Development is the central concern of economics, and the chapter examines the concept of development, the different ways in which development is understood, and the indicators that are used to measure the development of a country. The chapter begins by discussing the different goals of the development of the different people, and it shows that the development is not just about the income but also about the other aspects of the well-being of the people, such as the education, the health, the security and the dignity.
The chapter then discusses the national development and the various indicators that are used to compare the development of the different countries, such as the per capita income, the literacy rate, the health indicators, the infant mortality rate and the life expectancy. The chapter introduces the concept of the Human Development Index (HDI), which takes into account the income, the health and the education for the measurement of the development.
For the board examination, students must understand the different goals of the development, the concept of the per capita income, the limitations of the income as the sole indicator of the development, the indicators of the human development, the concept of the sustainable development, and the ways in which the development can be made more equitable and sustainable.
The development of the people means the different things to the different people, and the goals of the development are different for the different sections of the society. For the landless labourer, the development means the regular employment, the higher wages and the better working conditions. For the rich farmer, the development means the higher prices for the crops and the lower prices for the inputs, such as the fertilizers and the seeds. For the industrialist, the development means the higher profits and the larger markets, and for the student, the development means the good education and the good job.
The development of the different people has different and often conflicting goals. For example, the development of the industrialist, who wants the higher profits, may be in conflict with the development of the workers, who want the higher wages, and the development of the rich farmer, who wants the higher prices for the crops, may be in conflict with the development of the consumers, who want the lower prices for the food grains. The different people have different notions of the development, and the development of the one person may be the undoing of the development of the other.
The development, therefore, is not a single, uniform concept, and the goals of the development are different for the different people. The chapter stresses that the development must take into account the goals of all the people, and that the national development must be based on the consideration of the goals of the different sections of the society.
The income is an important measure of the development, and the people want the higher income for themselves and for their families. The higher income means the better ability to buy the goods and the services, and the people who have the higher income are able to enjoy the better standard of living. The income, therefore, is an important indicator of the development, and the development is often measured in terms of the per capita income, which is the total income of the country divided by the total population.
However, the income is not the only goal of the development, and the people have the other goals as well, such as the equality, the freedom, the security, the respect and the dignity. The people want to be treated with the respect and the dignity, and they want the freedom to make their own choices. The people also want the security of the life and the property, and they want the equal treatment in the society.
The chapter stresses that the development should be seen in terms of the improvement in the well-being of the people, and not just in terms of the increase in the income. The income is a means to the development, and the development is the increase in the well-being of the people, which includes the improvement in the health, the education, the living conditions and the social and the political freedoms.
The national development refers to the development of the whole country, and it is measured by the various indicators, which are used to compare the development of the different countries. The most common indicator of the national development is the per capita income, which is the average income of the people of a country. The countries with the higher per capita income are considered to be more developed than the countries with the lower per capita income.
The other indicators of the national development include the health indicators, such as the infant mortality rate, which is the number of the children that die before the age of one year as a proportion of the thousand live births, and the life expectancy, which is the average number of the years that a person can expect to live. The education indicators include the literacy rate, which is the proportion of the literate population, and the net attendance ratio, which is the proportion of the children of the school-going age who attend the school.
The comparison of the countries on the basis of these indicators shows that the countries with the higher per capita income may not necessarily have the better health and the education indicators. For example, a country with the lower per capita income may have the lower infant mortality rate and the higher literacy rate than a country with the higher per capita income. The chapter stresses that the national development must be measured not only by the income but also by the other indicators of the well-being.
The Human Development Index (HDI) is an index that measures the development of the countries on the basis of the three indicators: the income, the health and the education. The HDI was developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and it is published in the Human Development Report. The HDI takes into account the life expectancy, which is the indicator of the health, the gross national income per capita, which is the indicator of the income, and the education, which is measured by the mean years of the schooling and the expected years of the schooling.
The HDI ranks the countries of the world in the order of their development, and the countries with the higher HDI are considered to be more developed. The HDI is a more comprehensive measure of the development than the per capita income, as it takes into account the health and the education in addition to the income. The HDI, however, has its own limitations, and it does not take into account the inequality, the poverty, the environmental degradation and the gender discrimination.
The chapter stresses that the development of a country should be measured not only by the income but also by the health and the education of its people, and the HDI is an attempt to measure the development in a more comprehensive way. The comparison of the countries on the basis of the HDI shows that the countries with the similar income may have very different levels of the human development.
The development of the present generation should not compromise the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs, and this is the concept of the sustainable development. The resources of the earth are limited, and the present pattern of the development, which is based on the excessive use of the resources and the pollution of the environment, cannot be sustained in the long run. The sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs.
The need for the sustainable development arises because the resources, such as the minerals, the fossil fuels, the forests and the water, are being consumed at the unsustainable rates, and the pollution of the environment, such as the global warming and the climate change, is a threat to the survival of the life on the earth. The sustainable development requires the use of the renewable sources of the energy, the conservation of the resources, the reduction of the pollution and the equitable distribution of the resources.
The sustainable development is important for the well-being of the present and the future generations, and the chapter stresses that the development must be based on the principles of the sustainability and the equity. The sustainable development requires the cooperation of the governments, the industries, the civil society and the individuals, and it is the only path of the development that can ensure the well-being of the people and the planet.
The chapter concludes by stressing that the development is not just about the income; it is about the quality of the life of the people. The quality of the life includes the health, the education, the living conditions, the freedom, the security, the dignity and the participation of the people. The income is an important means to the development, but the development cannot be measured only by the income.
The development of a country must be assessed by the indicators of the human development, such as the life expectancy, the infant mortality rate, the literacy rate and the net attendance ratio, in addition to the per capita income. The chapter stresses that the development must be sustainable, equitable and inclusive, and that it must take into account the goals of all the people, especially the poor and the disadvantaged.
The chapter concludes with the hope that the development in the true sense, which is the improvement in the quality of the life of all the people, can be achieved through the sustainable and the equitable policies and the participation of the people.
| Indicator | Meaning | Used For |
|---|---|---|
| Per capita income | Total income divided by total population | Comparing average income of countries |
| Literacy rate | Proportion of literate population | Measuring education |
| Net attendance ratio | Proportion of school-going children attending school | Measuring education |
| Infant mortality rate | Children dying before one year per thousand live births | Measuring health |
| Life expectancy | Average number of years a person can expect to live | Measuring health |
| Human Development Index | Combines income, health and education | Comprehensive measure of development |
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Sustainable development | Development that meets present needs without compromising future generations |
| HDI | Human Development Index, developed by UNDP |
| National development | Development of the whole country, measured by several indicators |
| Quality of life | Health, education, living conditions, freedom, dignity and participation |
Development is a complex and multi-dimensional concept that means different things to different people, and it cannot be measured by income alone. While the per capita income is an important indicator of development, the well-being of the people depends on a range of other factors, including health, education, freedom, security and dignity. The Human Development Index, developed by the UNDP, provides a more comprehensive measure of development by combining income, health and education. The chapter also emphasises the urgent need for sustainable development, which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs. True development, therefore, is the improvement in the quality of life of all the people, achieved through sustainable, equitable and inclusive policies.