Patterns of Development

and Change
Instructor: Dr. Nguyen Thi Phuong Chau

Course email:
weg_worldeconomicgeography@yahoo.com
 Patterns of development and change

1. International patterns of resources and population

2. International patterns of industry and finance
3. Interpretations of international inequality
 Key words
• Development • Core-periphery model
• Underdevelopment • Cultural convergence
• GDP - Gross domestic • Spread effect
product
• Technology
• GNP - Gross national
product • Technology gap
• PPP - Purchasing power • Technology transfer
parity
• Trickle down effect
• Circular and cumulative
causation
 Development

The process of growth,

expansion, or realization of
potential; bringing regional
resources into full
productive use.
 Underdevelopment
A level of economic and
social achievement below
what could be reached –
given natural and human
resources of an area – were
necessary capital and
technology available
 GNP and GDP
Gross National Product (GNP)
The total value of goods and
services (with some adjustments)
including income received from
abroad, produced by the residents
of a country during a specified
period (usually a year).
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
The total value of goods and
services produced within the
borders of a country during a
specified time period, usually a
calendar year.
Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)
A monetary measurement which takes account of what
money actually buys in each country.
 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) – World 2004

When local
currency gross
domestic product
is converted into
purchasing
power parities,
there is a two-
fold revision of
the usual view of
world economic
status.

The first result is a sharp increase in the developing countries’ share of total world output. By
varying calculations, China now falls somewhere between the world’s second and ninth largest
economy, and India, Brazil, Mexico all emerge as bigger than Canada. Second, the abject
poverty suggested by per capita gross national or gross domestic product is seen to be much
reduced in many developing countries. India, for example, shows a 1992 GDP per capita at
market exchange rates of $310; in purchasing power parity, the figure rises to over $1200, and
Parkistan’s people jump from $420 to nearly $3000. Compare this map with Figure 10.7 to see
how PPP changes our impressions of some countries’ economic status
 Worldwide Gross Domestic Product (Purchasing
Power Parity) - World GDP (PPP): 74.54 trillion USD (2010)
 Core-Periphery Model
A model of spatial structure
of an economic system in
which underdevelopment or
declining peripheral areas
are defined with respect to
their dependence on a
dominating developed core
region
 Core / Periphery Division of the World

Core / Periphery Division of the World The world can be perceived as a core / periphery dichotomy where core countries are
characterized by high levels of development, a capacity at innovation and a convergence of trade flows. The core has a level of
dominance over the periphery which is reflected in trade and transportation. Accessibility is higher within the elements of the core
than within the periphery. Most of high level economic activities and innovations are located at the core, with the periphery
subjugated to those processes at various levels. This pattern was particularly prevalent during the colonial era where the
development of transport systems in the developing world mainly favored the accessibility of core countries to the resources and
markets of the periphery, a situation that endured until the 1960s and 1970s. The semi-periphery has a higher level of autonomy
and has been the object of significant improvements in economic development (China, Brazil, Malaysia, etc.). Concomitantly, the
accessibility of the semi-periphery improved, permitting the exploitation of its comparative advantages in labor and resources.
Copyright © 1998-2014, Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
Core, semi-periphery and periphery
network 2013

The contemporary global hierarchy of national societies: core,

semiperiphery and periphery (Bond 2013).
Source: http://irows.ucr.edu/papers/irows81/irows81.htm
 Relative concepts of Core-periphery
Circular and Cumulative
Causation
A process through which
tendencies for economic growth
are self-reinforcing; an expression
of the multiplier effect, it tends to
favor major cities and core
regions over less advantaged
peripheral regions.
Spread Effect
(syn: trickle – down effect) The
diffusion outward of the benefits
of economic growth and
prosperity from the power center
or core area to poorer districts
and people.
 Relative concepts of Core-periphery
Technology Gap Cultural Convergence

The contrast between the The tendency for cultures to

technology available in become more alike as they
developed core regions and increasingly share technology and
that present in peripheral organizational structures in a
areas of underdevelopment. modern world united by improved
transportation and communication
 Technology Transfer

The diffusion to or
acquisition by one culture or
region of the technology
possessed by another,
usually more developed,
society.
 Noneconomic Measures of
Development

• Education
• Public Services
• Health
 Noneconomic Measures of
Development - Education
Adult literacy rates by country (over 15 years of age) able to read and write short

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre, June 2007.

 Noneconomic Measures of
Development - Public Services
• The quality of Public Services and the creation of
facilities to assure the health of the labor force are
equally significant evidences of national advancement.
 Noneconomic Measures of
Development - Health
• Access to medical facilities and personnel is another
spatial variable with profound implications for the health
and well-being of populations.
 Aggregate Measures of Development
and Well-Being

• Seeking a value-free measure of the extent to which

minimum human needs are being satisfied among the
world’s countries, the Overseas Development Council
devised a Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI).
• Three indicators: infant mortality, life expectancy, and
literacy
 Human Development Index (HDI)
• The HDI reflects the Programme’s conviction that the important
human aspirations are leading a long and healthy life, receiving
adequate education and having access to assets and income
sufficient for a decent quality of life.
 c1
The Role of Women

• Gender in the cultural sense refers to socially created -

not biologically based - distinctions between femininity
and masculinity.
• Much of sub-Saharan Africa and in South and Southeast
Asia, women became responsible for most of the actual
field work, while still retaining their traditional duties in
child rearing, food preparation, and the like.
Slide 22

c1 Why women should more involve in the development process?

--> increase knowledge for better job, take care children and family, etc. --> increase human right.
chau_ng, 30/06/2014
 International patterns of resources and
population
• Economic development and environment
– Economic development - environment - climate change
• Sustainable development
• Three key resources: energy, cultivable land, and water
• Agricultural patterns and the food question
• International demographic patterns
 The world’s freshwater
availability and
accessibility

Source: UNEP, ‘An Overview of

the State of the World’s Fresh
and Marine Waters’ 2008
 Development – Underdevelopment

Economic growth = Economic development?

Developed countries?

Less-developed countries?

Developing countries?
International patterns of resources and
population
What ‘Economic development’ means?
• Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty
• Achieve universal primary education
• Promote gender equality and empower women
• Reduce child mortality
• Improve maternal health
• Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
• Ensure environmental sustainability
• Develop a global partnership for development
• What is a developing country?
• A developing country is one in which the majority lives
on far less money—with far fewer basic public
services—than the population in highly industrialized
countries. Five million of the world's 6 billion people live
in developing countries where incomes are usually under
$2 per day and a significant portion of the population
lives in extreme poverty (under $1.25 per day).
• Source:
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTSITETOOLS/0,,contentMDK:2014
7486~menuPK:344190~pagePK:98400~piPK:98424~theSitePK:95474,00.html
 Figure 10.3 Comparative development levels.

The “North – South” line of the 1980 Brandt Report suggested a simplified
world contrast of development and underdevelopment based largely on
degree of industrialization and per capita wealth. More recently, the United
Nations General Assembly recognized 45 “least developed countries.” That
recognition reflects low ratings in three indicators: gross domestic product,
share of manufacturing in the GDP, and literacy rate. The “industrial
countries” are those identified in 1995 as most developed by the United
Nations Development Program.
 Relative Characteristics of Development
Less Developed Developed
Per capita low, and capital is scare high, and capital is available
incomes
Wealth Uneven within individual Even within individual
Manufacturing and service
Economies Primary industries dominated industries dominated
Rural
proportion Over 50% Under 10%
small mechanization and low High mechanization and high
Farming yields yields
Population Mostly in rural Mostly in urban (>70%)
Birth and high, and low life- expectancy low, and high life- expectancy
death rates
Diet Inadequate or unbalanced Adequate or balanced
Medical
services poor available
Overcrowding and poor , bad Good social conditions,
Housing & sanitation yield poor social adequate housing and good
infrastructure conditions sanitation
Education Poor facilities and high illiteracy High facilities and low illiteracy
May be in inferior position in
Gender society Equal terms with men
 World’s income distribution 2013

Source: World Bank, ‘World Development Report 2013

World Bank’s poverty line: 1.25 USD/person/day
 Third World
Originally (1950S ), designating countries uncommitted to
either the “First World”. Western capitalist bloc or the
Eastern “Second World communist bloc, subsequently a
term applied to countries considered not yet developed or
in a state of underdevelopment in economic and social
terms
 International patterns of industry and
finance
•Four patterns of international trade
1. Western Europe, together with some former European colonies
in Africa, south Asia, the Caribbean and Australasia
2. North America, together with some Latin American countries
3. The countries of the former Soviet world empire
4. Japan, together with other East Asian countries and the oil-
exporting countries of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
Patterns of international finance and
business services

Detailed in:
• Commodity chains
• Global services
Patterns of international aid
 Does Foreign Aid help?
• Since the 1970s, the industrial countries have annually spent
about one-third of one percent of their gross domestic
product on aid to developing countries. In addition, large
sums have flowed from “North” to “South” in the form of
direct loans from individual countries and such international
institutions as the WWB, the IMF, and regional development
banks. Poor countries owed nearly $2 trillion in development
ralated debts to outside lenders in 1995.
• The official goal of foreign aid is, usually, to help the poor
and to develop the infrastructure essential to encourage
economic and social development. In reality, much aid
seems driven by the political interests of donor countries
rather than by the developmental needs of the recipients.
Whatever the motive, the results have been less substantial
than the amounts donated or loaned.
 International trade and the debt trap

Source: World Bank, ‘World Development Report 2013

 International trade and the debt trap
External debt (by WB, World Development Report 2013)
Developing countries borrow because at early stages of
development they have small stocks of capital and are
likely to have investment opportunities that may be risky
but have high returns. Often these investment projects
have a significant public good component, such as
transportation, infrastructure, education, and public health.
Because government budgets and domestic savings are
low, many countries must turn to external sources of
funding. Poor and less creditworthy countries may qualify
for concessional lending by official creditors, such as the
multilateral development banks and other governments;
creditworthy middle-income countries can borrow at
market rates from official and private lenders.
Overborrowing and unexpected events such as terms-of-
trade shocks, natural disasters, or civil conflict can turn
ordinary debt burdens into unmanageable ones. Many
countries borrow from abroad to finance development, but
when debt exceeds their capacity to service it, the debt
burden becomes unsustainable and hinders development.
• Analysis of aid flows to nearly 100 countries since the
1970s reveals that in almost all cases aid is spent
entirely on consumption of goods and services – for the
most part by governments and the already well-to-do
elites – with rarely a big increase in investment.
• Even countries that receive aid equal to 15% of their
GDP have no greater improvement in basic measures of
human development or economic growth than countries
receiving no aid.
• Increasingly, aid recipients are also debtor countries,
saddled with repayment obligations that overwhelm their
national budgets and prevent expenditures from
domestic funds on health care, education, infrastructure
development, and the like.
• Aid and loans have proved more detrimental than
advantageous as the burden of economic reform
programs falls heavily on the poorest of their
populations.
• Much of that money goes to a relatively few countries
with which the U.S has special relationships, Egypt and
Israel, for example, together received 40% of the total in
1996. On a worldwide scale, critics contend, little of the
aid from the rich “North” has been invested in places that
need it most.
• Those who support continuation fits rather than weakens
the national economy. Almost 75% of foreign assistance
flows back in the form of tied purchases of American
services and agricultural and manufactured goods.
 Question

1. Do you feel that the amount the U.S spends on

foreign aid is too much, too little, or about right? If
too much, do you advocate cutting foreign aid? If
too little, could you support an increase in the
federal budget aid allocation? What are your
reasons for your opinions?
 Question
2. One widely-held opinion is that money now spent on
direct and indirect foreign aid more properly should be
spent on domestic programs dealing with poverty
unempoyment, homelessness, inner-city decay,
inequality, and the like. An equally strongly-held
contrary view is that foregin aid should take priority, for
it is needed to address world and regional problems of
overpopulation, hunger, disease, destruction of the
environment, and civil and ethnic strife those conditions
foster. Assuming you had to choose one of the two
polar positions, which view would you support and
why?
 Summary

• Developed, developing, underdeveloped, least (or less,

developed, Third World, and the like).
• Gross national product and purchasing power parity per
capita document the basic core
• A high percentage of a country’s workforce in agriculture
is associated with less developed subsistence economies
with low labor productivity and low levels of national
wealth.
• Although the correlation is not axact, countries registering
average caloric intake below daily requirements are also
countries registering poorly on all purely economic
measures of development.