The Development Gap

What is development?

Development is the process by which a country improves the quality of life of its people. It is multidimensional — economic growth alone does not capture education, health, gender equality or environmental quality. Countries are commonly classified as:

• HICs (High Income Countries): GNI per capita > $12,696 (World Bank, 2023); e.g. UK, USA, Japan.
• EDCs (Emerging and Developing Countries): rapidly industrialising; e.g. India, China, Brazil.
• LIDCs (Low Income Developing Countries): GNI per capita < $1,085; e.g. Niger, Malawi, Afghanistan.

The traditional "North–South divide" oversimplifies — there is a spectrum of development, and some LIDCs are growing faster than HICs.

Measuring development

Economic indicators

• GNI per capita (Gross National Income per capita): total income earned by a country's residents divided by population. In US dollars at purchasing power parity (PPP) for comparability. High GNI → more resources for services, infrastructure. Limitation: disguises inequality within countries (the Gini coefficient measures this).
• GDP per capita: similar, but measures income produced within borders (excludes overseas earnings of nationals).

Social indicators

• Life expectancy: average years a person can expect to live at birth. Reflects healthcare quality, nutrition, sanitation. Ranges from ~50 years (Chad) to ~84 years (Japan).
• Infant mortality rate (IMR): deaths per 1,000 live births before age 1. High IMR → poor healthcare, nutrition, clean water.
• Literacy rate: % of adults who can read and write. Low literacy → poverty trap; high literacy → economic productivity.
• Access to clean water / sanitation.

Composite indicators

• HDI (Human Development Index): combines Life Expectancy Index + Education Index (mean and expected years of schooling) + GNI per capita Index. Scale 0–1. Norway ~0.96; Niger ~0.40.
• Advantages over single measures: captures three dimensions of wellbeing; harder to manipulate than a single GDP figure.
• Limitations: doesn't capture inequality within countries (use IHDI), gender gaps (use GDI), or environmental sustainability.

Patterns of uneven development

Global development is highly uneven:

• Sub-Saharan Africa has the world's lowest HDI scores; LIDCs concentrated here.
• South and East Asia includes both LIDCs (Afghanistan, Cambodia) and rapidly growing EDCs (India, Vietnam, Indonesia).
• Latin America has higher HDI than Africa but significant inequality within countries (Brazil's Gini ~0.53).
• North America, Western Europe, Australasia, Japan: HICs with HDI > 0.85.

Causes of uneven development

Physical factors

• Landlocked countries (e.g. Niger, Chad, Malawi) lack ports → higher trade costs → reduced export earnings.
• Climate: tropical regions face higher disease burden (malaria, dengue), crop unreliability, and extreme weather (flooding, drought).
• Natural resources: some resource-rich nations (Nigeria, DRC) are paradoxically underdeveloped — "resource curse" (corruption, Dutch disease, conflict).
• Natural hazards: frequent disasters set back development (Haiti's GDP fell 5% after the 2010 earthquake).

Historical factors

• Colonialism: European powers extracted raw materials and labour from colonies, leaving weak institutions, arbitrary borders, and mono-crop economies.
• Slave trade: removed millions of working-age adults from West Africa over 350 years → demographic and economic damage.
• Debt: many LIDCs carry post-colonial debt to HICs and IMF/World Bank; repayment consumes development budgets.

Economic and political factors

• Trade terms: LIDCs often export low-value primary products (coffee, cotton, minerals) and import high-value manufactured goods → unfavourable terms of trade.
• Corruption and conflict: internal conflict destroys infrastructure; corruption diverts aid and tax revenue. DRC's armed conflict keeps per capita income at ~$570/year despite vast mineral wealth.
• TNCs: foreign direct investment can spur growth (India's IT sector, Vietnam's manufacturing) but profits repatriated, tax avoided via transfer pricing.
• Aid dependency: can undermine local markets and governance if poorly managed.

Theories of development (T2.3 link)

• Rostow's Modernisation Model (1960): five linear stages (Traditional Society → Pre-conditions for Take-off → Take-off → Drive to Maturity → Age of High Mass Consumption). Optimistic: all countries can reach HIC status with investment and the right institutions.
• Frank's Dependency Theory (1967): the "core" (HICs) actively underdeveloped the "periphery" (LIDCs) through colonialism and trade; LIDCs cannot develop within the capitalist world system without breaking dependency.

Edexcel B exam tip

When evaluating causes of uneven development, use a "most important factor" structure: introduce the factor → support with data/example → concede other factors → justify your conclusion. E.g. "Historical colonialism is the most significant cause of the development gap in sub-Saharan Africa because… however, physical factors such as landlocked geography also…"