Measurements+of+regional+and+global+disparities

__Development__: refers to an improvement in the **quality** and **quantity of life**. It includes social development, economic development and other factors that are considered important in improving the quality of life and standard of living of the people and these include peace and stability, gender equality, happiness index, environmental sustainability, legal rights etc.

__Gross Domestic Product__: The total value of goods and services produced in a country in a given year by the citizens and foreigners in the country.

__Gross National Product__: The total value of goods and services produced in a country by the citizens only.,

__Gross National Income__: The total value of goods and services produced in a country together with the balance of income and payments from or to other countries.

__Income__: The quantitative measure of a person's wealth.

Indices for measuring development include;
 * 1) Income Infant mortality rate
 * 2) Education
 * 3) Marginalization
 * 4) Nutrition
 * 5) The Human Development Index

This refers to the number of children who die before their first birthday per 1000 live births.
 * Indices and their values for measuring development**.
 * Infant Mortality rate (IMR):- **
 * It is also gives a good indication of the level of maternal health.
 * It is lower in countries with higher HDI than countries with lower HDI. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest IMR in the world.
 * (Total number of deaths of babies less than 1 year old÷ Total number of births of babies per 1000 live births) x100


 * Strengths of using IMR as an index of development. **
 * It gives a good indication of the level of **female education in a country**.
 * It gives an indication of the **level of health care delivery in a country.**
 * it is also an indication of the **level of sanitation, nutrition and housing in a country**.


 * Weaknesses of using IMR as an index of development: **
 * It only gives an indication of child mortality when they are below one. However the death of children above one year is not represented.
 * it does not give an indication of the overall care system in a country.
 * it does not give an indication of the cause of the death of the infant.


 * Marginalization**:refers to the process of being pushed to the edge of economic activity, or being largely left out of positive socioeconomic trends.

Two indices for measuring marginalization include: a) **Gender Related Development Index.** This measures achievements in the same dimensions using the same indicators as HDI. But it measures the disparities between men and women. b) **Gender Empowerment Measure**. This reveals whether **women can take an active part in economic or political life**. It shows the level of inequality in opportunities for men and women in selected areas, by considering factors such as participation and gender (in)equality in decision making (economic and political). This is achieved by considering the number of female parliamentarians, the number of female workers etc. Norway has the highest GEM at 0.837 (on a scale of 0 to 1). The lowest is Yemen.


 * Strengths of using Gender Empowerment Measure;**
 * It gives an indication of the level of involvement of women in decision making
 * It will indicate the level of education in a country, if women are educated, that is when they will be able to take part in decision making.
 * It gives an indication of the level of child education; the extent to which their children are educated
 * it indicates the level of nutrition and sanitation


 * Weaknesses of using Gender Empowerment Measure**;
 * it is a single measure of development other indicators are important such as environmental sustainability.


 * __Education Index__** : This is based on adult literacy rate and the combined enrollment for primary, secondary and tertiary schools. Adult literacy is defined as the proportion of the population aged 15 and above who can read and write a simple, short statement on their everyday lives.


 * The usefulness of this variable in measuring development**
 * It uses variables such as student-teacher ratio, school enrollment, number of school years completed and the number of university graduates which are all important in measuring the extent to which the population of the country can move out of poverty.
 * It is a good indicator of the extent to which the population understand their rights.
 * This gives an indication of the level of sanitation of the country because as people are educated, they are made aware of the negative impacts of unsanitary conditions.


 * Disadvantages.**
 * Sometimes, people who graduate from universities do not have access to well-paying jobs. As such, it becomes an unreliable indicator of development.
 * Education as a yardstick is insufficient in measuring the level of development. For instance, education index does not give an indication of environmental sustainability.
 * Education index does not give a measure of the quality of the education. This measure does not take into account the quality of the curricula in the country.

Income can be measured using the GNP,GDP, GNI.
 * Income**: This is a quantitative measure of a person's wealth. This can be used as an indicator of development.
 * Gross Domestic Product** refers to the total value of good and services produce in a country in a given year by both the citizens and the foreigners in that country.
 * Gross National Product** is the total value of the goods and services produced in a country by the citizens only.
 * Gross National Income per Capita** the total value of goods and services produced in a country by the citizens of a country in a given year divided by the total population.

Absolute poverty: Measured against a benchmark. eg. $1.25 per day.

Relative poverty: Measured against society's standard. eg. in LEDCs, 'essentials' comprises food, clothing and shelter, In MEDCs, it includes presents, vacations, entertainment.

__Poverty measurement__ i) Human Poverty Index 1 ii) Human Poverty Index 2 HPI 1 measures poverty in developing countries in 3 dimensions. HPI 2 is based on human deprivations in terms of the economic and social conditions of a community, also in 3 dimensions.

__Human Developments Index (HDI)__ HDI was developed in 1990 by the United Nations to measure the levels of development. It is a composite measure of development, and it takes into consideration 3 key variables in determining the level of human development: 1) The GNI per capita (standard of living). ie. Income adjusted to local cost of living or purchasing power parity. 2) Longevity (life expectancy). 3) Adult literacy and average number of years' schooling. This is done by comparing expected years of schooling for current school children and mean years of schooling for adults aged 25 years or older.

HDI is measured on a scale of 0 to 1. Countries with the highest HDI are in Western Europe,Norway's is 0.949. North America, Australia is 0.939. The lowest are in Central Africa. HDI is composite measure meaning that more than one variable is taken into account. Even though it is difficult to measure these variables accurately, they give a more comprehensive and complete picture of a country's development.

__Advantages of HDI__ 1. Because it is a composite measure, it gives a fair idea of the level of development. 2. It gives an overall picture of the level of development of a country as 3. It can be compared with other indicators and it helps with comparison of development between countries. This is used to compare the level of development between two countries./8541

__Disadvantages of HDI__ 1. It is difficult to calculate, since data collection is expensive and time-consuming. 2. Most countries use different currencies, hence calculating the GNI could pose problems because of the differences in the exchange rate. 3. All countries have a formal and an informal economy and in some countries, the informal economy is not captured in the economic records of the government. ie. in calculating the GDP. As a result, obtaining accurate data from some of the developing countries can be difficult. 4. Some goods and services are unpaid for. ie. volunteering in a charity shop, donating to charity or even parenting are most often left out in the calculation of the GNI

__Theories of Development__ According to Walt Rostow, an economist and a political theorist, countries must pass through 5 stages of development.

1. **Traditional society**. These are characterized by subsistence agricultural systems where food produced in consumed, and very little is left for sale. Trade is carried out by barter. Agriculture is the most important industry in the economy and it is labor intensive, among many other characteristics.

2. **Precondition for take-off**. The society begins to be committed to secular education, they introduce a form of currency and banking. Manufacturing becomes the most important aspect of the economy, it becomes capital intensive, although labor is still important, and there is the emergence of transport infrastructure to support trade.

3. **Take-off stage**. The economy becomes more formal. It is characterized by industrialization increases, urbanization increases, technology breakthrough, a shift more to the secondary economy.

4. **Drive to maturity**. Diversification of the industrial base, expansion of multiple industries, manufacturing shift from investment-driven (capital goods) to consumer durables and domestic consumption, rapid development of transportation infrastructure, large-scale investment in social infrastructure (schools, universities, hospitals).

5. **Age of mass consumption.** The primary sector is greatly diminished, and there is widespread and normative consumption of high-value consumer goods (eg. automobiles). Consumers have disposable income, beyond basic goods for additional, non-essential goods.