Economic Development Issues in 21st Century - Couverture souple

Nkoro, Emeka; Uko, Aham Kelvin; Kader, Abdurhman; Rasheed, Mansoor; Ayele, Tariku

 
9781622651573: Economic Development Issues in 21st Century

Synopsis

For almost every writer a different concept of development exists. The earliest concept of development was viewed in terms of sustained growth in output over time and later in terms of per capita output (welfare) as a measure of good results. During the classical era, economic development was seen as sustained growth in output over time, hence, they defined it as an increase in the absolute size of annual production regardless of the size of the population, or an increase in the economy’s real income over a long period of time. In the same vein, Meier (1964) in his word defined economic development as a process whereby an economy’s real national income increases over a long period of time. Todaro (1985) viewed this definition as the capacity of a nation whose initial economic condition has been more or less static over a long period of time to generate and sustain an annual increase in its Gross National Product (GNP) at rates of 5-7 percent or more. There was an assumption by the neoclassical theorists that this growth will automatically translate to improvement in the standard of living of the country’s citizens. Hence, the concern was on the instability of GNP growth in relation to human development. The terms growth and development were used interchangeably. In 1950’s and 1960’s, many of the developing countries achieved rapid GNP growth and general deterioration in the standard of living of their citizens simultaneously. The achievement of economic growth as well as mass poverty, illiteracy and ill health brought a question mark on the definition of economic development in terms of growth of output over time. In line with this, Okowa(1996) opined that this concept of development brought into focus a situation of worsening poverty conditions, despite a fairly good record of growth of national income. Hence, this conceptualization of development that emphasizes on economic growth as opposed to people was questioned. Given this, many scholars clamored for a humanized concept of economic development. In an attempt to humanize the concept of economic development, there have been many definitions of economic development. Most of these definitions centered on per capital income (welfare) which implies removal of poverty, illiteracy, disease and changes in the composition of input and output. It also includes increase in per capita output of material goods and, political and social factors.

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