Problems of Defining and Measurement of Development - Essay Example

 Problems of Defining and Measurement of Development Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Development: Meaning 2 Problems of defining 'development' 3 Measurement of development 4 Theory applied in defining development 10 Conclusion 11 References 13 Introduction It is very problematic to define the development as it has the wide meaningful range and; therefore, it is widely used in different ways through the different people or the organizations at various times. Example, geographers link the development with the human welfare improvements like better education, health, and greater wealth. There are many geographers that measure the development in the terms of countries Human Development Index. On the other hand in various countries economists link the development with the developed or either with developing countries economies and use the GNP (Gross National Product) and GDP (Gross Domestic Product) for measuring it (Pieterse 2009). As the definition of development it is important that technological justice and improvements are even interrelated features that require to be considered. The study has been conducted for defining the problems that occurs while defining the development taking place in the economy and the various measures adopted by the economists for measuring it on the specific index. The study will also include different theories that are applied in the development for defining it. The study will also include examples drawn from various countries for defining the development, as most of the countries use the income level for defining the development taking place in different countries (Jaffee 1998). Development: Meaning The term development has been used from the past few decades and there are several definitions which are associated with the training, seminars, workshops, certificate programs, college and degree programs and also the books and other reading materials. The term development when initially discussed was treated as the synonym of the term improvement of individuals of lot of individuals in society. With the passage of time, with the emergence of new initiatives and innovations there is an addition to the confusion in the defining of the term development. There is confusion in the terminology that is used for defining the term “development”. From the international perspective it can be said to be as the integral part of a large and broader process of the social and community change (Love and Guthrie 2011). The goal of this change is to bring in the efficiency and improvement in the activities related to economic and social justice. The term development and economic development is widely used interchangeable by the practitioners and academicians, societies, communities and organizations and so on. Development is generally associated with the economic improvements in the society and community. The term development can also be said to be as the change with respect to the factors associated with the activities for which the development or change has been reviewed. In simpler terms and from the view of the society development is the process by which the individuals in society increases their institutional and personal capabilities for effectively mobilizing the resources of the society and justifiably distribute the resources in terms of the improvement in the quality of life. Problems of defining 'development' Development can be explained as the systematic change or continuities in the individual that takes place between the conception and death. Development includes various ways continuously in which one remains the same or reflects continuously. The report has clarified the matters in three areas: character in the post second world war career in the studies of development, social theorizing nature, and nature of residual common sense of development studies. Many studies ahs been conducted for defining the development. In the last 40 years students in development has defined the huge amount of material and in that development are the major factors as many government, international agencies, and social scientists are concern about it (Munck and O'Hearn 1999). Development is used in different ways by the different organizations and people at different times. Defining development is difficult because there is a different meaning for the term development in every stream of research. It is very difficult to explain the term because of the advancement in the several fields of study, no single stream has the same meaning for the term development. There is a development of children since childhood and each development is seen in a different perspective, like the physical development, mental development, and psychological development and so on. It is hard to use the term with similar meaning in all the sayings and related tasks. In the organizational context development has a different meaning and in the international context it has a different meaning (Schumpeter 1934). Researchers have been finding the true meaning of the term but it cannot be evaluated due to the divergence of the knowledge material where the term development is being used. Development is highly related to the topic under study and also the context of studying. Development is generally associated with the economic and social development of the economy but even as per the economists they used different terms for defining the term development. There are many economists that measure the economies with the use of GDP or GNP for measuring the development. GNP can be defined as the total value or it can be defined as the output of the goods and services that are produced by the country that are available in the period of tie for the purpose of consumption or saving the plus foreign investment. GNP is explained as per capita and does not take into account the inequalities in the income rather it takes national average. It also doesn’t include the general cost of living and regional variations. Example, Luxembourg has the world’s wealthiest nation, but in terms of the GNP, Switzer land is made as the world’s wealthiest nation. While some economists used the term GDP for defining the term development of the economy. It is also difficult to judge what development is, as there are different views for the term development. Development also varies in terms of the level of change or growth in the factors of study. Development is associated with the study of factors and their improvements since their inception. Researchers look at the factor of development as the improvement in the activities of research, related to the study and also on the improvement in the activities (Medlin, Cave and Carpenter 1971). Measurement of development There are number of measures that are used for estimating the economic development of any country. These measures are: Increase in the real Gross Domestic Product Increase in the real per capita income Basic requirement approach Human Development Index Rise in the overall wellbeing of the individual. There are few instruments that are sued for measuring the development taking place in the country, these are: Gross Domestic Product- GDP is the total value of the goods and services that are produced in the country in terms of US$. Gross National Product- GNP includes the income generated from the investments made in abroad in terms of US$. Purchasing Power Parity- PPP takes into account the local cost of the living of the person and is expressed per capita US$ (Priem and Butler 2001). GDP/GNP per capita- GDP/GNP is total value divided by the total population. Measures of economic development are discussed below: 1. Increase in the real Gross Domestic Product (GNP) - The time before 1970’s, the economic development was examined as the increase in the real national product of the country. In that time long run expansion in the production was to be achieved by the country through rapid development in industrialization of the country at the expense of agriculture and rural development in the country. The country wants to open different industries in the country so that revenue could be generated along with the generation of better opportunities. At that time growth development mainly meant the growth of the material population, but now the time has change, along with the material development human development is also considered (Medlin, Cave and Carpenter 1971). 2. Increase in the real per capita income- Real per capita income is the traditional measure for measuring the economic development of the country with the increase in the real per capita income of eth country. It was considered that rate of growth of income per capita increase over eth passage of time. This increase indicates that the country is moving towards the growth, higher standard of living and achieving the economic goals of the country. Increase in the real per capita income can only be achieved if the country ahs the ability to expand its operations worldwide at the faster rate than the changes in the level of prices. R=y; in that r= real income, y=money and p= level of price. If the real per capita incomes increase in the country problems like poverty, unemployment, and mal-distribution of the wealth could be decreased easily, as each person would be capable to generate revenue required for living, and this can be possible through generating more job opportunities for each individual (Preston 1987). 3. Increase in overall well being of people- According to this measure if the citizens of the country are able to get and consume the goods and services then they are considered better off. 4. Basic requirement approach- Basic need approach is also known as physical quality of life approach that uses three indicators these are: literacy, life expectancy and age, and infant mortality. This approach considers human needs in terms of the shelter, nutrition, health, and education. 5. Human Development Index- Economist which were not satisfied with GNP, per capita and national income, according to them, issues are not only related to growth but kind of growth, therefore, they develop human development index that includes three variables: literacy as the knowledge index, real GDP per person, and life expectancy as the measure of long life. Example of various countries for defining development United Nations Human Development index is the statistical measure that decides the level of the country’s level of human development. There is a correlation between the high human development index score and prosperity of economy. According to eth United Nations HDI accounts more than the productivity and income. Like gross domestic product per capita or the per capita income, HDI measures income into the education and opportunities for health and high level of human development. From 2001-2006, 2009-2011 (Norway), 1992 and 1994-2000 (Canada), 2007-2008 (Iceland) are the highest human development scorer. Top 47 countries having scores range from the 0.793 in Barbados to 0.943 in Norway. There are many countries listed on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the CIA (2009) posses the HDI score more than 0.788 (2010). There are many countries that has the HDI score of 0.788 (2010) are listed over the IMF and CIA (2009). The advanced countries of the world have the HDI score of 0.9 (2007), as per the latest index released on the November 2011 includes, the score of 47 countries that ahs high human development (Clark 2006). Rank Country HDI New 2011 Estimates for 2011 [11] Change compared to new 2011 data for 2010[11] New 2011 Estimates for 2011 [11] Change compared to new 2011 data for 2010 [11] 1  Norway 0.943  0.002 2  Australia 0.929  0.002 3  Netherlands 0.910  0.001 4  United States 0.910  0.002 5  New Zealand 0.908 6  Canada 0.908  0.001 7  Ireland 0.908  0.001 8  Liechtenstein 0.905  0.001 9  Germany 0.905  0.002 10  Sweden 0.904  0.003 11  Switzerland 0.903  0.002 12  Japan 0.901  0.002 13  (1)  Hong Kong 0.898  0.004 14  (-1)  Iceland 0.898  0.002 15  South Korea 0.897  0.003 16  Denmark 0.895  0.002 17  Israel 0.888  0.002 18  Belgium 0.886  0.001 19  Austria 0.885  0.002 20  France 0.884  0.001 21  Slovenia 0.884  0.002 22  Finland 0.882  0.002 23  Spain 0.878  0.002 24  Italy 0.874  0.001 Rank Country HDI New 2011 Estimates for 2011 [11] Change compared to new 2011 data for 2010[11] New 2011 Estimates for 2011 [11] Change compared to new 2011 data for 2010 [11] 25  Luxembourg 0.867  0.002 26  Singapore 0.866  0.002 27  Czech Republic 0.865  0.002 28  United Kingdom 0.863  0.001 29  Greece 0.861  0.001 30  United Arab Emirates 0.846  0.001 31  Cyprus 0.840  0.001 32  Andorra 0.838 33  Brunei Darussalam 0.838  0.001 34  Estonia 0.835  0.003 35  Slovakia 0.834  0.002 36  Malta 0.832  0.002 37  Qatar 0.831  0.006 38  Hungary 0.816  0.002 39  Poland 0.813  0.002 40  (1)  Lithuania 0.810  0.005 41  (-1)  Portugal 0.809  0.001 42  Bahrain 0.806  0.001 43  Latvia 0.805  0.003 44  Chile 0.805  0.003 45  (1)  Argentina 0.797  0.003 46  (-1)  Croatia 0.796  0.002 47  Barbados 0.793  0.005 Theory applied in defining development There are four development theories that focused over bringing societal change. These are: The Modernization Theory- Marquis de Condorcet, who was the French philosopher, originated Modernization Theory that states that technological development and economic changes bring changes in moral and cultural values of people. The philosopher exposes the technology role in bringing social progress and establishing the connection between the social and economic development. As per the proponents of theories, development can only be achieved through same strategies and processes that are used by the developed countries. Propositions came through the communists and capitalists just like WWII, intimating that primitive societies should be modernized and modern value should supplant their traditional values in the society. The Dependency Theory- Marx is the proponent of dependency theory according to which development and underdevelopment are intertwined. This theory sees that some countries achieve the development through keeping others underdeveloped. In this regard undeveloped is the by product of progress and development; therefore, it depends over the changing the relation between the different nations. As per this theory modernization theory fails to recognize deeply the effects of colonialism like trade inequities. This theory believes that poor countries constitute of the obsolete and outdated technology, industrialized countries are responsible for the underdevelopment of poor countries, and poor countries trying to break the status quo comes across the military interventions and economic sanctions (Boughton 2001). The World Systems Theory- Immanuel Wallerstein and Andre Gunder Frank developed the world system theory, which is an approach towards the social analysis and changes in society. The originator of this theory believes that system as the unit having the single labor division and multiple system culture. The originator identifies that world economy is the polities system that integrate in the single economy and world empires as the situation when single polity rules and integrate the world economy. The State Theory- In reaction to the theory of world economy, the Theory of state supports the economy and views that it intertwined with the politics. This claim reinforces the period of trade-off in developing the unique to every country and focuses over the government that plays a crucial role in analyzing how development takes place in the specific country. South Korea and Taiwan attempt to recreate the bureaucratic model through the capacity and policies of developmental state. Political and economic influences in US and Japan combines liberalization for reinforcing these ongoing tends (Measures of Economic Development 2012). Conclusion From the above analysis it can be concluded that there are several definitions for the term development. No particular definition can fit in all the areas of study. Development varies with context and field of study. There are several ways in which development can be defined. It can also be concluded that it is also difficult to define the term from the point of view of an individual as different individuals have different meanings for the term as they vary in terms and context of study. Development can also be defined in several terms like social, economic, technological, and international and so on. Development by several individuals is viewed as economic development because the development is generally associated with the development of the community and the economy. With economic development it means the overall development in terms of income, infrastructure, utility services, and development of the nation at international level and so on. Development is also said to be as the change in the factors under consideration. Development is associated with the improvement in the activities which is moving towards greater efficiencies. The development of the organization can be seen in terms of increase in the working efficiencies, profitability growth, and increase in the efficiencies of employees and performance in the company activities from the previous capacities. It can also be concluded that there are several theories of development which are associated with different level of study like international, local, economic level, social and community level and so on. The learners must focus in analyzing the factors that are associated with the study and then look at defining the term development associated with it. References Boughton, J. M. 2001. Silent Revolution: The International Monetary Fund 1979–1989. Washington: International Monetary Fund. Clark, D. A. 2006. The Elgar Companion to Development Studies. UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. Jaffee, D. 1998. Levels of Socio-Economic Development Theory. (2nd Ed.). Greenwood Publishing Group. Love, P.G. and Guthrie, V.L. 2011. Understanding and Applying Cognitive Development Theory: New Directions for Student Services. John Wiley and Sons. Measures of Economic Development. 2012. [Online]. Available at: http://saif113sb.hubpages.com/hub/Measures-of-Economic-Development [Accessed on: 7 June 2012]. Medlin, W. K., Cave, W. M. and Carpenter, F. 1971. Education and Development in Central Asia: A Case Study of Social Change in Uzbekistan. Netherlands: Brill Archive. Medlin, W.K., Cave, W.M. and Carpenter, F. 1971. Education and Development in Central Asia: A Case Study of Social Change in Uzbekistan. Brill Archive. Munck, R. and O'Hearn, D. 1999. Critical Development Theory: Contributions to a New Paradigm. Zed Books. Pieterse, J.N. 2009. Development Theory: Deconstructions/Reconstructions. (2nd Ed.). SAGE Publications Ltd. Preston, P. W. 1987. Rethinking Development: Essays on Development and Southeast Asia. London: Taylor & Francis. Priem, R. & Butler, J., 2001. Tautology in the resource-based view and the implications of externally determined resource value: Further comments. Academy of Management Review, 26 (1), 57-66. Schumpeter, J.A. 1934. The Theory of Economic Development: An Inquiry Into Profits, Capital, Credit, Interest, and the Business Cycle. Transaction Publishers. Read More