UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA

SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL

NAME: CHOLA BUSUMA CHILUMBA

QUESTION: Discuss the two major approaches used to measure

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In most of the definitions given by many different scholars concerning development, there
seems to be a mutual agreement or understanding that development has to do with the
positive change in social, economic, political and environmental aspects of any given society
or country. But tracking this positive change in a particular society or country can sometimes
be difficult. With this brought to light, the objective of this essay then, is to discuss the two
major approaches used to measure development and also to determine which of the two
approaches is more relevant for measuring development in the Zambian context. In the
attempt to answer these questions, the essay will first define development and briefly explain
it. It will then look at the different approaches and measurements to development, their
advantages and disadvantages and lastly, determine which is more relevant than the other
with regard to Zambia’s situation and also explain why.

To begin with, there is no exact definition for development. Many different scholars, as
explained above, have expressed their different opinions concerning what development is all
about. Development, according to Todaro and Smith (2009; 16) “is a multi-dimensional
process involving major changes in the social structure, popular attitude and national
institutions as well as the acceleration of economic growth ,reduction in inequality
eradication in poverty”. This definition talks of an acceleration in economic growth.
Economic growth, defined, is an increase in the capacity of an economy to produce goods
and services compared from one period of time to another. As seen so far, one of the
characteristics of a developed country is its acceleration in the increase of producing goods
and services.

There are two main approaches used to measure development. The economic approach and
the alternating approach. As already discussed so far, the economic growth has to with the
increase in producing goods and services. Since economic growth is measured in monetary
terms, the one way to measure this economic growth then is by using the economic approach.
Such measurements include the gross national product, gross domestic product, gross
domestic product per capita and gross national product per capita.

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The gross national product, GNP, is the amount of goods and services produced by nationals
of a particular economy. These nationals could either be in the country or living outside the
country. Gross domestic product, GDP, on the other hand is the amount of goods and services
produced in an economy. Both local residents and foreigners in a particular country do
contribute to the gross domestic product of that economy.

Some significant differences between these two measures are that GDP does not account for
the in-flows and out-flows of an economy. One of the reasons why GNP is taken as a much
better measure is because it can be used as a better estimate of the resources available than
GDP.

Before taking a look at some of the measures used in economic development, a brief history
of where these measurements came from, may be necessary so as to understand their reasons
for existence. The United Nations, which was created after world war two in 1945, sought to
prevent conflicts like those of the world war. In doing so, the United Nations created other
offices or smaller networks to respond to these conflicts. One of the networks created is
called the United Nations development programme (UNDP). According their website, the
UNDP partners with people at all levels of society helps to build nations that can withstand
crisis and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone.

They define human development as “the creation of environments in which people can
develop their potential and lead productive creative lives in accordance with their needs and
interests. People are the real wealth of nations. Development is thus about expanding the
choices people have to lead lives that they value”.

To measure the economic development, which is the increased standards of living, there are
certain measures that have been created by the United Nations to make it easier to identify
what changes have taken place. Some of these measures include, the Human development
index (HDI), the human freedom index (HFI), human poverty index (HPI).

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To begin with, the HDI is a measure that seeks to examine three basic dimensions and rank
the countries’ growth and achievements in human development. Since 1990, the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been publishing an annual report called the
Human development report (HDR) which contains results taken from measuring the human
development index. It was commissioned by the United Nations through the UNDP and is
written by scholars, those who study the world development and the members of the human
development report office of the UNDP. According to an article by Briney (2013), the main
motivation for the human development report itself was a focus on only real income per-
capita as the basis for a country’s development and prosperity but later revealed that it was
not the only factor because the numbers do not necessarily mean a country’s people as a
whole are better off.

As explained already, the HDI looks at mainly three basic dimensions. The first to look at in
no particular order is the dimension of health. The health of any country is measured by life
expectancy at birth. Countries with high life expectancy are usually ranked at the top.
Another element that is considered under the HDI is the education. It takes a look at the mean
number of years of schooling as well as the expected years of schooling and lastly, the aspect
of gross national income per capita.

The next measure is the Human freedom index (HFI). The components on which the index is
based can be divided into economic freedoms and other personal freedoms. Its goal is to
measure the degree to which people are free to enjoy classic civil liberties, freedom of
speech, religion, individual economic choice, as well as association and assembly. Other
components include human trafficking, sexual violence, homicide, freedom of movement

The last measure that is going to be discussed in this essay is the human poverty index (HPI).
This kind of measurement concentrates on the deprivation in the three essential elements of
human life which are longevity, knowledge and a decent standard of living. It measures a
summary statistical on the economic welfare of the poor in a society. Its objective is to
identify populations at risk because of their poverty and also monitoring trends in the level of
income, and the level of poverty in order to value the relationships between environment and
health.

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When it comes to the differences between the gross domestic product and the gross national
product, the gross national product is considered a better measure because as already
explained; the GDP is the market value of everything produced within a country while GNP
is produced by a county’s residents no matter where they live.

Some disadvantages of using the GDP are that the economic growth may only benefit a small
per cent of the population. For example if a country produces more copper, it will see an
increase in GDP. However, it is possible that the copper is only owned by one firm and
therefore the average worker doesn’t really benefit. Also a country may see higher GDP, but
the benefits of growth may be tapped into the bank accounts of Politicians. Another reason is
that if a state owned industry increases output, this is reflected in an increase in GDP.
However, if the output is not used by anyone then it causes no actual increase in living
standards

With a higher GDP some Investments takes time. It takes time for improvements in statistics
like education and literacy rates. Higher GDP can be used to increase spending on education.
But it will take many years before education standards actually improve. Other types of
investments like infrastructure and health care will also take a long time. It also depends on
how the proceeds of growth are used. There is no guarantee that the proceeds of growth will
be used in areas which benefit economic development like education and infrastructure. If
GDP is used for military spending of debt repayment, there may be little improvements.

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