Brandt Line (North- south divide)
C ARIBBEAN S TUDIES
O BJECTIVES

To describe the concept of sustainable
development and economic development.

To identify the indicators of development.

To explain how various indicators of development
are measured.

To assess development in the Caribbean
D EFINING
DEVELOPMENT

Economic Development: the ability of a country
to advance economically from a simple low
income economy to a modern high income
economy

Development is referred to as the sustained level
of economic and social well being in a country.
G ROWTH V S D EVELOPMENT

Economic growth is not growth that equals
development.

Growth occurs whenever statistics show
economic increase.

Development occurs only when, along with
economic growth, there is evidence of increased
human well being and environmental
preservation
S USTAINABLE D EVELOPMENT
D EFINING S USTAINABLE
D EVELOPMENT

Development that meets the need of the present
generation without compromising the ability of future
generation to meet their own needs .( Brundtland
:1992)

It contains within it two concepts:

The concepts of ‘needs’ in particular the essential
needs of the worlds poor

The idea of limitations imposed by the state of
technology and social organization on the
environment’s ability to meet present and future
needs
D EVELOPMENT
INDICATORS

Definition:

Usually a numerical measure of quality of life in a
country.

Indicators are used to illustrate progress of a
country in meeting a range of economic, social,
and environmental goals.

Since indicators represent data that have been
collected by a variety of agencies using different
collection methods, there may be inconsistencies
among them.
E CONOMIC (M EASURES )
I NDICES OF D EVELOPMENT

Gross National Product and Gross Domestic
Product

Industrialization

Purchasing Power Parity

Employment Level

Level of local and Foreign Debt
E XAMPLE : GNP/GDP

GDP – Gross Domestic Product


GNP – Gross National Product


The value of output produced within a country plus net
property income from abroad
GDP/GNP per head/per capita


The value of output produced within a country during a
time period
Takes account of the size of the population
Real GDP/GNP

Accounts for differences in price levels in different
countries
N ON E CONOMIC
INDICES ( MEASURES ) OF
D EVELOPMENT

Human Development Index

Gender development Index

Life Expectancy

Levels of education

Ratio of doctors to population

Urbanisation
E XAMPLE : H UMAN
D EVELOPMENT I NDEX

HDI – A socio-economic measure

Focus on three dimensions of human
welfare:

Longevity – Life expectancy

Knowledge – Access to education, literacy
rates

Standard of living – GDP per capita:
Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)
I NDICATORS OF
DEVELOPMENT

1. Levels of income

2. Productivity

3. Social and Economic Equalisation

4. Modern Knowledge

5. Improved Institutions and attitudes

6. Environmental Factors

Increased freedom
PRODUCTIVITY

The amount of output per unit of
input.

It relates to efficiency and cost
effectiveness in the production of
goods and services

A ratio to measure how well an
organisation or industry or country
converts input resources into goods
and services
M ODERN K NOWLEDGE

It refers to the influence of modernizing institutions
such as schools and factories which are thought to
promote urban , industrialized societies.

Such knowledge emphasizes

Efficiency

Cost effectiveness

Rationality

Logic

Planning and organizational skills
S OCIAL AND E CONOMIC
E QUALIZATION

This refers to the difference between social
classes in terms of income earned and the
quality of life experienced.

Equality is difficult to achieve in the region
because of historical circumstances and political
realities

Inequality is maintained as historically poor
people were able to access social mobility and
move towards wealth redistribution through
education.
I NCREASED
FREEDOM

Increasing peoples freedom by enlarging the
range of their choice variables by increasing
varieties of consumer goods and services.

It also includes

Political freedom

Rule of law

Freedom of expression

equality of opportunity
E NVIRONMENTAL
SUSTAINABILITY I NDEX

The data sets cover a diverse range of variables
such as

ambient pollution

emissions of pollutants

impacts on human health and

being a signatory to international agreements
P ROS AND CONS OF
I NDICATORS OF
DEVELOPMENT

The advantages of development indicators and indices
rest in the reason why they are created in the first
place – to simplify complexity.

any indicator/index is only as good as the data upon
which it is built. Data sets can be poor quality as well
as good quality and there may well be gaps.

There is also the hiding of intra-country variation to
consider. These may be consideration between urban
and rural populations, for example, or between
different regions. Some variables may also change
dramatically during the year – air pollution for
example.
P ROS AND CONS OF
I NDICATORS OF
DEVELOPMENT

An indicator/index is a product of the person(s)
who created it. This is obvious when stated but
the ramification is that there is potential for
human bias.