Globalisation Boosts Development for Some, Widening Gaps and Environmental Disparities (Edexcel A-Level Geography): Revision Notes

Globalisation Boosts Development for Some, Widening Gaps and Environmental Disparities

Development

🔗 Generally means the way in which a country tries to progress economically and improve the quality of life for its citizens

↳ Shown by economic indicators, but also social and political criteria

Measuring Development

🔗 Development is measured through use of both single and composite measures

Measure (Single/Composite)	How it is Calculated	Comments
ECONOMIC MEASURES
Gross Domestic Product per Capita	Divides the wealth created within a country by the population size	● Estimation of GDP is hard as the earnings of every citizen & business need to be taken into account, inc. the informal sector ● Each country's GDP is additionally manipulated to account for the real cost of living
Gross National Income	Takes the wealth created by a country and its expenditures and divides this by the population of the country	● Value is also often modified to take into account the real cost of living
Economic sector balance	Country estimates the contribution that difference economic sectors make to total national income	● As a country develops there is often an increase in secondary and then tertiary industries
SOCIAL MEASURES
Human Development Index	Ranks countries according to economic criteria (GDP) and social criteria (literacy, life expectancy).	● The 3 rankings are processed to produce a number between 0 and 1
Gender Inequality Index	Examines the disparity between men and women by considering maternal mortality rates, females in education & parliament, and participation in the workforce	● Views differ greatly on its usefulness as a measure ○ It is often heavily influenced on cultural factors such as traditional roles of women etc
ENVIRONMENTAL MEASURES
Global Urban Ambient Air Pollution	Compares pollution levels in 3000 cities with health limits, recognising links between air pollution and health risks	● Only analyses cities (Urban), rural farming practices not always taken into account
Ecological footprint	Compares annual use of biosphere resources and services with reserves to calculate the amount of ecological deficit	● Not very precise as it underestimates the impact of human activities on the biosphere

Winners & Losers of Globalisation

The Gini Co-Efficient

📌 Used to measure inequality:

• Values vary between 0 (perfect equality) and 100 (perfect inequality)
• The lower the value, the more evenly household income is distributed
• ∴ it is an overall measure of the extent to which households receive an equal share of income

•                                                                        The Gini Co-Efficient*
  

Economic Winners and Losers

🔗 The distribution of global wealth as a result of globalisation is significantly uneven

Winners	Losers
● Billionaires • The richest 1% have seen their share of global wealth greatly increase ● Average incomes have risen in all continents, except the poorest parts of Africa ● Middle classes is the emerging economies have seen their income dramatically increase ● Absolute poverty has fallen worldwide	● The poor: There has been a widening of the average income gap between people living in the world's wealthiest and poorest countries ● Workers in sweatshop factories • poor working conditions ● Unemployed workers in the traditional industries of developed world countries (Detroit) ● The fact absolute poverty is falling worldwide, hides the fact that poverty is still a significant issue

Environmental Winners and Losers

Winners	Losers
● Protection of some of the culturally significant areas of the environment ● World agreements have been made to try and protect the environment as best as possible	● Climate change ● Loss of biodiversity ● Transformation of 40% of the Earth's terrestrial surface into productive agriculture land has led to habitat loss ● Industry has exhausted underground aquifers in some regions

Development & Environmental Changes Since 1970

• Average income per capita in Asia has increased over the absolute poverty threshold easily
• Large income gains have been made in some parts of N Africa
• Incomes in some African countries have remained closer to the poverty line
• Poverty still common in some sub-Saharan countries
  • Poverty & ↑ political extremism has resulted in falling life expectancy due to conflict
• Still significant political instability