BGCSE Development Studies cheat sheet

Economic growth is a rise in real GDP; economic development is a sustained improvement in living standards, health, education and choice - growth is a means, development is the goal.

Expenditure formula: GDP = C + I + G + (X − M), where C is household consumption, I is gross investment, G is government spending, X is exports and M is imports.

GDP per capita = real GDP ÷ total population; it is an average, so it hides how income is distributed within the country.

Real GDP is measured at constant prices using a deflator; nominal GDP uses current prices, so inflation can make nominal growth look larger than real growth.

Sector classification: primary (mining, farming, fishing, forestry), secondary (manufacturing, construction, utilities), tertiary (trade, transport, services), quaternary (research, ICT, finance).

Factors of production and their returns: land/natural resources earns rent, labour earns wages, capital earns interest, entrepreneurship earns profit.

Botswana's economy is mineral-led: diamonds dominate exports and government revenue, so a fall in world diamond demand transmits directly to GDP, the budget and employment.

Dutch disease rule: a resource boom raises export earnings, the currency appreciates, and other exports (beef, manufactures, tourism) lose competitiveness - the policy response is diversification.

The informal sector is unregistered, largely unregulated activity that creates income and jobs but falls outside taxation, labour law and social protection.

Human Development Index = geometric mean of a life expectancy index, an education index (mean and expected years of schooling) and a GNI per capita index at purchasing power parity; the scale runs 0 to 1.

Gini coefficient: 0 = perfect equality, 1 = all income held by one person; a rising Gini means distribution is worsening even if average income is rising.

Absolute poverty is income below the minimum needed for basic needs; relative poverty is falling well below the average standard of living in that society.

Poverty headcount ratio = (number of people below the poverty line ÷ total population) × 100.

Basic needs approach lists food, safe water, shelter, sanitation, health care and education as the minimum floor of welfare.

Botswana social protection instruments include Ipelegeng public works, the old-age pension, the destitute persons programme, orphan and vulnerable children support, the Remote Area Dweller Programme and the Youth Development Fund.

Human capital is the skills, knowledge and health embodied in people and is built through education, training, nutrition and health care.

The Sustainable Development Goals are 17 goals adopted by the UN in 2015 with a 2030 target date, replacing the eight Millennium Development Goals of 2000–2015.

Gender equality means equal rights, opportunities and access to resources regardless of sex, and is tracked by indices such as the Gender Inequality Index.

Brundtland definition (1987): development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Three pillars test: a project is sustainable only if it is economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentally sound.

Renewable resources (solar, wind, water, forests, wildlife) regenerate if use stays below the regeneration rate; non-renewable resources (minerals, fossil fuels) are depleted permanently.

Tragedy of the commons: open-access resources are over-exploited because each user takes the private gain while the cost of depletion is shared by all.

A negative externality is a cost imposed on third parties, such as pollution; it is corrected by taxes, standards, tradable permits or the polluter pays principle.

Mitigation attacks the causes (cutting emissions, planting trees); adaptation adjusts to the effects (drought-resistant crops, water storage, early warning systems).

Botswana's key environmental pressures: water scarcity, desertification and overgrazing in the Kgalagadi, veld fires, wildlife–livestock conflict, and visitor pressure on the Okavango Delta, a Ramsar wetland site.

Community based natural resource management (CBNRM) and controlled hunting quotas give communities a revenue share from wildlife, aligning conservation with local income.

An environmental impact assessment screens, scopes, predicts impacts, proposes mitigation and sets monitoring conditions before a major project is approved.

Four features of a state: a defined territory, a permanent population, an effective government and sovereignty (the capacity to act independently).

Democracy test: regular free and fair elections with competing parties, rule of law, independent courts, protected rights and a free press.

Separation of powers: the legislature makes law, the executive implements it, the judiciary interprets it; each checks the others to prevent abuse.

Botswana's system: a written constitution, a President who is head of state and government, a National Assembly, the Ntlo ya Dikgosi (advisory House of Chiefs) and general elections held every five years.

The kgotla is a public community meeting led by a chief or headman, used for consultation, dispute settlement and collective decisions.

Good governance criteria: accountability, transparency, participation, rule of law, responsiveness, effectiveness and equity.

Citizen duties include obeying the law, paying taxes, voting, protecting public property and defending the country; rights include life, expression, association and a fair trial.

Corruption control: the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime investigates and prosecutes, while the Ombudsman handles complaints against public administration.

Civil society - trade unions, NGOs, churches and the media - holds government accountable and mobilises political participation between elections.

Drivers of globalisation: trade liberalisation, falling transport and communication costs, ICT, transnational corporations and institutions such as the WTO, IMF and World Bank.

Balance of payments = current account (goods, services, income, transfers) + capital and financial account; a deficit must be financed by borrowing, aid or drawing down reserves.

Trade surplus: exports exceed imports. Trade deficit: imports exceed exports.

Protection instruments: tariffs (taxes on imports), quotas (quantity limits), subsidies to domestic producers, embargoes and technical standards.

Comparative advantage: specialise in goods with the lowest opportunity cost, then trade; absolute advantage means producing more output with the same resources.

Regional groupings: SACU (a customs union), SADC, COMESA, the African Continental Free Trade Area and the EU; membership enlarges markets but limits independent tariff policy.

Aid categories: bilateral (government to government), multilateral (through agencies such as UN bodies), tied aid (must be spent on the donor's goods), and humanitarian versus development aid.

Risks of globalisation for a small economy: dependence on few exports, exposure to external shocks, brain drain, cultural erosion and pressure on infant industries.

Terms of trade = (index of export prices ÷ index of import prices) × 100; a fall means a country must export more to buy the same quantity of imports.

Components of culture: language, beliefs, values, norms, customs, dress, food, art and technology; material culture is physical, non-material culture is ideas and behaviour.

Norms are shared expectations of behaviour; values are shared beliefs about what is desirable; sanctions are the rewards and punishments that enforce norms.

Botswana's national principles are Democracy, Development, Self-reliance, Unity and Botho, with Kagisano (social harmony) as a linked ideal; they are used to build a shared identity.

Botho is the Setswana concept of humanity, respect, courtesy and good conduct towards others, and underpins social life and moral education.

Mechanisms of cultural change: invention, diffusion (borrowing), acculturation and assimilation; cultural lag occurs when material culture changes faster than beliefs and values.

Ethnocentrism judges other cultures by one's own standards; cultural relativism seeks to understand a practice within its own cultural context.

Carriers of identity: the family, the kgotla, dikgosi, the Setswana language, schools, churches, museums, national events and the media.

Culture as economic capital: crafts, music, festivals and heritage tourism (for example the Tsodilo Hills World Heritage Site) generate income and employment.

Threats to cultural identity: homogenised global media, language shift among the young and commodification of rituals for tourists.

Natural increase rate = crude birth rate − crude death rate (per 1,000 people); total population change also includes net migration.

Rule of 70: doubling time in years ≈ 70 ÷ annual population growth rate in percent.

Dependency ratio = (population aged under 15 + population aged over 64) ÷ population aged 15–64 × 100.

Demographic transition stages: high birth and death rates → death rate falls first, giving rapid growth → birth rate falls → low birth and death rates, with possible natural decrease.

Population pyramid shapes: a wide base shows high fertility and a youthful population (expansive); straight sides show stability; a narrow base shows an ageing population (constrictive).

Migration push factors include unemployment, drought and land shortage; pull factors include jobs, schools, health care and security.

Urbanisation is the rising share of a population living in towns and cities, driven by rural–urban migration plus natural increase within urban areas.

Botswana's population is concentrated along the eastern corridor (Gaborone to Francistown) because the Kalahari is dry; cattle posts and remote settlements remain sparsely populated.

Urban problems: housing shortage, informal settlements, traffic congestion, waste and crime, plus strain on water and services; rural effects include loss of young workers.

Invention is the first creation of a new idea or device; innovation is its first commercial application; diffusion is the spread of adoption through an economy or society.

Research and development spending as a share of GDP, and the number of patents granted, are the standard indicators of innovative capacity.

Appropriate technology criteria: low cost, locally available materials, labour-intensive, simple to maintain, culturally acceptable and environmentally sound.

The digital divide has four dimensions - network coverage and devices, affordability, user skills and relevant local content - and is widest between urban and rural users.

ICT applications for development include mobile money, e-government services, e-learning, telemedicine and market information for farmers.

Automation raises productivity but can create structural unemployment; the effect is skills-biased, hitting routine jobs hardest.

Mass media functions: inform, educate, entertain, socialise and act as a watchdog; ownership and regulation determine whose views are heard.

Technology transfer moves technology, skills and knowledge between countries or firms through trade, foreign investment, licensing, training and joint ventures.