The causes of the development gap

Question 0

North and south

Answer 0

1981, the Brandt Commission’s report on the world development emphasised what it saw as a division the wealthy ‘north’ and the poorer ‘south’.

Question 1

Measuring the development gap

Answer 1

Traditionally measured by a country’s economy - GDP, GNI and such. GDP is better though because GNI includes income from shares, and company profits from manufacturing or investment overseas.

Question 2

Refinement of the Brandt Line

Answer 2

World bank refined it into three main groupings: high, middle and low income countries, with middle divided into upper and lower.

Question 3

Human development

Answer 3

More recent indicators of development have focused on demographic and social factors such as literacy rates, life expectancy, infant mortality and such. These can be combined to represent a larger picture of development.

Question 4

HDI

Answer 4

Describes human development, both economically and socially. It is based on three factors - life expectancy, literacy and GDP per capita.

Question 5

Gender

Answer 5

GDI shows the inequalities between men and women in terms of life expectancy, education levels and income. It is one of the 5 indicators used in the UN’s Human Development Report.

Question 6

Continuum

Answer 6

Difference between countries is sometimes called a development continuum rather than a gap. Some people believe this better reflects reality: there is a gradation of countries at different levels of development rather than clusters in distinct groups.

Question 7

Distribution

Answer 7

Development data can also provide information about the distribution of inequality.
It is clear that whatever indicator is used to measure global development, there are large differences between countries.