Edexcel A2 Geography

Edexcel A2 Geography

5 Bridging the
development gap

Now test yourself answers

1Economic development refers to the growth in wealth generated by economic activities, whereas human development refers to the progress generated by this wealth. Human development is about improving people’s social wellbeing. It includes such aspects as health, education, life expectancy and quality of life.

2The main measure is the Human Development Index (HDI), which is based on three variables (life expectancy, literacy and GDP per capita). Another widely used measure is the Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI). More recently, the Gender-related Development Index (GDI) has come to the fore, which assesses the role that females play in development. Another new measure is the Technical Achievement Index (TAI), which differentiates between the ‘switched on’ and the ‘switched off’ parts of the world.

3Choose from one of the following. All theories have their strengths and weaknesses, so feel free to argue a case for any one of them:

•Modernisation theory explains the gap in terms of some countries moving earlier and faster along the development pathway. It allows for the appearance of emergent economies.

•Core-periphery theory provides some explanation of the success of core regions and why the development gap widens over time.

•Dependency theory also sees core regions succeeding at the expense of peripheral regions.

•Poverty theory focuses on underdevelopment and explains it in terms of poverty and deprivation. Less developed countries are trapped in a vicious circle of poverty by a lack of capital and low incomes, but this theory cannot account for the sudden appearance of the emergent economies — countries that have managed somehow to break out of the circle.

•Debt theory is similar to poverty theory, but sees underdeveloped countries as being trapped in a cycle of debt. In the past, many poor countries have accepted loans from rich countries. These have to be repaid, together with interest. Subsequent default on repayment has led to increasing debt.

4The main organisations include the UN, the World Bank, the IMF, the WTO and a range of BINGOs.

5In theory, trade allows all countries to play to their strengths (comparative advantage). It provides the opportunity for each country to sell what other countries need or want. At the same time, it provides the opportunity for countries to buy in what they need but lack. The result is a mammoth circulation of goods and services and it is this that fuels the global economy and generates economic wealth.

6(a)The terms of trade relate to the ratio between the money earned by a country’s exports and the prices of its imports. World prices for primary products have fallen over recent
years in relation to the price of manufactured goods. Therefore, countries that export such products and import manufactured goods are suffering from declining terms of trade. This is often the situation in the poorest countries. It leads to a decline in living standards and an increase in poverty. The impact of unequal terms of trade is likely to widen the development gap and helps to sustain the superior wealth of developed countries.

(b)The balance of trade is critical to the economic health of a country. Clearly, an economy is in trouble if it has a trade deficit (when imports exceed exports). On the other hand, trade surpluses (when exports exceed imports) are likely to encourage economic growth and increasing wealth.

7The caste system prevents social mobility in three closely related ways:

•It controls who gets access to public facilities and services. Therefore, those in the lowest caste find accessing education virtually impossible. The chances of even securing a job, let alone one that pays well, effectively impede any sort of upward social mobility.

•The caste system decrees that you remain in the caste into which you are born — each caste is linked to a particular trade.

•Social contact with a person of another caste is usually made impossible. In short, those born into the lowest castes have no chance to improve their social status.

8It stems from the belief, which is particularly widespread in the Islamic world, that the place for women is in the home doing unpaid work (looking after the home and children, growing food, collecting fuel etc.) Girls receive little primary education and, as a result, those who are allowed outside the home can only take up low paid and low status jobs. Such is the discrimination against women that there are still countries where women do not have the vote (e.g. Bhutan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Vatican City).

9The rapid growth of megacities is fuelled by huge volumes of rural-to-urban migration. Rural people are attracted by the perceived ‘bright lights’ of the megacity (e.g. jobs, better pay, healthcare and better education). These cities are particularly attractive to young adults. This means that birth rates are high and natural increase also contributes to the rapid population growth.

10It is because there are too many poorly trained people of working age chasing too few low skilled jobs and too little proper housing.

11The basic explanation for this unequal situation is that in all societies there are disadvantaged groups. For example, development in its early stages often fails to provide any form of state support for physically disadvantaged groups, such as disabled and elderly people. Women, lower castes, migrant workers and ethnic minorities are other groups discriminated against and as a result are prevented from having a fair share of the benefits of development.

12One of the greatest negatives of development is environmental pollution and the deepening of a country’s ecological footprint (the amount of land, water and resources required to meet the daily needs of a population). The latter often leads to various forms of environmental degradation. In the emerging economies, the attitude tends to be ‘growth comes first — worry later about the environmental costs’.

13•Modernisation claims that the underdevelopment of poor countries is because of a lack of modern socio-economic structures (the ‘pre-conditions for take-off’). It does not really suggest ways in which this lack might be rectified — in short, the gap will persist and possibly widen.

•Neo-liberalism seeks to reduce government intervention and at the same time encourage the free play of market forces. The outcome is that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer — in short, the gap is likely to widen.

14Both favour government action to ensure a fairer distribution of wealth globally and nationally; both approaches are politically left-wing. The difference is that the Marxist approach is based on a highly centralised, communist-style of economy (a top-down approach), whereas the populist approach relies on grass-roots support for a fairer mode of development (a bottom-up approach).

15Development is often impeded by the fact that:

•much aid is ‘tied’ with terms that favour the donor country

•aid directed at the poor focuses on the symptoms not the causes of poverty

•it encourages dependence rather than independence

•aid in the form of loans so often leads to a spiral of increasing debt

16Trade is concerned with the sale or exchange of goods and services, whereas FDI is more focused on the production and provision of goods and services.

17The terms of global trade favour developed countries and therefore widen the development gap. FDI made by developed countries in developing countries is undertaken for reasons of profit. The investment may bring benefits to the receiving country, but there will always be an element of exploitation that places the developed countries in an even stronger position. In short, the development gap is most likely to widen.

18All five actions have their limitations:

•Debt cancellation — wiping the debt-burden slate clean would certainly help many poor countries to move forward, but debt could build up again.

•Tourism — this can generate a beneficial multiplier effect, but the leakage of profits to the developed world would tend to neutralise any catch-up.

•Technology — the spread of ICT could play a significant part in promoting bottom-up development, but it does not answer the challenge of finding appropriate development actions that will lead to catch-up.

•Legal rights — insuring such things as property and labour rights, as well as access to justice, would do much to empower the poor to improve their lot. This promises well at a local and personal level, but it is hardly likely to do much to help a whole nation catch up.

•Cooperation in the South — it might be that poor nations find their own appropriate low-cost and sustainable solutions to their problems rather than looking to the North for answers. This is more likely to come about if these poor countries are willing to enter into dialogue with one another and pool their experiences.

You might conclude that debt cancellation is likely to work best, followed by tourism in a locally funded and locally run form.