Key Concepts in Development and Economic Indicators

Adolescent fertility rate

The number of births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 19.

Cooperative

An association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned enterprise.

Developed country

A country that has progressed relatively far along a continuum of development.

Developing country

A country that is at a relatively early stage in the process of development.

Development

A process of improvement in the conditions of people through diffusion of knowledge and technology.

Fair trade

A variation of international trade that provides greater equity to workers, small businesses, and consumers, focusing primarily on products exported from developing countries to developed countries.

Female labor force participation rate

The percentage of women holding full-time jobs outside the home.

Foreign direct investment (FDI)

Investment made by a foreign company in the economy of another country.

Gender Development Index (GDI)

An index constructed by the United Nations that modifies the Human Development Index to measure the gender gap in level of achievement in terms of income, education, and life expectancy.

Gender Inequality Index (GII)

An index constructed by the United Nations to measure the extent of each country's gender inequality in terms of reproductive health, empowerment, and the labor market.

Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI)

An index constructed by the United Nations to measure the strength of attitudes biased against women.

Gross domestic product (GDP)

The value of the total output of goods and services produced in a country in a year, not accounting for money that leaves and enters the country.

Gross national income (GNI)

The value of the output of goods and services produced in a country in a year, including money that leaves and enters the country.

Gross national income per capita at purchasing power parity

The value of the output of goods and services produced in a country in a year, including money that leaves and enters the country, adjusted to account for differences among countries in the cost of goods.

Human Development Index (HDI)

An index constructed by the United Nations to measure the level of development for a country through a combination of income, education, and life expectancy.

Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI)

An index constructed by the United Nations that modifies the Human Development Index to account for inequality.

Literacy rate

The percentage of a country's people who can read and write.

Microfinance

Provision of small loans and financial services to individuals and small businesses in developing countries.

Millennium Development Goals

Eight goals adopted by the United Nations in 2002 to reduce disparities between developed and developing countries by 2015.

Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)

An index constructed by the United Nations that modifies the Human Development Index to measure the complexities of the lives of people living in poverty.

Planetary pressures-adjusted Human Development Index (PHDI)

An index constructed by the United Nations that modifies the Human Development Index to account for a country's carbon dioxide emissions per person and the amount of raw materials extracted per person to meet the country's demand for goods and services.

Primary sector

The portion of the economy concerned with the direct extraction of materials from Earth, generally through agriculture.

Productivity

The value of a particular product compared to the amount of labor needed to make it.

Pupil/teacher ratio

The number of enrolled students divided by the number of teachers.

Purchasing power parity (PPP)

The amount of money needed in one country to purchase the same goods and services in another country.

Secondary sector

The portion of the economy concerned with manufacturing useful products through processing, transforming, and assembling raw materials.

Structural adjustment program

Economic policies imposed on less developed countries by international agencies to create conditions that encourage international trade.

Sustainable Development Goals

Seventeen goals adopted by the United Nations in 2015 to reduce disparities between developed and developing countries by 2030.

Tertiary sector

The portion of the economy concerned with transportation, communications, and utilities, sometimes extended to the provision of all goods and services to people in exchange for payment.

World-systems theory

Theory developed by Immanuel Wallerstein that in an increasingly unified world economy developed countries form an inner core area whereas developing countries are found on the periphery and semi-periphery areas.