IV.

LESSON PROPER

Based on the preliminary activities, what did you notice about it?

CONGRATULATIONS!
You may now proceed to the lesson.

Discussion

The Dynamics of Development

Development is not an easy process. The sooner we realize that development is a long process
involving socio-economic changes, and requiring hard work and sustained effort of working and solving
our economic problems, the more realistic we become. In this age of “instants” instant coffee, instant lunch,
instant romances and others, many impatient souls demand “instant development”. There is no such thing
as instant development.

It takes time for man to grow from a child to an adult. There is a natural process that demands that
the development of man is gradual and continuous. It takes time for a rose to bloom in all its beauty and
splendor. A rose would wilt and wither if its petals are forced open because of a naïve intention of making
it bloom sooner.

Development is a Sustained Effort

Because development is a sustained effort over a very long period of time, the changes that are
brought about are never simple. It can be observed that the longer the time period considered, the more
the diverse parts of society and the economy form one single system-parts which are dynamic, and
although they may be conceptually distinct from one another, still they are actively linked and
interconnected with one another. Thus, the change in one can lead into a movement in others, which in
turn can cause further changes in the one initiating the change.
Changes in any part of society or the economy-over a long time stretch-are bound to influence the
movement of the other parts. Sometimes, the influence is simply permissive, but at other factors such that
a reinforcing and cumulative effect is generated.

What is Economic Development?

With the construction activities going on around us, we cannot help but think that the country is making
great strides toward economic growth and development. Factories are being built not only in Metro Manila
but also in the other regions of the country. The nipa houses that used to jot the countryside are being
changed into modest concrete houses. Infant mortality which used to be high has now gone down to a
considerable degree. More and more parents are sending their children to school. The standard of living
of more and more people are increasing. Our exports have been increasing and are slowly being
transformed from agricultural products like logs, sugar, coconuts into more industrial products like furniture,
paints, garments, and semi-conductor devices. All of these activities are indicators of economic growth
and development.
 Economic growth and development are often used interchangeably. However, there are distinctions
between the two concepts. Growth means increases in output or production. Economic development
means both more output or production and changes in the technical and institutional arrangements by
which the factors of production are produced and distributed. Growth in a human being means the
increases in weight and height of the individual. These are purely physical in nature like increases in weight
from 5 kilos to 50 kilos or increase in height from 91 centimeters to 191 centimeters. In similar fashion,
growth in a country’s economy means increases in physical output or production.

Economic development goes deeper than merely economic growth. Development in a human means
not only physical growth but also the necessary changes that he has to undergo to develop into a matured
individual. This means that the individual’s attitudes, habits, emotions, feelings, intelligence must have
undergone changes to fit into the concept of a matured individual. The “spoiled brat” is an example of an
individual who has grown ‘physically” but has not developed into a matured individual. In similar fashion,
development in a country’s economy means both increases in output or production and changes in the
technical and institutional arrangements by which the factors of production are produced and distributed.

Economic development of any nation can be characterized by the following:

1. Increase in output or 2. Changes in economic 3. Growth has to be

production has to be structure would spread accompanied by an
sustained over a long out in the entire increase in efficiency.
period of time. economy.

Economic development is shaped not only by economic factors but also by non-economic factors like
environmental, social, and cultural conditions of the economy.

The Objective of the Development Process: Man

When roads and bridges are being built, they are being built with the objective of facilitating the flow
of goods from one place to another. When farmers uses better seed varieties, irrigation, fertilizer, and better
technology, his harvest per hectare could go up to 99 cavans of palay instead of his usual 25 cavans. Who
would benefit from this process? The farmer would have more income now. Through time, he could rebuilt
his nipa hut into a modest but more solid concrete house. He could send his children to school in elementary
up to college. With increase in his income he could buy better food, better clothing and some appliances.
The producers of fertilizers and other technologies used by the farmers would continue producing these
commodities for them. Thus, we can see that advances in technology are being made with one objective in
mind: to work for the upliftment of man.
Roads and bridges, better technology, increase in efficiency are preconditions for development, but
they are never wanted for their own sake. They are means towards something else – to provide more and
more people with more and better things and opportunities. The provision for social overhead capital like
roads, bridges, railroads, airports, communication system and the provision for more efficient production
process are very much needed because of the results and objectives for which they are built – for the welfare
of man.
 Increase in Real Income

We can see that when the necessary social overhead capital is provided and better technology and
efficiency are worked for, real income per person increases. Increases in real income represent availability
of more goods and opportunities for more people. With more goods and opportunities provided for more
people, the higher will be the level of development of more people. With hard work, necessary incentives,
and an enlightened government, the specter of poverty, starvation, and gloom would be permanently
eradicated. The central point about the process of development is that it must provide more goods and
better opportunities for the benefit of man. The development process would have gone to waste if it were
directed for other purposes – say, for the benefit of only few greedy men and deprive the majority of the
people, then we have the phenomenon of exploitation. Development is a process that must serve the
interests of the individual man, woman, and child. The end and purpose of the development process must
be directed to the welfare of the individual person.
Development is a continuing struggle against problems and demands hard work from each and
everyone of us. Development demands the use of innovation, the wise use of man’s stock knowledge to
satisfy his needs. Development demands the desire and the motivation to improve his present economic
situation.

Characteristics of Less Developed Countries

Among these characteristics are:
1. Many of the presently developing countries are poorer today than the presently developed countries at
the time that they began developing. The Philippines today, for example, appears to be poorer in many
respects than Britain in the middle of the 18 th century when it was just developing.
2. In general, developing countries are agrarian rather than industrial. Most of the people live in rural areas,
and a large part of the national income in generated in agriculture. Productivity in agriculture is very low.
Workers are largely self-employed.
3. Income is more inequitably distributed in developing countries. While the great majority of the people
are poor, only a few percent of the people control the nation’s income and wealth. The wide disparity in
income and wealth in developing nations are often the cause of social and political tensions.
4. In international trade, the bulk of exports include only few products, rather than a diversified range. Sri
Lanka depends greatly on its tea. Pakistan on its jute, Egypt on its cotton, and the Philippines on its
sugar and coconut products. Very often the bulk of exports are agricultural by nature.
5. In industry, most of the manufactured products are imported. Since import for these products are grows
more rapidly than exports of mostly agricultural products, the problem of balance – of payments follows.
Balance – of payments problem arises when a country pays more for its imports than what it can receive
as income through its exports.

When we talk of development, we always talk of changes, improvement, reforms in the economy and
society. A sure sigh of underdevelopment is a stagnant economy and society. Development always connote
changes – changes for the better.

We had just finished the discussion on the dynamics of development. Let’s

move on to the next higher level of activity/ies or exercise/s that demonstrate your
potential skills/knowledge of what you have learned.