BGCSE Development Studies flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Economic growth

A sustained increase in a country's real gross domestic product over time, measured after adjusting for inflation, but not necessarily showing improved welfare or a fairer distribution of income.

Gross domestic product

The total market value of final goods and services produced within a country's borders during a year, used as the core measure of the size of an economy.

Primary sector

The part of the economy that takes raw materials directly from nature, including mining, farming, fishing and forestry, and which usually employs most workers in early-stage economies.

Dutch disease

A problem where a boom in one export sector, such as minerals, raises the exchange rate and makes other export industries like manufacturing and agriculture less competitive.

Human Development Index

A composite index from 0 to 1 combining life expectancy, education and income per head, used to compare average wellbeing between countries rather than output alone.

Gini coefficient

A measure of income inequality ranging from 0, meaning perfect equality, to 1, meaning all income goes to one person, with higher values showing greater inequality.

Absolute poverty

The condition where a household's income or consumption falls below a defined minimum needed to meet basic needs such as food, shelter, safe water and clothing.

Social safety net

Public programmes such as cash transfers, pensions and public works schemes that protect vulnerable groups from severe deprivation and help them cope with economic shocks.

Sustainable development

Development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, balancing economic, social and environmental goals.

Negative externality

A cost of production or consumption, such as pollution, that falls on third parties who are not part of the market transaction and who receive no compensation.

Environmental impact assessment

A study carried out before a major project to predict its likely effects on air, water, land, wildlife and people, and to propose ways of reducing the harm.

Community based natural resource management

An approach where local communities manage and receive income from wildlife and other resources around them, creating a direct incentive to conserve those resources.

Rule of law

The principle that everyone, including government officials, is subject to the law, which is applied equally, publicly and fairly, usually by independent courts.

Separation of powers

The division of government authority into legislature, executive and judiciary, each with its own functions and the ability to check the others so power is not concentrated.

Kgotla

A traditional Botswana community meeting led by a chief or headman where public matters are discussed, disputes settled and collective decisions taken, serving as a channel for participation.

Citizenship

Legal membership of a state that carries rights such as voting, protection and public services, together with duties such as obeying the law and paying taxes.

Globalisation

The process by which economies and societies become more closely connected through trade, investment, technology, information flows and migration across national borders.

Balance of payments

A record of all a country's transactions with the rest of the world, covering trade in goods and services, income flows and financial movements in a given period.

Comparative advantage

The idea that a country gains from specialising in goods it can produce at a lower opportunity cost than other countries, then trading for the rest.

Trading bloc

A group of countries that reduce or remove trade barriers among themselves and often apply common rules to outsiders, such as SACU, SADC or the European Union.

Culture

The learned and shared way of life of a society, including language, beliefs, values, customs, arts and material objects, transmitted from one generation to the next.

Botho

A Setswana concept meaning humanity, respect, courtesy and good conduct towards others, regarded as a core moral principle of Botswana national identity.

Acculturation

The process in which one group adopts elements of another culture, such as language, dress or food, through sustained contact, often losing some of its own practices.

Ethnocentrism

The tendency to judge other cultures by the standards of one's own and to regard one's own culture as superior or more normal.

Natural increase

The rate at which a population grows when births exceed deaths, calculated as the crude birth rate minus the crude death rate and excluding migration.

Dependency ratio

The number of people too young or too old to work compared with the working-age population, showing how many dependants each worker must support.

Rural-urban migration

The movement of people from villages and farming areas to towns and cities, usually in search of jobs, education, health care and other services.

Population pyramid

A bar graph showing the numbers or percentages of males and females in each age group, revealing a population's age structure and stage of growth.

Digital divide

The gap between those with affordable access to computers, the internet and digital skills and those without, often widening between rich and poor and urban and rural.

Appropriate technology

Technology chosen to match local resources, skills and incomes, typically simple, low-cost, labour-intensive, easy to repair and suited to local conditions.

Innovation

Turning a new idea or invention into a product, service or process that is actually used and adopted by firms, consumers or public organisations.

Technology transfer

The movement of technology, skills and knowledge from one country or organisation to another through trade, foreign investment, licensing, training or joint ventures.