase as a result of the rise in foreign owned companies & TNCs.

Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)

Relates the average earnings to the ability to buy goods. PPP therefore raises the GNP for developing countries & lowers it for developed countries. However it still doesn’t take into account regional variations or the social & environmental costs of development.

Also See

Other Development revision notes for this module at A Level:

• Development Processes
• Sustainable Development
• Models of Development
• Issues of Finance
• Regional Inequalities

Comments

These notes were originally written by F1_fanatic and posted here on TSR Forums. They are suitable for people studying for geography at A Level.