Chapter 19: MEASURING HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

19.1 HOW IS DEVELOPMENT MEASURED?

Development is the change in the nature and activities of the economy of a region or country that increase the prosperity of a place.

Human development: the processes involved in the improvement of people’s freedoms, rights, capabilities, choices, and material conditions.

Human development in this case applies to the collective population of a country/region. Geographers use social indicators like resources and education to measure standard of living.

Geographers categorize the overall development of countries as core, periphery, or semi-periphery. Core are diversified economies with high levels of education. Periphery have less diverse economies, lower education, health, infrastructure and standards of living. Semi-peripheral countries have elements of both.

All countries can be placed in the periphery or core, but there may be regional differences in a country and even in communities, which can be better understood at a local scale of analysis.

INCOME

There are other measures of a country's economy other than economic welfare (wealth or income of a country) There’s also:

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) the total value of the goods and services produced by a country’s citizens and companies within the country in a year

Gross National Product (GNP) the total value of the goods and services produced by a country’s citizens and companies both domestically and internationally in a year

Gross National Income (GNI) per capita (per person), the total value of goods and services globally produced by a country in a year divided by the country’s population

GDP and GNP can be converted to per capita data (per person). For example, GDP per capita is the Gross Domestic Product divided by a country’s midyear population.

Per capita estimations help put a country’s overall well-being in perspective. GNP per capita reflects a country’s real income, but it is often not the most accurate measure as it is affected by international exchange rates.

The United States stopped using GNP as an indicator in 1991, and the World Bank prefers to use GNI per capita when considering the health of a country’s economy.

Countries that rank high in GNI per capita have a high amount of international investment aid and a large number of international corporations.

The variation between GDP and GNI can be small if the difference between the country’s income and global payments is minimal.

Income distributions provide inghits to societal health. High-income economies can seem properpous but may mask poverty, like Brazil where there is dramatic disparity between the wealthy and rich.

ECONOMIC STRUCTURE

Economic structure also measures development, and development level can be predicted by

examining economic structure.

Diversified economies have populations who work in every economic sector (primary to quinary). And as countries develop, the population shifts sectors (primary (agriculture) to secondary (manufacturing), which improves economic success and enhances jobs in the tertiary sector (services).

As countries flourish, the quaternary and quinary sectors (knowledge sectors) bloom, and IT and scientific research is promoted, with media extending across the country.

The structure of the economy can also be broken into two categories: the formal and informal sector.

Formal Sector: includes businesses, enterprises, and other economic activities that have government supervision, monitoring, and protection, and are taxed.

The taxes collected from businesses and workers most often are used by a country to finance a variety of public services, like in the US with medicare and social security and more.

Workers in this sector have a formal contract, job responsibilities, guaranteed safe work conditions, fixed work times, wages or salary, and health and life protection.

Informal Sector/Informal Economy: any part of a country’s economy that is outside of government monitoring or regulation and is not taxe

Individuals and companies in the informal sector deal in many informal cash and monkey-making acitivtes like street vendors, food trucks, cleaning services, flower selling, fruit selling, and more.

In some cases, some food trucks and street vendors may be in the formal sector if they are licensed and pay location fees and sales taxes.

Workers in the informal sector do not have formal employment contracts, work conditions, fixed hours of work, or consistent pay. They may not have social security or health and safety protections.

It’s hard to measure the financial and social impact of informal sector activities as they aren’t tracked by the government. Therefore, the informal sector IS NOT included in the GDP or GNI of a country.

As a result of the informal sector not being included in the GDP or GNI of a country, some countries have greater income than their official statistics may say.

Informal economies are all over the globe, with 10 to 20% of a core country's income coming from it. While in periphery countries, the informal sector can represent even 50%!.

FOSSIL FUELS AND RENEWABLE ENERGY

Measuring the use of fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) can indicate the country's level of development.

All countries use fossil fuels for electricity, transportation, heat, and fuel for cars. More than 29 countries depend on fossil fuels for 90% of their energy. Some are even 100% in Arabia. These countries have primary access to fossil fuels.

Other countries use renewable energy and alternative fuel sources like China, who is the biggest user of solar energy. COuntries are beginning to invest into renewable energy as fossil fuels begin to run out.

SOCIAL INDICATORS

Geographers use fertility rates, infant mortality rates, literacy rate, health care, measures of democracy and many other more to measure quality of living.

TFR (total fertility rate) is affected by many factors such as level of health and level of education for women. The TFR is high in peripheral and semi-periphery countries.

IMprovements in health care, sanitation, diet, and hospitals have decreased the total number of births. But in places where health care and education is limited, birth rates sky rocket.

Infant mortality rate (IMR) is an indicator of good infant health and overall health care. The IMR is higher in peripheral countries and lower in core countries. Higher IMR is also in areas with poverty.

Cultural factors, such as the status of women and religions or traditions that encourage couples to have large families, affect total fertility rates as well.

Women with higher levels of education and those who pursue careers generally have fewer children. In countries with fewer formal employment opportunities or where women face barriers to work outside the home, women are likely to have more children.

Political factors, such as government-sponsored family-planning efforts, can impact the TFR and population growth, too.

Life expectancy is a good indicator of a country’s standard of living and healthcare for the elderly.

In peripheral and semi-peripheral countries health care cna be hard to obtain. Countries without access to immunizations, medications, and sanitary water are often economically underdeveloped.

Literacy rates and education provides a measurement of development as well, as literacy skills can drive the economic development of a country as the skill is needed in today’s world.

Marginalized children who live in rural areas in the periphery don’t have access to education in places like sub-saharan africa and therefore are not as literate.

The UN uses the Human Development Index (HDI) to determine overall levels of development of countries.

Human Development Index (HDI): a composite statistic used to rank countries based on average achievements in three key dimensions of human development: health, education, and standard of living

This measure incorporates three key dimensions of human development:

life expectancy at birth (health dimension),

access to education measured in expected and mean years of schooling (education dimension),

and standard of living measured by GNI per capita (economic dimension).

In short, the HDI is a summary measure— scaled from 0.0 to 1.0—of basic achievement levels reached through an average of each examined dimension.

When determining HDI health and education indicators are important just as economic ones are. Some countries can have lower GNI per capita (economic dimension) but higher standard of living and education, therefore having a higher HDI.

When looking at these rankings, it’s important to understand the theory of purchasing power parity (PPP).

This concept measures economic variables in different countries so that exchange rates don’t distort across-the-board comparisons. In essence, PPP is synonymous with “international dollars.”

The HDI has limitations as it is a simplified calculation and doesn’t take into consideration other aspects of human development like poverty, environmental quality, and more.

HDI doesn’t take into account that in many countries, ethnic minorities may not have the same opportunities or healthcare. It also doesn’t consider political dimensions.

The UN and other organizations also collect and share other data—such as a country’s rate of economic growth, expansion of employment opportunities, and the success of initiatives undertaken—to help leaders and policy makers evaluate and work to improve quality of life within a country.

19.2 MEASURING GENDER INEQUALITY

Although the words parity, equality, and equity are related terms.

Parity is a balance between two groups.

Equality refers to the same level of resources and opportunities for everyone, no matter the location or situation.

Equity, however, is about fairness, and it acknowledges how the lack of access to opportunities and certain resources affects underserved people, groups, or communities.

To ensure equity it requires additional aid to ensure everyone is treated fairly to their circumstances.

One indicator that measures gender parity is gender equality: ensures that women and men have equal access to opportunities and resources.

A country’s gender equality can measure a country’s overall development. Groups like the UN use two measures to track gender inequality:

Gender Development Index (GDI) which calculates gender disparity in the three basic dimensions of human development: health, knowledge, and standard of living.

GDI measures the female Human Development Index (HDI) as a percentage of the male HDI.

Current GDI calculations show factors in which a difference between women and men exists as well as where near equity is achieved.

Gender Inequality Index (GII) which calculates inequality based on three categories: reproductive health, empowerment, and labor-market participation.

The GII ranges from 0.0 to 1.0; 0.0 shows that men and women share equal roles, and 1.0 shows that women have little equality.

Gender equality and parity contributes to the economy of every country and is beneficial. Many countries seek to introduce policies to promote gender parity.

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

The GII is the first major index to include reproductive health indicators.

It uses two barometers related to women’s reproductive health: one measures maternal deaths related to childbirth and the other measures births among adolescent mothers

Maternal mortality ratio (MMR) is the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.

The MMR is a good indicator of women’s health as maternal deaths result from lack of adequate care before, after, and during childbirth.

The MMR is highest in peripheral countries in sub-saharan Africa and lowest in core countries with good health. Sub-Saharan African countries suffer an average MMR of 533.

Adolescent birth rate (ABR) is the number of births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19.

Early childbirth has the highest health risks for mothers and infants and prevents education. ABR is highest in sub-saharan African countries with countries like Mali having a BAR of 167.

Core countries have lower ABR’s with countries like South Korea having an ABR of 1.

EMPOWERMENT

Women’s empowerment includes women’s options and access to participate fully in the social and economic spheres of a society

The GII uses two indicators to measure women’s empowerment:

political representation and

educational attainment.

Political representation (women civic involvement) is measured by the ratio of women with seats in government compared with men

Historically, women have always been greatly outnumbered by men in government, but that amount of women in government is increasing. With core countries having the most.

Countries with the highest percentage of women in government are countries that have recently ended wars, likely because thousands of men who would have been in government passed in the war, leaving women to take the roles.

Educational attainment is measured by the ratio of adult women and adult men (ages 25 and older) with some secondary education.

Women’s access to education affects their social and economic opportunities and status as well as health outcomes.

Today disparities in women to men education still exist today, with more girls remaining out of school than boys according to the UNESCO.

Women account for ⅔ of adults who lack basic literacy skills. A majority of these women come from countries like Burkina Faso, Tanzania, DRC, and other semi-peripheral and peripheral countries.

UNESCO reports that the many obstacles preventing women and girls from participating in education include poverty, geographic isolation, minority status, disability, early marriage and pregnancy, gender-based violence, and traditional attitudes about the status and role of women.

LABOR MARKET

Labor-market participation (LMP) rate measures an economy’s active labor force and is calculated by taking the sum of all employed workers and dividing that number by the working-age population.

(The LMP is also known as labor-force participation, or LFP rate.)

Identifying participation in formal and informal sectors allows geographers to make generalized assumptions about other important social indicators, such as the availability of education and health care, infant mortality, and gender equality.

The conclusion that a high labor-force participation rate equals a highly economically developed country is not necessarily true. For example, Mozambique has one of the highest LMP rates in the world, but it doesn’t have a strong economy.

Also, the rates of LMP vary between genders in many countries. Male LMP tends to be high while female LMP tends to be low.

WOmen’s roles in a country’s workforce reflects economic development.

Core countries have women who work full-time jobs and pursue careers in the tertiary sector with a college degree.

Peripheral and semi-peripheral countries participate mainly in the primary and secondary sectors, stay at home and take care of kids, or do unpaid/paid work (informal sector).

Both the labor-intensive jobs and high birth rates are factors that inhibit women’s ability to participate fully in economic and social spaces—which in turn holds back a country’s development.

Female labor-market participation doesn’t solely describe a country’s economic development, as some countries have LMP at 100%+ and still aren’t economically developed.

When LMP is high at 100% + it reflects gender parity in the labor force or the fact that more women than men are participating in the labor market in that country.

19.3 CHANGING ROLES OF WOMEN

Gender roles are socially constructed expectations for men and women, shaped by cultural norms.

Traditionally, men are seen as breadwinners and heads of households, while women are expected to handle domestic duties and child-rearing.

These roles can limit women's participation in various societal aspects. However, as economies develop, traditional gender roles evolve, with women gaining more opportunities in education and the workforce.

Despite progress, gender disparities persist, as women still earn less than men, hold fewer managerial roles, and face global inequalities.

Economic changes, particularly in rural areas, have increased opportunities for women, such as in Guatemala, where women started a profitable beekeeping business. This has shifted societal attitudes, with women now actively participating in community life.

Urban areas, often thought to offer more opportunities, can still present challenges, particularly in regions like North Africa, Southwest Asia, and South Asia, where traditional gender roles and barriers persist, hindering women's access to employment, resources, and security.

Despite these challenges, women are increasingly contributing to household incomes, shifting family roles. In peripheral economies, women's participation in industrial and service sectors is growing, though often at lower wages.

In countries like Japan, traditionally male-dominated, women are becoming more involved in the workforce due to economic pressures from an aging population. This shift reflects broader global changes in the recognition of women's value in the economy, even as gender gaps remain.

Saudi Arabia is focusing on reducing the gender employment gap through an economic plan aimed at increasing its GDP by 13%. The government is investing in human capital, particularly women, in response to drops in oil prices and a need for economic diversification.

In the U.S., women's roles in the workforce have expanded significantly. By 2017, women made up 47% of the workforce, with significant representation in occupations like speech-language pathology, dental assisting, and social work.

Women have also made gains in professional and managerial positions, such as lawyers and human resources managers. However, women remain underrepresented in higher-level positions, such as chief executives and construction managers.

Educational opportunities for women have historically been limited but are improving in many parts of the world, which contributes to gender equality.

Access to education empowers women, improves health, and opens doors to higher-paying jobs, leading to economic growth.

A study in Ethiopia found that women with more education tend to marry later and have fewer children. Education also correlates with lower fertility rates, although other factors, such as healthcare access and work opportunities, also influence fertility.

As women gain more educational opportunities, they can contribute more effectively to national development and poverty reduction.

Many organizations at local, national, and international levels are working to improve educational opportunities for women and girls, aiming to break down barriers like cultural and religious restrictions.

These groups provide scholarships, build schools closer to communities, develop gender-sensitive curriculum, create inclusive learning environments, and involve men in gender equality discussions.

Some regions, like southern Africa, are using mobile technology to build digital skills for girls, while the Asia Foundation focuses on increasing literacy and supporting girls' access to higher education in countries like Afghanistan.

While educational opportunities for women have increased, wage gaps between men and women persist, even in developed countries.

In 2018, Icelandic women protested being paid only 74% of what men earned, leading to a law mandating equal pay for equal work. Similarly, in 2019, Swiss women protested unequal pay, despite the country’s wealth.

In the U.S., women earned on average 81 cents for every dollar earned by men in 2017, with education not fully eliminating wage disparity. Factors such as women’s choice of lower-paying professions, time taken off for child-rearing, and work flexibility contribute to the ongoing wage gap.

Some U.S. states, including Wyoming and West Virginia, exhibit the worst wage equality, with women earning as little as 69 cents for every dollar earned by men.

Wage inequality in the U.S. varies by state and race. In California, women earn 88 cents for every dollar earned by men, while states like Wyoming and West Virginia show a much larger gap.

Additionally, racial disparities persist, with white and Asian American women earning more than Hispanic, African-American, or Native American women. In sports, wage inequality is evident as well, exemplified by the U.S. women's soccer team, who earned just 38% of what the male team earned despite their historic achievements.

Beyond economic and educational opportunities, efforts to empower women are crucial. Women in many parts of the world face violence, social injustice, and lack of basic rights, with some legally restricted from pursuing higher-paying jobs or even working outside the home.

Initiatives like those by the United Nations in Africa aim to improve gender equality and empower women.

As African economies develop, women are increasingly involved in the workforce, with countries like Rwanda and Ghana seeing women running nearly half of all businesses. Despite working longer hours for less pay, African women are highly entrepreneurial and continue to make strides toward gender equality.

MICROLOANS

In recent womens trying to be entrepreneurs apply for loans to start small businesses to improve financial security and stay away from poverty.

Microloans are very small short-term loans with low interest intended to help people in need.

Microloans have become a vital tool for women looking to start their own businesses, especially since many would not qualify for traditional bank loans.

The microloan industry began with a Bangladeshi professor who founded the Grameen Bank, and it has since grown significantly. By 2015, approximately 125 million people, 80% of them women, had received about $100 billion in microloans.

These loans, ranging from $200 in South Asia to $3,000 in Eastern Europe, help cover startup costs for various businesses, such as home-based nail salons or poultry farming, and also support educational expenses.

Many microloan institutions provide business training and resources, contributing significantly to women's entrepreneurship. An example is Oiness from Zambia, a single mother who started her business with a microloan in a remote village with limited job opportunities.

Microloans have helped women like Oiness in Zambia start businesses, such as selling portable cooking stoves, and grow them by reinvesting earnings. This success has allowed her to send her children to school.

While obtaining a microloan doesn't guarantee success, it plays a crucial role in narrowing gender inequality as more women become successful business owners in poorer countries.

As countries develop, investment in women-focused initiatives is essential.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) highlights four strategies for advancing women's rights:

(1) ensuring financial assets for women,

(2) keeping girls in school,

(3) improving reproductive health and family planning access

(4) supporting women's leadership.

19.4 THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT

In the 1960s, after much of Africa and Asia gained independence, Walt W. Rostow developed his stages of economic growth model.

Rostow studied economically successful countries and sought to understand how they achieved modernization, assuming that poorer countries could follow a similar path.

He believed all countries could be placed on a spectrum from traditional to modern, with economic growth occurring in distinct stages. Rostow also assumed that all countries practiced market-oriented capitalism.

Stage 1: Traditional Society

In this stage, political power is local or based on land ownership, and family plays a dominant role. Economic mobility is limited, and society is centered on subsistence farming with primitive technology. Modern science and technology are absent.

Stage 2: Preconditions for Takeoff

Progressive elements emerge as people seek knowledge and break free from traditional mindsets. New enterprises form, investment increases, and industry accelerates. Infrastructure improves, the workforce shifts from agriculture to manufacturing, and credit institutions develop.

Stage 3: Takeoff

Political, social, and institutional changes occur. Urbanization increases, infrastructure improves, and some manufacturing industries experience a surge in productivity and technological advances.

Stage 4: Drive to Maturity

The economy progresses with self-sustained growth. Industries operate at maximum effectiveness, and power consumption increases. Entrepreneurial leadership shifts from individual industrialists to managerial bureaucracy, and consumption patterns change with rising incomes.

Stage 5: High Mass Consumption

Modern societies are urban, based on wage labor, and organized into states. Production moves from industrial manufacturing to consumer goods and services. Trade expands, and consumption becomes a focus. Problems shift from production to consumption.

Rostow’s model suggests that every country can follow these stages to achieve economic growth.

The speed of progression depends on factors such as natural resources, productivity, and political decisions.

For example, Great Britain reached maturity through the Industrial Revolution, while Russia remains in stage 4 due to corruption and oligarchic control. Singapore serves as a successful example, progressing from industrialization to maturity and now being highly modernized and wealthy, fitting into stage 5.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STAGES OF ECONOMIC GROWTH MODEL

Since Rostow’s model was based on the United States and Europe in the 1960s, critics argue that it can’t be applied to every country.

According to the model, the result of the sequence of growth stages is an industrialized, capitalist, democratic country; the assumption is that all countries will wish to have these characteristics.

The model also doesn’t account for geographic influences or challenges, meaning that not all countries will follow the same development path.

The model assumes all countries will eventually become mass consumers, but it overlooks ecological limits and the Earth's carrying capacity, which were unknown in the 1960s.

This leads to concerns about sustainability, as mass consumerism depletes resources and causes environmental damage.

Additionally, the model doesn’t consider how countries impact one another in a globalized world. Early industrializers, like Great Britain and the U.S., had fewer obstacles, while late starters face significant barriers, such as colonial legacies and lack of access to advanced technologies, which hinder their development.

In response to Rostow’s stages of economic growth model, Immanuel Wallerstein published his world system theory (which you learned about in Chapter 1) in 1974. This theory describes the spatial and functional relationships between countries and helps explain the history of uneven economic development in the world economy.

Wallerstein’s world systems theory argues that countries are interconnected, with some dominating while others are exploited.

The world is divided into core, peripheral, and semi-peripheral regions. Core countries dominate global trade, exploiting peripheral countries for labor and raw materials, while peripheral countries depend on core countries for capital.

Semi-peripheral countries have characteristics of both core and peripheral countries.

The theory highlights the role of capitalism in creating a global economic system, where core countries accumulate capital through taxation, government investment, and control of the global economy.

Peripheral countries can advance to semi-peripheral status and eventually to the core as they develop economically.

According to world systems theory, Mexico is considered a semi-peripheral country because it has both industrialized areas and large peripheral regions.

While Mexico City and northern states have lower poverty rates, southern states like Chiapas and Oaxaca face high poverty, limited economic opportunities, and low access to education and infrastructure.

In 2018, 42% of Mexico’s population lived below the poverty line, with a significant concentration in the south. This inequality, along with Mexico's GNI per capita of $9,180, keeps the country in the semi-periphery.

In contrast, Angola, with a GNI per capita of $3,370 and a high poverty rate, illustrates how poverty is exacerbated (made worse) by the global economic system, preventing upward mobility for many.

The core-periphery relationship often perpetuates this cycle of poverty, limiting opportunities for improvement in peripheral regions.

In the late 1950s, UN experts observed that economic growth in industrialized countries did not lead to growth in nonindustrialized countries.

Financial dependency between countries with diverse economies was the reason, explaining why less developed countries failed to grow despite investments from more developed ones.

Dependency theory describes the development challenges and limitations faced by poorer countries and the political and economic relationships poorer countries have with richer countries.

Dependency theory argues that peripheral countries provide cheap labor and raw materials to core countries, which use these resources to produce expensive goods.

Peripheral countries, needing these goods, buy them at inflated prices, preventing them from upgrading their production systems.

This creates a cycle of underdevelopment where the wealth gap between core and peripheral countries widens.

The theory suggests that core countries have intentionally kept peripheral countries from developing, with imperialism as a root cause.

While both dependency and world system theories explain global inequality, dependency theory focuses on historical colonialism and neocolonialism as drivers of wealth transfer from periphery to core.

However, critics argue that dependency theory lacks clear definitions, fails to consider other causes of underdevelopment, and overlooks the role of bad decisions by leaders in causing underdevelopment.

One aspect of dependency theory is commodity dependence: when more than 60 percent of a country’s exports and economic health are tied to one or two resources such as oil, timber, or plantation crops.

This narrow economic base, typical of peripheral and semi-peripheral countries, contrasts with the diversified economies of core countries.

These nations often lack manufacturing capabilities, resulting in a neocolonial dependency where they export raw materials and import finished goods.

Commodity: a raw material or primary agricultural product that can be bought and sold

The unpredictable and rapid change of commodity prices further exacerbates their economic instability.

For example, Venezuela's reliance on oil revenues led to a financial crisis when oil prices plummeted.

Similarly, countries like Saudi Arabia have sought to diversify their economies to reduce such dependence.

Commodity dependence can also lead to political instability, as seen in countries like Sierra Leone, where control over resources like diamonds sparks conflict.

This "resource curse" traps countries in unstable economic and political situations. A 2019 UN report found that 102 of 189 countries were commodity-dependent, highlighting significant global economic disparities.