75
subjective. Further, the deeper one explores the idea, the more difficult a simple
definition becomes.
The founding Charter of the United Nations (UN—see Sect. 6.2.2) committed
the organization to promote “higher standards of living, full employment, and conditions of economic and social progress and development” (Article 55). The Charter
did not define “social progress and development.”
Development is viewed as encompassing widely accepted ideas of what constitutes progress in human societies at a particular time. The meaning of development
has evolved and continues to do so.
Early measures of “international development” focused on national averages
related to economics, such as the following:
1. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and GDP per capita, based on the market value
of goods and services produced within a country’s geographic borders over a
specified period (typically 1 year).
2. Gross National Product (GNP) and GNP per capita, based on the market value
of goods and services produced (i.e., the “output”) by the citizens and corporations of a country regardless of where that activity takes place. For some countries, significant economic activity takes place within its borders by foreign
citizens and corporations. The value of that economic activity is counted toward
the host country under GDP and toward the home country of the citizen/corporation under GNP.
3. Gross National Income (GNI) and GNI per capita, is based on the sum of a
nation’s GDP (inside its geographic borders) and the net income it receives from
outside its geographic borders. GNI differs from GNP in that it focuses on
income rather than the economic outputs of production. Some organizations like
the World Bank prefer GNI to GNP because it better captures the financial wealth
within a country beacuse much of the economic value of production can move to
third countries regardless of the home country of the corporation that owns that
production.
Such measures, although useful, fail to capture many of the attributes that relate
to the condition and well-being of individuals within societies. From the 1960s
onwards, many explored and proposed alternatives to financial measures of development. The Indian economist Amartya Sen (1933–) wrote many influential papers
on the concept of “Human Capabilities,” which promoted the ideas of development
being measured in terms of the conditions of human lives.
In 1990, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) began to produce
Human Development Reports, including measures of the average human conditions
within a society, such as:
• life expectancy at birth (years);
• expected years of schooling (years);
• mean years of schooling (years); and
• Gross National Income (GNI) per capita (measured in dollars adjusted for
“purchasing power parity”).
3 Development
subjective. Further, the deeper one explores the idea, the more difficult a simple
definition becomes.
The founding Charter of the United Nations (UN—see Sect. 6.2.2) committed
the organization to promote “higher standards of living, full employment, and conditions of economic and social progress and development” (Article 55). The Charter
did not define “social progress and development.”
Development is viewed as encompassing widely accepted ideas of what constitutes progress in human societies at a particular time. The meaning of development
has evolved and continues to do so.
Early measures of “international development” focused on national averages
related to economics, such as the following:
1. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and GDP per capita, based on the market value
of goods and services produced within a country’s geographic borders over a
specified period (typically 1 year).
2. Gross National Product (GNP) and GNP per capita, based on the market value
of goods and services produced (i.e., the “output”) by the citizens and corporations of a country regardless of where that activity takes place. For some countries, significant economic activity takes place within its borders by foreign
citizens and corporations. The value of that economic activity is counted toward
the host country under GDP and toward the home country of the citizen/corporation under GNP.
3. Gross National Income (GNI) and GNI per capita, is based on the sum of a
nation’s GDP (inside its geographic borders) and the net income it receives from
outside its geographic borders. GNI differs from GNP in that it focuses on
income rather than the economic outputs of production. Some organizations like
the World Bank prefer GNI to GNP because it better captures the financial wealth
within a country beacuse much of the economic value of production can move to
third countries regardless of the home country of the corporation that owns that
production.
Such measures, although useful, fail to capture many of the attributes that relate
to the condition and well-being of individuals within societies. From the 1960s
onwards, many explored and proposed alternatives to financial measures of development. The Indian economist Amartya Sen (1933–) wrote many influential papers
on the concept of “Human Capabilities,” which promoted the ideas of development
being measured in terms of the conditions of human lives.
In 1990, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) began to produce
Human Development Reports, including measures of the average human conditions
within a society, such as:
• life expectancy at birth (years);
• expected years of schooling (years);
• mean years of schooling (years); and
• Gross National Income (GNI) per capita (measured in dollars adjusted for
“purchasing power parity”).
3 Development