Caribbean Studies Issues in Caribbean Development

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Caribbean StudiesIssues in Caribbean Development

• Concepts, Promotion and Globalisation
• Prepared and Presented by J. Hyman
• Manchester High School
• 
  March 7, 2012

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Learning Outcomes

• At the end of the session, students will be able
  to
• Describe the concepts of development and the
  indicators used to measure development
• Evaluate how development in the Caribbean region
  is influenced by political, economic, social,
  cultural, environmental and technological factors
• Assess the ways in which globalisation affects
  development in the region

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Antecedents

• During the last half of the 20th Century, four
  factors became the central concerns and
  aspirations of the worlds peoples
• Peace
• Freedom
• Development
• Environment

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Development?
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Concepts

• Enactment of human values
• For anything to develop or become better,
  improvement has to be related to some values that
  are being enacted.
• Different people in this scenario see development
  differently e.g. knowledge, material possessions,
  relationships.

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Concepts (contd)

• 2. Increasing differentiation or complexity
• - For anything to develop, it must become more
  complex and more differentiated e.g. how society
  is traditionally described developed,
  developing, agrarian, opulent, industrialized.

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Concepts (contd)

• 3. Liberation or human freedom
• - For any people to be developed, this must be
  accompanied by growth in their autonomy, the
  options they pursue and in their sense of
  self-efficacy
• - This is achieved through education and
  empowerment

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Approaches to Development

1. Economic development
2. Human development paradigm (HDP)
3. Sustainable development

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Economic Growth or Economic Development?
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Economic Growth

• Occurs when an economy achieves an increase in
  its national income (GNP) in excess of its rate
  of population growth
• An increase in the productive potential in an
  economy shown by an outward shift of the
  production possibility curve
• This leads to an increase in GNP per capita
• Does not always result in increased benefits for
  poorer members of the society

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Definition (contd)

• An increase in the real GDP over a period of time
  e.g. if in year 1, real GDP was 100B and in year
  2 it rises to 110B, the economic growth would be
  10

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Growth vs. Development

• Economic growth may result in an improvement in
  the standard of living of a small proportion of
  the population, whilst the majority of people
  remain poor.
• Economic development requires that the benefits
  of economic growth are distributed amongst all
  individuals of the population.
• It is therefore possible for the Caribbean to
  experience economic growth but not have any
  economic development

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1. Economic Development

• The processes through which the quality of life,
  economically and socially, can be improved
• Encompasses an improved quality of life by
• Better education
• Higher standards of health and nutrition
• Less poverty
• Cleaner environment
• Equality of opportunity
• Greater individual freedom
• Richer cultural life
• 
  (World Bank Report, 1991)

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INDICATORS OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

• What is an indicator? This is a qualitative
  assessment of how countries are ranked on some
  variable or category such as population growth or
  savings per capita.
• Gross National Product- is the value of goods and
  services produced by a country plus any income
  derived from abroad. While it is said to be a
  good indicator of the economic strengths and
  weaknesses of countries, it cannot be said to
  indicate economic development.
• Gross Domestic Product- is the total market
  value of goods and services of a country in a
  given year. This is also used to divide the
  population.
• Population Growth- is calculated by birth and
  death rates, as well as migration statistics, and
  is a key indicator of economic growth.

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Indicators of Economic development Contd

• Age dependency ratio- is the ratio of dependents-
  people younger than 15 and older than 65 to the
  working population ( 15- 64). This measure
  suggests that if there were more economically
  active persons than dependents then they would be
  better able to take care of the dependents.

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2. Human Development Paradigm (HDP) 1990s

• Basic views
• People are the means and ends of development-
  thus people are central to the development
  process.
• Development is largely about broadening peoples
  choices they have more choices and opportunities
  to develop themselves along the lines that bring
  them the greatest sense of well being as well as
  income.
• Poverty and income inequality are the major
  problems of societies that prevent a better
  quality of life.
• HDP embraces all of society, not just the economy

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HDP (contd)

• Essential components (Pillars) of HDP
• Equity (equitable access to opportunities) by all
  groups within society.
• Productivity (requires investments in people and
  an enabling macroeconomic environment for them to
  achieve their maximum potential) For example,
  equal access to education and job opportunities
  will increase productivity levels of the country.
• Empowerment (people must participate in the
  activities, events and processes that shape their
  lives) in order to become productive citizens.
  With people being able to chart the course of
  their development then this will boost their self
  esteem.
• Sustainability (the next generation deserves the
  opportunity to enjoy the same well-being that we
  now enjoy)

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HDP (contd)

• HDP is the most holistic development model that
  exists, embracing
• Economic growth
• Social investment
• Peoples empowerment
• Provision of basic needs and social safety nets
• Political and cultural freedoms

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Sustainable Development
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3. Sustainable Development

• Development that meets the needs of the present
  without compromising the ability of future
  generations to meet their own needs.
• Sustainable development is not primarily an
  environmental issue.
• In societies where there is inequality in the
  distribution of income, daily survival will hold
  more priority than the well-being of future
  generations.
• Concerned about the measure of the quality of
  life, called the Human Development Index (HDI)

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Sustainable Development

• Defined as development that is likely to achieve
  lasting satisfaction of human needs and
  improvement of the quality of life and
  encompasses
• Help for the very poorest who are left with no
  option but to destroy their environment to
  survive
• Idea of self-reliant development with natural
  resource constraints

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Sustainable Development

• Cost effective development using different
  economic criteria to the traditional i.e.
  development should not degrade environment
• Important issues of health control, appropriate
  technologies, food self-reliance, clean water and
  shelter for all
• People centered activities are necessary- human
  beings are the resources in the concept

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Human Development Index (HDI)

• The HDI, as measured by the UNDP uses the
  following factors
• Real GDP per capita
• Longevity or life expectancy at birth in years
• Educational attainment (access to education and
  literacy rates)

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UNDP HDI Report 2005
Country HDI
Barbados 0.878
Saint Kitts and Nevis 0.834
Bahamas 0.832
Trinidad and Tobago 0.801
Antigua and Barbuda 0.797
Grenada 0.787
Dominica 0.783
Saint Lucia 0.772
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 0.755
Suriname 0.755
Belize 0.753
Jamaica 0.738
Guyana 0.720
Haiti 0.475
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HDI Interpretations

• High HDI Countries (lt0.8)
• Medium HDI Countries (0.51 0.79)
• Low HDI Countries (gt0.5)

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HDI as part of UN MDG

1. Eradicate extreme poverty
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development

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Factors Influencing Development
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Factors Influencing Development

1. Economic
2. Political
3. Social
4. Cultural
5. Environmental

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Economic Factors

• Development cannot occur without a vibrant
  economy or productive sector
• Productive sector
• Primary (extractive)
• Secondary (manufacturing)
• Tertiary (services)

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Factors that impact the Caribbean Productive
Sector

• Competitiveness (performance on the world market)
• Demand (market share inside/outside)
• Productivity (manual vs. mental)
• Infrastructure (reliable systems, bureaucracy)
• Investment climate (FDI, Entrepreneurship)
• Debt (trade imbalances)
• External shocks (vulnerability, natural
  disasters)
• Technology (inadequate investments in ICTs)

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Political factors

• Political ideologies and beliefs
• Resource allocation mechanisms (centrally
  planned, laissez-faire, mixed)

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Social factors

• Distribution of wealth and resources can
  promote/hinder development as it influences the
  income generation in the society
• Poverty
• Absolute ( of people who are unable to afford
  basic goods/services)
• Relative (extent to which an individuals
  resources falls below the income level of the
  economy)
• Inequality/Social exclusion

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Social factors (contd)

• Underlying causes of poverty
• Unemployment
• Temporary employment
• Low wage employment
• Inflation
• Non ownership of resources
• Uneven income distribution
• Large number of dependents
• Discrimination

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Cultural factors

• How one interprets Caribbean history and future
  will influence how development is seen and how
  one participates in it
• Development is essentially about the enactment of
  human values in which the emphasis is on
  modernization and western lifestyle
• Caribbean society, throughout colonialism, was
  based on exploitation and a rigidly stratified
  social system

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Environmental factors

• Natural disasters
• Environmental disasters
• Lackadaisical attempts to curb soil erosion
• Poor disaster preparedness and disaster
  management policies