Ap Human Economic Development

Development

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

Fair Trade

Alternative to international trade that emphasizes small businesses and worker owned and democratically run cooperatives and requires employers to pay workers fair wages, permit union organizing, and comply with minimum environmental and safety standards.

Free Trade

international trade left to its natural course without tariffs, quotas, or other restrictions.

GDI (Gender-related Development Index)

Compares the level of development of women with that of both sexes.

GDP (Gross Domestic Product)

The value of the total output of goods and services produced in a country in a given time period (usually 1 year)

GEM (Gender-Empowerment Measure)

Compares the ability of women and men to participate in economic and political decision making.

HDI (Human-Development Index)

An indicator of level of development for each country, constructed by United Nations, combining income, literacy, education, and life expectancy

LDC (Less Developed Countries)

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

Literacy Rate

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

Millennium Development Goals

eight goals established by the United Nations to reduce disparities between more developed countries and less developed countries

MDC (More Developed Countries)

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

Structural Adjustment Programs

Economic policies imposed on less developed countries by international agencies to create conditions encouraging international trade, such as raising taxes, reducing government spending, controlling inflation, selling publicly owned utilities to private corporations, and charging citizens more for services.

Primary

Economic activities dealing with the harvesting of resources.

Secondary

Economic activities dealing with the processing or manufacturing of resources into products that are capable of being used by the people.

Tertiary (Services)

Economic activities where services are provided by people, involve the exchange of goods, and bring producers and consumers together.

Ancillary Activities

Economic activities that surround and support large-scale industries, such as shipping and food service.

Quaternary

Economic activities concerned with research, information gathering and administration

Quinary

The most advanced form of Quaternary activities consisting of high-level decision making for large corporations or high-level scientific research.

World Systems Theory

Theory developed by Immanuel Wallerstein that explains the emergence of a core, periphery, and semi periphery in terms of economic and political connections first established at the beginning of exploration in the late 15th century and maintained through increased economic access up until the present.

Core-Periphery Model

A model that spatial structure of development in which underdeveloped countries are defined by their dependence on a developed core region.

Core

National or global regions where economic power, in terms of wealth, innovation and advanced technology is concentrated (i.e USA, Western Europe, Japan)

Semi-Periphery

Those newly industrialized countries with median standards of living; countries offer their citizens relatively diverse economic opportunities, but also have extreme gaps between rich and poor (i.e. Chile, Brazil, India, China, and Indonesia)

Periphery

Countries that usually have low levels of economic productivity, low per capita incomes, and generally low standards of living (i.e. Africa, South America, Asia)

Rostow's Stages of Development

A model of economic development that describes a country's progression which occurs in five stages transforming them from least-developed to most-developed countries.

Dependency Theory

Modern models that states that the relationship between powerful countries control the economic development of less powerful areas.

Economic Backwaters

Regions that fail to gain from national economic development.

Export-Processing zone (EPZ)

Areas where governments create favorable investment and trading conditions to attract export-oriented industries

Foreign Investment

Overseas business investments made by private companies

Gender Equity

A measure of opportunities given to women compared to men within a country

Gross National Product

The total value of goods and services, including income received from abroad, produced by the residents of a country within a specific time period, usually one year.

Industrialized Countries

Countries at the forefront of industrial production and innovation through the middle of the 20th century. Include USA, Britain, France, Russia, Germany, and Japan.

International Monetary Fund

An international organization of 183 countries, established in 1947 with the goal of promoting cooperation and exchange between nations, and to aid the growth of international trade.

MERCOSUR

Is a South American trade bloc comprising of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Microloans

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

Neoliberal Policies

Economic policies that are predicated on a minimalist role of the state, assuming the desirability of free markets as the ideal condition not only for economic organization but also for political and social life.

Net National Product

A measure of all goods and services produced by a country in a year, including production from its investments abroad, MINUS the loss or degradation of natural resource capital as a result of productivity.

Productivity

The measure of goods and services produced within a given country.

Purchasing Power Parity

A monetary measurement of development that takes into account what money buys in different countries.

Regionalization

The process by which specific regions acquire characteristics that differentiate them from others within the same country.

Special Economic Zones (SEZ)

Specific area within a country in which tax and investment incentives are implemented to attract foreign (and domestic) business and investment.

Tariffs

A tax or duty to be paid on imports and exports.

Transnational Corporation

A firm that conducts business in at least two separate countries.

World Cities

A group of cities that form an interconnected, internationally dominant system of global control of finance and commerce (i.e. New York, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong)

World Trade Organization (WTO)

Deals with the global rules of trade between nations. Its main function is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictability and freely as possible.