NSSCO Development Studies 6136 key terms

The total money value of all final goods and services produced inside a country's borders in a year, regardless of who owns the producing firms.

The total income earned by a country's residents, including income from abroad, measured per person to compare living standards between countries.

An exchange rate that adjusts incomes for differences in local prices, so that money buys a comparable basket of goods across countries.

A composite measure combining life expectancy, years of schooling and income per person to rank countries by average human wellbeing.

Amartya Sen's idea that development should expand what people are genuinely able to do and be, not merely raise their incomes.

The view that countries develop by moving from traditional agrarian societies towards industrial, urban and market-based societies, following stages similar to Western Europe.

The argument that poor countries remain poor because their economies are structured to supply cheap raw materials and markets to richer countries.

A strategy of building local factories behind tariffs and quotas to replace imported manufactured goods with domestically produced ones.

A development strategy that promotes manufacturing for sale abroad, using open trade and competitive wages to drive industrial expansion.

A package of loan conditions, typically requiring privatisation, spending cuts and trade liberalisation, imposed on borrowing governments by international lenders.

The shift from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates as a country develops, passing through a phase of rapid population growth.

The average number of children a woman would bear over her lifetime if current age-specific birth rates stayed unchanged.

The number of people too young or too old to work, expressed as a proportion of the working-age population that must support them.

A bar chart showing the number of males and females in each age group, revealing a population's age structure and past trends.

A condition where people lack the income needed to meet basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing, measured against a fixed minimum line.

Deprivation defined by comparison with the living standards of others in the same society, such as earning well below the median income.

A number between zero and one summarising inequality, where zero means perfect equality and one means one person holds all income.

A graph plotting the cumulative share of income against the cumulative share of households, showing how far distribution departs from perfect equality.

The process by which certain groups are shut out of employment, services, political voice and social life, beyond simply having low income.

A situation where all people at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food for an active life.

Farming mainly to feed the household, with little surplus sold, and often reliant on family labour and rain-fed conditions.

A crop grown primarily for sale rather than household consumption, such as tobacco, cotton or export vegetables.

Government action to change who owns and uses land, through redistribution, resettlement or tenure reform, to correct historical imbalances.

The principle that a country gains from trade by specialising in goods it can produce at lower opportunity cost than its trading partners.

The ratio of a country's export prices to its import prices; a fall means each unit of exports buys fewer imports.

A tax charged on imported goods, used to raise revenue or to protect domestic producers from foreign competition.

A group of countries that remove tariffs and quotas among themselves while each keeps its own trade policy towards outsiders.

Development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

The depletion of a shared resource when individuals each gain from using it but bear only a fraction of the collective cost.

A formal study carried out before a project is approved, predicting its likely effects on land, water, air and communities.

The practice of assessing the gender implications of every policy and programme, rather than adding separate women-only projects.

The skills, knowledge and health that people possess, which raise their productivity and are built through education and health spending.

A persistent difference between women and men in outcomes such as pay, school enrolment, land ownership or political representation.

The conduct of public affairs through accountable, transparent, rule-bound and participatory institutions that respond to citizens' needs.

The abuse of entrusted public power for private gain, through bribery, nepotism or diversion of public funds.

The space of voluntary organisations, such as community groups and NGOs, that act independently of the state and the market.

A regional organisation of Southern African states promoting economic integration, trade cooperation and shared policy on security and development.

Land held collectively by the state on behalf of a community, allocated by traditional authorities, and central to rural livelihoods in Namibia.

Economic activity that is unregistered and unregulated, providing income for many urban and rural workers outside formal employment.