Q1. ‘What is Development’? Outline an interpretation of this concept that you feel is most appropriate, with reference to at least two of the ideas proposed in the course. According to Aristotle, “Wealth is evidently not the good we are seeking; for it is merely useful and for the sake of something else” (Classics.mit.edu, 2014). According to Sen also (1999, pp. xi), we are many times richer than a century ago. Yet many people are still unhappy. Hence, definition of development should encompass a scenario, where money is means, and not the ends of development. Therefore, “Development can be seen, as a process of expanding the real freedoms that people enjoy” (Sen, 1999, pp.3). These freedoms mainly include political freedoms, economic facilities, social opportunities, transparency guarantees, and protective security. The alternative where development is mainly characterized as economic growth poses many limitations on people’s living conditions. For example, imagine rich women living in a wealthy country, where women risk punishment, from state, for expressing opinions publicly, attending education, going out in public alone, etc. Even if that country has very high Gross domestic product (GDP), the rich women might not achieve their preferred conditions for living. However, economic-growth is very important as means for expanding freedoms, as it can be used to provide for food, clothes, hospitals, social care etc. Defining of development as freedoms rather than just economic-growth will help to focus in fulfilling broader human needs. For example, political freedoms through free speech and election can help to promote participation. Participation in social opportunities such as education and health can promote collective economic growth (Todaro and Smith, 2011, pp.359). Economic participation and protective security can increase personal wealth, which can be invested in social facilities, food, health etc. (Sen, 1999, pp.11) Despite all this, Sen’s (1999) definition has been criticized for not analysing the framework in which the freedoms occurs, namely unequal power distribution at both national and international level. In 2000, 16.7% of population controlled two-thirds of land in Bangladesh. As a result, around half of population were vulnerable to famine even though Bangladesh is a democratic country and has political freedoms. Hence, Sen’s definition of development cannot work practically without analysing power distribution, or who has control over resources (Navarro, 2000, pp.672). At international level, concept such as human rights is depoliticised. For example, United Nations’ Human Development Reports greatly analyses the consequences of inequalities growth. But the reports fails to analyse in detail, the political topic of which countries has the influence of creating and removing these inequalities.
Historically, economic growth has proven to be civilization’s most effective weapon against poverty. Capitalist institutions – competitive markets, strengthened by private property rights secured by the rule of law – have provided extremely powerful incentives for a continuous stream of innovation and entrepreneurship that has fueled the growth of production. Regardless of resource endowments, culture, or other characteristics, countries that have adopted the key institutions of capitalism have experienced the highest levels of economic growth, and have seen the biggest improvements in citizens’ standards of living. Conversely, those that have failed to establish capitalist institutions have created little wealth, and have suffered the frustration of stagnating per capita incomes or, as in much of Africa, the slide into ever-worsening
United Nations 2010, Human Development Report 2010. The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Developmen, accessed 07/09/2011, http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2010_EN_Complete_reprint.pdf
... (Ravallion, Pro-Poor Growth: A Primer, 2004). This highlights that purely market economic growth may not necessarily benefit the whole population of the nation. Supporting this argument Giffins (1977) found that even if growth did benefit poor and poverty was reduced, not everyone in the poor sector reaped the gains (Fields, 1989). These arguments that growth did not necessarily lead to the alleviation of poverty were presumably based on the Kuznet Curve hypothesis. In short, the distribution of income gets worse and will not improve until a moderate level of income is reach. Subsequently, this could lead to years before poverty is reduced. However, some studies have found there to be no linear relationship between income inequality and economic growth (H & JR, 2004). Nevertheless, these points highlight the arguments in favour of devising development policies.
The main reason that I absolutely agree about the development is a form of exploitation is because development is equal to modernization (Frank, 1966), which focused on the economic domination that leads to exploitation. This is because development could be explained by the used of technology, accumulation of capital, and labour forces for more convincing economic growth. Development is happens in every countries around the world. It is because development happens to achieve the economic growth which can lead to increasing the gross national product (GNP). In order to attain better economic growth, states need some improvement to dev...
The meaning of ‘development’ changes according to what society needs to achieve a better life at any one time (Crocker 1992, p. 585). Exactly how we approach development varies according to our conception of justice in light of this goal. This paper examines three approaches to development: the Rights Based approach, the Basic Needs approach and the Capability approach. Concluding: that as far as fairness goes, the Rights Based approach is the most agreeable of the three, but even so, is not without fault.
First, the improvement of lives is directly related to human rights. According to the 2000 UN Human Development Report, a more developed country with more rights today, as opposed to 1970, can expect a newborn to live 10 more years, adult literacy cut in half, and infant mortality rates cut by over 40%. The more freedom and rights a person has, the more opportunity, and better chance for a good standard of living. The International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights declared that the “rights to food, health, education and privacy were fundamental building blocks of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” Humans, then, can realize what they are capable of achieving. However, a less developed country with less freedom, demotivates people and takes away opportunity for one to achieve their best. In addition, national security, criminal justice, and freedom of speech are other factors in human and social development. Without these, again, one cannot achieve their full potential.
The critical difference between most development models and human development index is that most development models exclusively focus on the expansion of income while the human development index embraces embraces the enlargement of all human choices – economic, political, social and cultural which all affect income. Comparing countries’ GNP (or GDP) per capita is the most common way of assessing their level of development. This model of economic growth was based on a very weak foundation that was not sustainable over the long-term politically, economically or ethically. Higher per capita income in a country does not always mean that its people are better off than those in a country with lower income, because there are many aspects of human well being that these indicators do not capture. Sometimes a country with a very high level of national income recorded a very high percentage of population in poverty, illiteracy, in poor health, and a huge disparity based on gender, ethnicity and income. “The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and income indices used to rank countries into four tiers of human development, well-being concept based on capability approach. In which poverty is investigated as an indicator of standard of living.” It is a simple average of three indexes reflecting a country’s achievements in health, life expectancy at birth, education (measured by adult literacy and combined primary, secondary, and tertiary enrolments), and living standard (measured by GDP per capita in purchasing power parity terms). Achievement in each area is measured by how far a country has gone in attaining the following goal: life expectancy of 85 years, adult literacy and enrolments of 100 ...
It is also characterised by lack of participation in decision making in civil, social and cultural life (World Bank, 2001). Poverty has multiple and complex causes, SIDA (2005) views these multi-dimensional causes as stemming from a lack of information, knowledge about market prices for the goods they deal in, issues related to health availability of public services, and their rights. There is a political minority which lacks visibility and voice about the institutions that shape their lives poor people are also said to lack access to relevant skills and knowledge, education and personal development that could improve their livelihoods.
And I will explain the characteristics of development economics through the actual situation of developing countries. In the following passage, I will analyze the process of economic development; Analysis of ten economic development characteristics, such as lower levels of living and productivity, lower levels of human capital, higher levels of inequality and absolute poverty and higher population growth rates, greater social Fractionalization; And how these characteristics become the basis for the development of contemporary.
It is natural to be misled by the idea that economic growth is the key
This essay compares and contrasts two key paradigms for measuring poverty, namely economic and human-centered approaches. I argue that economic development (ED) and human development (HD) should be viewed as complementary and, as such, both are needed to promote human well-being. Nussbaum (2011) echoes this notion when she suggests that people need a combination of opportunities and capabilities in order to function in society (p. 25). Thus, I will first consider these models separately to determine how they respond to one another. And then, I draw parallels to reveal underlying commonalities. To conclude, I examine the role of the state in guaranteeing opportunities and capabilities. I aim to show that broader theoretical interpretations are useful for thinking about how policies address the issue of poverty.
Economic development implies a qualitative change in what or how goods and services are produced through shifts in resource use, production methods, workforce skills, technology, information, or financial arrangements. A regional economy can grow without changing if it simply produces more of the same – same goods and services – in the same manner. For example, an increase in the population of an area will mean more income and more demand-driven growth even absent qualitative changes in the economic development environment. Development implies something more. Development and growth complement each other in the long run, although in the short run development will tie up resources that could otherwise feed more immediate economic growth.
There are fundamental challenges related to development in every era of human history. From the historical focus on expansion of imperial power and colonial rule in order to attain supplies of raw material and cheap labour, often in the form of slavery; to the gradual emergence of social progression in the form of concepts such as social justice, democracy, and equity during the post-world-war period. Earlier developmental approaches were centered on raising living-standards by promoting increase in productivity to provide goods and services to a growing population. As Jonathan Harris pointed out, many international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the United Nations were set up to achieve this goal.5
Economic Growth refers to the progressive change in the expansion of production of goods and services which can be indicated as Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by a country over a given period. It is achievable for the country to prosper if the economic growth was well-maintained over the years. However, gradual or lack of economic growth would cause a nation to drop into a devastating poverty. (Parkin, 2014). Therefore, sources of economic growth are vital to a nation’s advancement.
tool of survival doesn’t allow for growth of any sort. It is a known fact that the risk of poverty usually decreases as people get more schooling. Poor education can be either a