Development

Human development is calculated using three main factors: economic, social, and demographic. As already mentioned in the text, the Human Development Index (HDI), encompasses all three of these factors when classifying the world’s countries into either a more developed country (MDC) or a less developed country (LDC). During our discussion of developed vs. developing countries, a student’s response prompted me to explore this issue further. Are the MDC and LDC classifications too vague? Should there be other, more specific terms when referring to the development of the world’s nations? Listed below are terms that might more accurately portray a country’s development.

Developed, Developing, and Underdeveloped

Using the HDI, countries are listed as either MDCs (also referred to developed countries) or LDCs (developing countries). These broad classifications can be further broken down into four narrower categories: very high (an HDI of .9 or higher), high (an HDI of .800 - .899), medium (an HDI of .500 - .799) and low human development (under .5). The very high category is referred to as developed countries, while the last three are all referred to as developing countries. *The low human development countries with an HDI of under .5 are sometimes referred to as underdeveloped. The map to the right shows each respective category.


* It is interesting to note the U.S., U.K. and other highly developed countries do not make this top ten list. Although the U.S. has the highest GDP in the world at over $14 trillion, the social and demographic factors that play into the HDI equation such as life expectancy and amount of education brings down the U.S.' overall score, which is .956 - ranking 13th in the world. When ranking countries based strictly on specific data such as GDP, the results will vary from their respective HDI scores, as seen in the map and table below.

GDP

The GDP per capita is not a measurement of the standard of living in an economy. However, it is often used as such an indicator, on the rationale that all citizens would benefit from their country's increased economic production. Generally, though, countries who have a high GDP per capita will consequently have a high HDI. The major advantage of GDP per capita as an indicator of standard of living is that it is measured frequently, widely and consistently. The major disadvantage is that it is not, strictly speaking, a measure of standard of living. GDP is only intended to be a measure of particular types of economic activity within a country (though some might correlate economic prosperity with a higher quality of life). Nonetheless, a country's GDP and per capita GDP are vital statistics when analyzing and comparing the world's economic production. The map to the right illustrates the per capita GDP for the world's countries (as of 2008, click to enlarge)


* This data was retrieved from the World Economic Outlook (WEO) database. These figures are comparable with the World Bank and the CIA's World Factbook, though a notable exception - Liechtenstein - was not included. This small, land-locked Western European country technically has the world's highest per capita GDP at $145,700.
Also, when comparing these figures with the HDI data above, you will notice there is a strong relationship between GDP and HDI. Six countries appear on both the top ten lists, while five of the sub-Saharan African countries are on both lists (the other five are still very close to the bottom). When analyzing these figures, the terms more economically developed country (MEDC) and less economically developed country (LEDC) rather than MDC and LDC, can more accurately classify countries based on GDP statistics. The classification of one country as either a MEDC or LEDC is still ambiguous as there is no specific guidelines. Perhaps the countries with shades of blue or purple can be considered MEDC, but again, the vagueness leaves the classification of the world's countries open to debate.

References

Gross domestic product. (2009, November 2). Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_domestic_product

United Nations Statistical Division. (2009). Human Development Report 2009. United Nations. Retrieved from http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2009_EN_Complete.pdf

World Economic Outlook database. (2009, October). Report for selected countries and subjects. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved from http://imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2009/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=26&pr.y=9&sy=2008&ey=2008&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=512%2C941%2C914%2C446%2C612%2C666%2C614%2C668%2C311%2C672%2C213%2C946%2C911%2C137%2C193%2C962%2C122%2C674%2C912%2C676%2C313%2C548%2C419%2C556%2C513%2C678%2C316%2C181%2C913%2C682%2C124%2C684%2C339%2C273%2C638%2C921%2C514%2C948%2C218%2C943%2C963%2C686%2C616%2C688%2C223%2C518%2C516%2C728%2C918%2C558%2C748%2C138%2C618%2C196%2C522%2C278%2C622%2C692%2C156%2C694%2C624%2C142%2C626%2C449%2C628%2C564%2C228%2C283%2C924%2C853%2C233%2C288%2C632%2C293%2C636%2C566%2C634%2C964%2C238%2C182%2C662%2C453%2C960%2C968%2C423%2C922%2C935%2C714%2C128%2C862%2C611%2C716%2C321%2C456%2C243%2C722%2C248%2C942%2C469%2C718%2C253%2C724%2C642%2C576%2C643%2C936%2C939%2C961%2C644%2C813%2C819%2C199%2C172%2C184%2C132%2C524%2C646%2C361%2C648%2C362%2C915%2C364%2C134%2C732%2C652%2C366%2C174%2C734%2C328%2C144%2C258%2C146%2C656%2C463%2C654%2C528%2C336%2C923%2C263%2C738%2C268%2C578%2C532%2C537%2C944%2C742%2C176%2C866%2C534%2C369%2C536%2C744%2C429%2C186%2C433%2C925%2C178%2C746%2C436%2C926%2C136%2C466%2C343%2C112%2C158%2C111%2C439%2C298%2C916%2C927%2C664%2C846%2C826%2C299%2C542%2C582%2C443%2C474%2C917%2C754%2C544%2C698&s=NGDPDPC&grp=0&a=

The World Factbook. (2008). GDP official exchange rate. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2195.html