AP Human Geography

Unit 6: Concepts of Development

Copeland

What determines economic development (factors)?

• Resources

• Population

• Colonial status

• Geographic Location

• Climate

What does development look like?

Less Developed/Developing DevelopedPer capita incomes are low, and capital is

scarce.Per capita incomes are high and capital is

readily available.Wealth is unevenly distributed within

individual countries, e.g., Colombia, 2.6% of population owns 40% of the national

wealth.

Wealth is comparatively evenly distributed, e.g., Canada, 10% of

population owns 24% of national wealth.Primary industries dominate national

economies.Manufacturing and service industries

dominate national economies.High proportion of population engaged in

subsistance agriculture.Farming is commercial, efficient, and

mechanized.

What does development look like?

Less Developed/Developing DevelopedPopulations are rural; but cities are

growing rapidly. Populations urban, cities growing slowly.Birth and death rates are high and life

expectancy is low. There tends to be a high proportion of children.

Birth and death rates are low and life expectancy is high. High proportion of

people over 60 years old.

Inadequate or unbalanced diets resulting from a low consumption of protein; hunger and malnutrition common.

Adequate supplies of food and balanced diets; overeating sometimes a problem.

Diseases, especially infectious and parasitic diseases, common. Health care

poor.Low incidence of disease; good medical

services available.

What does development look like?

Less Developed/Developing DevelopedOvercrowding, poor housing, few public

services, bad sanitation--poor social conditions. Social conditions generally good.

Poor educational facilities, high levels of illiteracy--low levels of scientific and

technological development.

Education opportunities excellent, high literacy, advanced science and

technology.Women may be held in an inferior

position in society.Women are increasingly treated on equal

terms with men.

How is development measured?

• Gross Domestic Product Per Capita– aka GDP per capita– value of goods and services produced within a country within a given year– Other similar measures include GNP (broader value), PPP– Usually calculated in US dollars to allow comparisons between countries

Measuring Development

• Gross Domestic Product per Capita ($)

High human development 25,167

Medium human development

1,237

Low human development 358

Gross Domestic Product ($)High Human Development

 Luxembourg   Canada   Denmark   Singapore   Mexico  

21,492 6,12159,143 27,079 39,332

Gross Domestic Product ($)Medium Human Development

 Armenia   China   Indonesia   Bolivia  Equatorial

Guinea 

970 892 5,900918 1,100

Gross Domestic Product ($)Low Human Development

 Djibouti   Haiti  Tanzania, U. Rep. of   Malawi 

 Burkina Faso  

886 346 287 156 345

How is development measured?

• Occupational Structure of the Workforce/Economic Activities– PRIMARY (agriculture)– SECONDARY (industry)– TERTIARY (services)– QUATERNARY– QUINARY

How is development measured?

• Rates– Literacy– Infant mortality– Caloric intake– Natural increase– Inflation

Occupational Structure

– China GDP $1,100– agriculture 49%, industry 22%, services 29%

– Australia GDP $32,000– agriculture 3.7%, industry 26.4%, services 70%

– Philippines GDP $5,100– agriculture 36%, industry 16%, services 48%

Occupational Structure

– Luxembourg GDP $59,143– Agriculture 1%, industry 30%, services 69%

– Singapore GDP $21,492– agriculture 0%, industry 30%, services 70%

– Equatorial Guinea GDP $5,900– agriculture 20%, industry 60%, services 20%

Occupational Structure

– Haiti GDP $346– Agriculture 32%, industry 20%, services 48%

– Malawi GDP $156– agriculture 37%, industry 29%, services 34%

Other Measures of Development

• Unemployment Rate The number of people who (in a given year) were not working but were available for work, able to work (mentally and physically) and had taken steps to seek work.

(U.S.-must have been seeking employment within the last three months to be considered unemployed.)

***News Flash-despite what you have heard recently regarding the decrease in the unemployment rate in the United States, there isn’t one. The decrease has a lot to do with people giving up in their search for employment.

A Better Measurement than Unemployment Rate

Labor Force Participation Rate

63% of U.S. Population (94 million not participating)

•Why do many economists predict that the number of those not participating will only grow? (Observe the Laffer Curve)

•Why can’t the government provide jobs?

Other Measures of Development

• Telephone Lines Number of subscriber lines (business and residential) plus public telephones per 100 inhabitants. This series is calculated by dividing the number of main lines by the population, and multiplying by 100.

*Not as important given the recent access to cell phones

Other Measures of Development

• Undernourished The percentage of the population whose food intake falls below the minimum requirement needed to meet dietary energy requirements on a regular basis.

Other Measures of Development

• Television Receivers Number of television receivers and/or number of licenses issued per thousand inhabitants.

• Water Resources per Capita Average amount of water that is available per person from rivers and groundwater each year.

Human Development Index

• Created by the United Nations• Measures three types of factors: economic, social,

and demographic– Economic factor selected GDP per capita

– Social factors are literacy and amount of education

– Demographic factor is life expectancy

• Factors combined for a maximum of 1.0 or 100%• 2011: Norway #1 with .943

Concepts of Development

• Developed vs underdeveloped

• Developing?

• LDC vs MDC

Core Periphery Model

• Scholars argued for this new approach• Sensitive to geographical differences and

the relationships among development processes occurring in different places

• Focuses on economic relationships– Core– Periphery– Semi periphery* Remember this model/world systems theory of development was introduced by Immanuel

Wallerstein

Core Periphery Model

• Core Regions– High levels of socioeconomic prosperity– Dominant players in global economic game

Anglo America HDI .94Japan and the South Pacific HDI .93Western Europe HDI .92

Core Periphery Model

• Periphery– Poor regions– Dependent on the core and semiperiphery– Do not have much control over their own

affairs Middle East HDI .66 South Asia HDI .58 Sub Saharan Africa HDI .47

Core Periphery Model

• Semi Periphery– Regions that exert more power than periphery

regions– Dominated to some degree by core

Eastern Europe HDI .78 Latin America HDI .78 East Asia HDI .72 Southeast Asia HDI .71

The North South Divide

Based on the 1980’s Brandt Report. Suggested a simplified world contrast of development and undevelopment based on degree of industrialization and per capita wealth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Northsouth.png

Theory of Development

• Liberal Theory– All countries are capable of development– Economic disparities are a result of short term

inefficiencies in local or regional market forces

Theory of Development

• Structuralist Theory– Regional disparities are a structural feature of

the global economy– Things have come to be organized or structured

in a way that cannot be changed easily

(“Some countries have and others have not”…Sorry its just the way it is)

Modernization Model*KNOW THIS

• Walt Rostow, 1950’s• Liberal model• Development through international trade• Suggests that all countries follow a similar path

through economic development– Traditional– Preconditions to takeoff– Takeoff– Drive to maturity– High mass consumption

Traditional

• Not yet started development• High % of people engaged in subsistence

agriculture• High % of wealth allocated to

‘nonproductive activities’ such as religion and military

• Rigid and unchanging social structure• Resistence to technological change

Preconditions of Takeoff

• An elite group initiates innovative economic activity

• Country begins investing in new technology and infrastructure

• Stimulate increase in productivity

• Progressive leadership

Takeoff

• Rapid growth facilitated by a limited number of economic activities

• Some sectors of the economic structure remain dominated by traditional practices

• Industrialization, urbanization, mass production

Drive to Maturity

• Modern technology diffuses to wide variety of industries

• Industries experience rapid growth similar to the early takeoff industries

• Workers become more skilled and specialized

• Modernization in the core

• Population growth declines

High Mass Consumption

• Economy shifts from production of heavy industry such as steel and energy to consumer goods like refrigerators and motor vehicles

• High incomes

• Widespread production of a variety of goods and services

• Majority of workers in service sector of economy

An Alternative to Rostow’s Model: Dependency Theory

• Structuralist alternative to Rostow’s model

• Political and economic relationships between countries and regions control and limit the economic development of less well off regions

• Dependency helps sustain the prosperity of the dominant regions and the poverty of the lesser regions

Dependency Theory

• Little hope for economic prosperity in regions and countries that have traditionally been dominated by external power

• Based on generalizations that pay little attention to regional differences in culture, politics, and society (colonization)

*Once colonized countries are never able to get out of the shadow of their colonizers.

Colonization of Africa

Why do LDC’s face obstacles to development?

• These countries lack the ability to be self-sufficient.

• They have very little or nothing of value to trade to core countries. They have already been drained by colonizers or core countries in some way.

• Because they have nothing of value to trade, MDCs are reluctant to invest.