Chapter 2
Comparative
Development:
Differences and
Commonalities
among Developing
Countries
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Defining the Developing World

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The UN’s System
World Bank’s System
– Classification by levels of GNI per capita
(Table 2.1)

The UNDP’s Human Development Index
– Classification by levels of human development
(Table 2.9)

The OECD’s system
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Table 2.1
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Table 2.1 (cont’d)
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Table 2.1 (cont’d)
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Figure 2.1
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Figure 2.1 (cont’d)
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The Structural Diversity of
Developing Economies

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Size and income level
(Table 2.2)
Historical background
Physical and human
resources
Ethnic and religious
composition
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

Relative importance of
public and private
sectors
Industrial structure
(Table 2.3)
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Table 2.2
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Table 2.3
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Common Characteristics of
Developing Nations

Low levels of living
– Per capita national income (Figure 2.2)
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Figure 2.2
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Table 2.4
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Common Characteristics of
Developing Nations

Low levels of living
– Per capita national income
– Relative growth rates of national and per capita
income (Table 2.5)
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Table 2.5
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Common Characteristics of
Developing Nations

Low levels of living
– Per capita national income
– Relative growth rates of national and per capita
income
– Distribution of national income (Table 2.6)
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Table 2.6
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Common Characteristics of
Developing Nations

Low levels of living
– Per capita national income
– Relative growth rates of national and per capita
income
– Distribution of national income
– Extent of poverty (Table 2.7)
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Table 2.7
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Common Characteristics of
Developing Nations

Low levels of living
– Per capita national income
– Relative growth rates of national and per capita
income
– Distribution of national income
– Extent of poverty
– Health (Figure 2.3 and Table 2.8)
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Figure 2.3
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Table 2.8
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Common Characteristics of
Developing Nations

Low levels of living
– Per capita national
income
– Relative growth rates of
national and per capita
income
– Distribution of national
income
– Extent of poverty
– Health
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– Education
– The Human
Development Index
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Table 2.9
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Table 2.10
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Common Characteristics of
Developing Nations



Low levels of living
Low levels of productivity
High rates of population growth and
dependency burdens (Table 2.11)
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Table 2.11
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Common Characteristics of
Developing Nations




Low levels of living
Low levels of productivity
High rates of population growth and
dependency burdens
Substantial dependence on agricultural
production and primary exports (Table 2.12
and Figure 2.4)
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Table 2.12
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Figure 2.4
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Common Characteristics of
Developing Nations



Low levels of living
Low levels of
productivity
High rates of
population growth and
dependency burdens



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Substantial
dependence on
agricultural production
and primary-product
exports
Prevalence of
imperfect markets
Dependence and
vulnerability
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How Developing Countries Today Differ from
Developed Countries in Their Earlier Stages
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Physical and human
resource endowments
Per Capita incomes and
levels of GDP in relation to
the rest of the world
Climate
Population size,
distributions and growth
Historical role of
international migration
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International trade benefits
Basic R&D capabilities
Stability and flexibility of
political-social institutions
Efficacy of domestic
economic institutions
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Convergence?


Evidence of unconditional convergence is
hard to find (Figure 2.5)
There is some (controversial) evidence of
conditional convergence
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Figure 2.5
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Concepts for Review

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Absolute poverty
Brain drain
Crude birthrate
Convergence
Death rate
Dependency burden
Developed world
Foreign exchange
Gross domestic product
(GDP)
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

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
Gross national product
(GNP)
Human Development
Index (HDI)
Imperfect markets
Income gap
Income inequality
Incomplete information
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Concepts for Review (cont’d)
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Infant mortality rate
International poverty
line
Labor productivity
Least developed
countries (LLDCs)
Levels of living
Low income countries
(LICs)
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
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Malnutrition
Middle-income
countries (MICs)
Mixed economic
systems
Newly industrialized
countries (NICs)
Physical resources
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Concepts for Review (cont’d)

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Primary industrial
sector
Production function
Purchasing power
equivalent
Purchasing power
parity (PPP)
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
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Resource endowment
Secondary industrial
sector
Tertiary industrial
sector
World Bank
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Figure A2.1
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Figure A2.2
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Figure A2.3
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Figure A2.4
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