The Development Gap

This lesson examines the relationship between globalisation and global inequality — the persistent gap in wealth, health, education and quality of life between the world's richest and poorest countries. It addresses the Edexcel Enquiry Question: "What are the consequences of globalisation for countries and different groups of people?"

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Measuring Development

Development is a multidimensional concept that encompasses economic growth, improvements in quality of life and increases in individual capabilities. Several indicators are used to measure it:

Economic Indicators

Indicator	Definition	Strengths	Weaknesses
GDP (Gross Domestic Product)	Total value of goods and services produced within a country in one year	Widely available; allows international comparison	Does not account for income distribution, informal economy, purchasing power or non-monetary factors
GNI (Gross National Income)	GDP + income earned by residents abroad − income earned by foreigners within the country	Better reflects national income; used by World Bank for country classification	Still an average — masks inequality
GNI per capita (PPP)	GNI divided by population, adjusted for purchasing power parity	Accounts for differences in cost of living between countries	Still an average; data quality varies
Gini coefficient	Measures income inequality within a country (0 = perfect equality, 1 = maximum inequality)	Directly measures inequality	Does not show absolute poverty levels

Composite Indicators

Indicator	Components	Strengths	Weaknesses
HDI (Human Development Index)	GNI per capita (PPP), mean/expected years of schooling, life expectancy at birth	Multidimensional — goes beyond economics; easy to compare; published annually by UNDP	Does not measure inequality, environmental sustainability or political freedom; data quality issues in some countries
IHDI (Inequality-adjusted HDI)	HDI adjusted for inequality in each dimension	Accounts for inequality within countries	More complex; data less widely available
GII (Gender Inequality Index)	Reproductive health, empowerment, labour market participation	Highlights gender-specific development challenges	Focuses on specific aspects of gender inequality
MPI (Multidimensional Poverty Index)	Health, education, living standards (10 indicators including nutrition, sanitation, electricity, assets)	Identifies deprivation at household level; goes beyond income poverty	Data-intensive; not available for all countries

Exam Tip: When discussing development indicators, always evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. No single indicator captures the full complexity of development. The HDI is a good composite measure but still has limitations — mention these for top marks.

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The Scale of Global Inequality

Between Countries (International Inequality)

The gap between the world's richest and poorest countries remains stark:

Indicator	Richest Countries	Poorest Countries
GNI per capita (PPP)	Norway: ~$102,000; Switzerland: ~$102,000;Switzerland: 87,000	Burundi: ~$780; Central African Republic: ~$780;CentralAfricanRepublic: 1,000
Life expectancy	Japan: 84.8 years; Switzerland: 83.4 years	Central African Republic: 54 years; Chad: 53 years
HDI	Switzerland: 0.962; Norway: 0.961	South Sudan: 0.381; Central African Republic: 0.387
Under-5 mortality	Finland: 2 per 1,000	Somalia: 117 per 1,000; Chad: 110 per 1,000

Within Countries (Intra-national Inequality)

Inequality also exists within countries:

• In Brazil, the top 10% of earners receive approximately 42% of national income.
• In the USA, the top 1% hold more wealth than the bottom 50%.
• In India, there are extreme contrasts between high-tech hubs like Bangalore and impoverished rural areas in Bihar or Jharkhand.
• In the UK, life expectancy varies by over 20 years between the most and least deprived areas.

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Theories of Development and Inequality

Modernisation Theory (Rostow, 1960)

Walt Whitman Rostow's Stages of Economic Growth model proposes that all countries follow the same linear path to development:

Stage	Description
1. Traditional Society	Subsistence agriculture, limited technology, rigid social structure
2. Pre-conditions for Take-off	External demand for raw materials, development of transport and banking, agricultural surplus
3. Take-off	Rapid industrialisation, urbanisation, manufacturing growth
4. Drive to Maturity	Economic diversification, technological advancement, reduced poverty
5. Age of High Mass Consumption	Service-based economy, high living standards, consumer society

Strengths: Simple, accessible model; explains the development trajectory of countries like the UK, USA, South Korea.

Criticisms:

• Eurocentric — assumes all countries must follow the Western path.
• Ignores structural barriers — colonialism, debt, unfair trade rules that prevent LICs from progressing.
• Ignores exploitation — the development of HICs was partly built on the exploitation of LICs (colonialism, slave trade, resource extraction).
• Linear and deterministic — assumes development is a one-way process; ignores the possibility of regression.

Dependency Theory (Frank, 1966)

Andre Gunder Frank's dependency theory offers a radically different explanation:

• Development and underdevelopment are two sides of the same process — the development of the "core" (HICs) has been achieved through the exploitation of the "periphery" (LICs).
• Colonial powers extracted raw materials, labour and wealth from their colonies, enriching themselves while impoverishing colonised regions.
• After independence, this exploitative relationship continued through neocolonialism — unequal trade terms, debt, the dominance of TNCs and the structural adjustment programmes of the IMF and World Bank.
• LICs are trapped in a state of dependent underdevelopment — producing raw materials for export to HICs and importing expensive manufactured goods.

Strengths: Highlights the role of power, exploitation and historical injustice in creating global inequality; explains persistent underdevelopment.

Criticisms: Overly deterministic — ignores the agency of LIC governments and people; does not explain the rapid development of NICs (South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore); some aspects of the theory are ideologically Marxist.