Definitions you need to know: 1. Development refers to improvements in the quality of life and standard of living of people. 2.

Standard of living refers to the goods and services available to people in the environment where they live. 3. Quality of life refers to the well-being of the people. It is dependent on factors such as political and religious freedom, environmental health, and happiness. Human Development Index: -Used by UN Development Program (UNDP) to measure a countrys level of development. -HDI considers three main indicators of development in its calculation (economic well being, health and education). -HDI values vary between 0 (low levels of development) to 1 (high levels of development). 1. Economic well being: a. Gross Domestic Product: refers to the total value of goods and services produced by the citizens of a country in a given year. Note: Usually use GDP per capita so that we can compare GDP from countries with different population sizes. GDP per capita = GDP/total population. Countries with a high GD are also usually those with a high HDI values. Those with low GDP are usually those with a low HDI values. Limitations of using GNP per capita as an indicator of the level of development: i.e. Can GDP be used as a sole measure of a countrys development? 1. It is an average figure and therefore does not show individual or regional difference. For example, if 90% of GDP is owned by small group in the country then the majority of economy may have low economic development. 2. It does not take into account local cost of living. This is because exchange rates do not reflect local purchasing power of a currency. For example, a Big Mac may cost $5 in Japan, but $1 in India. 3. It does not take informal economic activities into account (unreported income or barter trade). Official GDP statistics do not include the black market; this is a significant part of subsistence economies. 4. It does not take into account social and environmental cost. GDP does indicate how money is spent. For example, GDP may not be used to improve infrastructure, communication and transport. These factors are very important for determining development. b. Employment structure: As a country becomes more developed economically, the proportion of its workforce employed in primary industries will decrease while the proportion of the workforce in the secondary and tertiary industries will increase. NB: Know how to read the triangular graph (Pg. 123)

c. Employment opportunities: Refers to the availability of jobs in a country. DCs tend to have more employment opportunities than LDCs. This is measured by the long-term unemployment rates of a country. Note: Cannot use long-term unemployment rates alone as 2 countries with the same HDI can have different long-term unemployment rates when other factors are considered. Note: Since 1990s, employment opportunities in LDCs have been increasing due to the trend of businesses relocating manufacturing plants to LDCs to benefit from lower labour and set up costs. How does economic well being affect development? Greater employment opportunities results in more employment. This results in increased income and purchasing power. Standard of living will thus improve. This will result in an increased demand for good and services. Results in further increases in employment opportunities. This is known as the cycle of development.

Finished products and investments. . Core Countries Higher concentration of people and wealth Higher standard of living Economy focuses on secondary and tertiary industries Abundant employment opportunities Periphery Countries Fewer job opportunities, services, investments Economy concentrates on primary industries Limited services and infrastructure Weak and poor economies

Labour and raw materials

Higher proportion of the workforce engaged in poorer paying primary and secondary industries as well as lack of employment opportunities in DCs lead to lower GDP per capita. This means that there will be a lower demand for goods and services. Lower demand leads to fewer job opportunities. This will lead to migration from the LDCs to the DCs (core periphery model). This will further hamper development in the LDCs.

2. Health Indicators of health: life expectancy, infant mortality, access to water supply and access to sanitation facilities. a. Life Expectancy Generally, the more developed a country, the higher the life expectancy. People in DCs are more likely to live in clean environments and have better access to health care. E.g. DCs (Australia, USA): life expectancy at 80.3 & 77.4 years respectively. LDCs (Ethiopia, Sierra Leone): Life expectancy at 47.6 & 40.8 years respectively. b. Infant Mortality Rate This refers to the rate at which the number of babies less than one year of age dies. Usually, the more developed a country, the lower its infant mortality rate. In DCs, most infants are born in proper hospitals, thus allowing them to receive proper medical attention. c. Access to clean water supply People living in DCs have better access to clean water because it is more likely that there are water purification plants to make water safe for consumption. Comparatively, people in LDCs may have to walk long distances to collect water from wells. They are also prone to water-borne diseases and contaminated water d. Access to sanitation facilities Access to sanitation facilities allow people to dispose of human waste hygienically. DCs usually have modern sewage systems to dispose of waste from homes properly. In LDCs, waste may be left in the open or buried in the fields haphazardly. This may contaminate nearby water resources as well as food supplies How does health affect development? In LDCs, there is little economic wealth. Hence, people cannot afford clean drinking water, sanitation or health and medical care. Governments have limited resources to administer an adequate public health care system. Poor health limits development by lowering the productivity of the workforce and in turn, the countrys GDP. LDCs are trapped in a poverty cycle that prevents them from helping themselves improve the health conditions of the population.

3. Education: Indicator of education Literacy rate Literacy rate refers to the percentage of adults (15 years and above) who can read and write. The more developed a country, the higher its literacy rate. How do literacy rates affect development? Low literacy rates in LDCs hinder development because people do not possess proper knowledge and skills to contribute to the economic development of the country. Some possible questions you should have answers for: i. Describe the core-periphery relationship between DCs and LDCs. ii. How is the Human Development Index used to assess the level of development of a country? iii. Describe the characteristics of uneven development between DCs and LDCs in terms of economic well-being, health and education. What are the limitations of the HDI? 1. Most accurate when used to assess the DCs, due to the availability of data. In LDCs, data may not be readily available, thus HDI calculated may not be an accurate assessment of the countrys level of development. 2. HDI fails to take human rights and freedoms into account. These are also important considerations in a countrys development, but are hard to measure. 3. Most up to date HDI values are usually reflect a countrys development a few years prior, this is due to the time needed to analyse the data collected.