Economic Indicators of Development

• Gross Domestic Product per Capita

1. GDP
2. MDCs: $27 000
3. LDCs: $4 000
4. Measures average wealth, not its distribution

• Types of jobs

1. Primary sector: direct contact with raw materials
2. Secondary sector: industries that transform the raw materials into goods
3. Tertiary sector: all kind of services
4. MDCs: decrease # jobs in sectors 1 and 2, increase in sector 3

• Productivity

1. The value of a particular product compared to the amount of labor needed to make it
2. Workers in MDCs are more productive than workers in LDCs; more machines and equipment

• Raw Materials

1. A must to create goods
2. Reason for colonization: search for more and new raw materials
3. Availability of raw materials and energy resources measures a country’s development potential

• Consumer Goods

1. Products that promote better transportation and communication are vital in MDCs, while not really in LDCs
2. LDCs: sign of development and wealth

Social Indicators of Development

• Education and Literacy

1. The fewer students a teacher has, the most likely they will be well taught
2. The student/teacher ratio is twice as high in LDCs as in MDCs
3. LDCs: education is the ticket to better job and higher social status

• Health and Welfare

1. MDCs: 8% of GDP is devote to health care
2. LDCs: less than 6%

• Use of machinery

1. Technologies to improve fertilizers
2. Roads and trucks to bring the crops to the market, without them spoiling
3. Tractors and other machines improve the harvest quality

Demographic Indicators of Development

• Life Expectancy

• Infant Mortality Rate

• Natural Increase Rate

• Crude Birth Rate

1. Lower in LDCs  MDCs have more old people, and a lower CBR

More Developed Regions

• Anglo-America

1. HDI: 0.94
2. 90% people are Anglophone and Christian
3. Minerals and natural resources are important for manufacturing
4. Tertiary sector is VERY important and developed
5. Most important food exporter

• Western Europe

1. HDI: 0.93
2. Indo-European language and Christianity
3. Languages and religions are an issue
4. Competition among countries create tension, and sometimes wars
5. Since WW II, has become more united politically, militarily, economically, and culturally.
6. Need of raw materials incite exploration and colonization
7. World’s largest and richest market

• Eastern Europe

1. HDI: 0.80
2. HDI has decrease significantly since its creation, due to Communism
3. After WW II: rapid development
4. Communists promoted development through economies directed by government officials, instead of private entrepreneurs
5. 1st main policy: focusing on heavy industry
6. 2nd main policy: dispersing production facilities
7. 3rd main policy: locating manufactures near raw materials, instead of markets
8. 5 problems: 1) Scarce funds were used to meet annual production targets, 2) Need to import food because of inefficient agriculture practices, 3) Orders were not followed in factories, 4) Targets were impossible to achieve and others were ignored, 5) High pollution

• Japan

1. HDI: 0.94
2. One of the world’s most intensively farmed land
3. One of the world’s highest physiological density
4. Japanese companies spend twice as much as U.S firms on research and development

• South Pacific

1. HDI: 0.87
2. Less important in global economy, because of small number of people

Less Developed Regions

• Latin America

1. HDI: 0.80
2. Romance language (Spanish or Portuguese)
3. Religion: Roman Catholicism
4. People are more likely to live in urban areas
5. Inequitable income distribution

• East Asia

1. HDI: 0.76
2. China accounts for 1/3 of world economic growth
3. China’s success resulted in wealth inequalities
4. China also increases world’s pollution

• Middle East

1. HDI: 0.68
2. Most products must be imported
3. Large petroleum reserves
4. Tension is created among countries with high and low oil reserves
5. AHDI: Alternative Human Development Index
6. AHDI: lack of political freedom, low education and literacy rates, and lack of opportunities for women

• Southeast Asia

1. HDI: 0.58
2. Soils are generally poor
3. Rice is an important crop
4. Major manufacturer of textiles and clothing

• South Asia

1. HDI: 0.58
2. World’s second highest population
3. World’s second lowest per capita income
4. India: fourth largest economy

• Sub-Saharan Africa

1. HDI: 0.51
2. Low population
3. World’s highest % of people living in poverty and suffering from poor health and low education levels
4. The wars are a factor to the retarded development