Lecture 1: Concepts and perspectives on development
Concepts and perspectives on development. Diversity in the developing world: from the ‘bottom billion’ to
‘emerging countries’. Theoretical debates on the role of structure versus agency, the influence of internal
versus external factors, positivistic versus normative and critical perspectives.
Focus on: Africa, Asia, Latin America
Pitfalls of categorizing Global South countries under one label
Abstraction and overgeneralization: Emphasizing a presumed shared, very general characteristic, such
as low income, poverty, resource dependence, tropical climate
Neglecting important differences: For example, varying levels of income, ranging from lowest income
(the Bottom Billion), to middle income and emerging countries, BRICs
Constructing a 'generalized other': Difference between we and they, eurocentrism
Value of one label
Shared objective features
Relatively lower income
High population growth
Low levels of health and education
Geographical similarities: tropical areas and dependence on natural resources
Historical similarities: experience of colonialism
Shared subjective identification
Sense of collective solidarity, as expressed through the non-aligned movement and various other
international fora
Or sense of marginality, 'subject' position in the world order
Shared characteristics: economy
Low income, operationalized as per capital income level
Divide GNP by population, convert to constant USD, correcting for purchasing power (purchasing
power parity, PPP)
Unit of analysis: states of the world
World Bank categories: low income, lower middle income, higher middle income, and high
income countries
This unit of analysis has important consequences: is development a matter of states or of people?
Statistics are not always very dependable
Per capita income
,A note about official statistics
Official statistics are collected from national governments
How dependable are they? Possibility of manipulation, and lack of capacity to collect data
The statistics provide national averages and tell us nothing about distribution of income
Income inequalities are hidden
Poverty rates are hidden: even in middle income countries, poverty rates may be high
Alternative, proxy variable: lights
Correlates highly with levels of income; shows how unevenly distributed income is around the world
Weak Economic Structure
Sectoral imbalance: high dependence of agriculture or primary resources, coupled with a relatively
small industrial or services sector
Applies to different degrees: prevalent in low income countries, but has been largely overcome in
the NICs and BRICs, emerging countries
High dependence on export earnings from one or a few primary products, natural resources
Sometimes they represent high value (oil), but they are generally subject to fluctuating
international prices and declining terms of trade
Both these features have been overcome to some extent by the NICs, but debate on other forms
of structural dependence
Demographic features
High rates of population growth: population doubling time shortens
Problem! : if you have high population growth, your national income growth has to keep up with
population growth
In initial stages a high share of population is young
Population pyramid:
Vertical axis: age; Horizontal axis: numbers
More than 50% of the population is very young
High dependency ratio in initial stage: many children who need education and healthcare, but
can't contribute to national income
In later stages, ageing becomes an issue
, Population pyramid shape in later stages:
Higher share of the population is older
High dependency ratio : percentage of people who provide the national income is relatively low
China achieved lower growth through one child policy
Demographic transition
Social features
Inequalities in income, social status and power
High incidence of (extreme) poverty
Low literacy and education rates
Poor health
High incidence of preventable infectious disease, malaria, diarrhea, parasitic diseases
High child and maternal mortality
Disastrous impact of epidemics or pandemics: HIV/Aids from the 1980s, Ebola, Covid-19
Concluding the shared features of our objective of study
Many features, including history of colonialism, geographic, social and economic features are shared
But they exist to different degrees, leading to an increased diversity within the category
Choose your terms and labels, but beware of connotations and be ready to support your choice
Development
Developing countries is the most commonly used term to talk about Africa, Asia and Latin America
Notion that change is toward something better: progress (roots: Enlightenment)
Process or end-state: has the Western world reached it?
Economic, social, political dimensions: all inter-related?
Normative elements: what is the desired outcome/end?
Empirical elements: what are the facts? how do we 'measure'?
Meanings are influenced by ideology, ideas, interests and (normative) goals
They need to be made explicit
Concept of development is not politically neutral (vs technocratic approach)
Postwar view: Development as economic growth
Based on neo-classical economics, development is about economic growth
Capital accumulation => investment => increased productivity => greater wealth => greater
, Capital accumulation => investment => increased productivity => greater wealth => greater
investment....
Virtuous circle of economic growth; crucial role of investment and technological innovations
improving productivity per labor or land unit
Optimistic view: Truman speech 1949
Economic growth and structural change
From economy dominated by agriculture (often 80% of active population and more than half of the
BNP) to industry and services: the pie changes in composition
In a developed economy, the 3 sectors feed each other; forward and backward linkages
Factors in economic growth
Important role for human 'agency': savings, innovation and entrepreneurship
Role of culture: risk aversion vs innovation; savings vs consumption
Trickle Down theory: economic growth will eradicate poverty
Optimistic vision
Criticism on traditional approach
One-dimensional view: too much emphasis on one factor, increase in economic growth and income
Level of analysis: states
Invisible:
Human beings: is their welfare increased?
Is poverty reduced?
How is wealth distributed?
What about politics? Freedom?
Seers: Development as 'good change'
As early as 1972, D. Seers argued the goal of development should be the realization of the potential of
human personality
Development is a normative concept:
Poverty
Unemployment
Inequality: should not increase
'Basic Needs' approach and focus on poverty reduction in 1970s (ILO)
Basic needs: health, education,
Economic growth and inequality
With economic growth, inequality and poverty may persist and even increase
Look at difference within nations: gender, ethnic, castes, classes
Inequality may concern productive assets, land, access to education or health services, or income
Gini Index of income inequality
Gi i ffi i t 0 f t lit 1 1 h 100%
