Sample Questions: Short Answer

 Sample Questions
Short Answer
1. Explain how low levels of living can turn into a vicious cycle in developing countries.
Answer: See the section on low levels of living in the chapter.
2. Carefully explain some of the similar problems faced by otherwise diverse countries in Africa, Asia,
and Latin America.
Answer: This calls for students to summarize some of the main points discussed in the chapter.
3. What are some of the main ways in which the economies of developing countries differ from one
another?
Answer: See the Key Concepts above for a summary.
4. Explain why purchasing power parity measures of income levels tend to show a smaller difference
between poor and rich countries.
Answer: PPP measures show the number of units of developing country currency required to
purchase a basket of goods and services in the developing country market that costs
one dollar in the U.S. Prices for most services tend to be much cheaper in developing
countries than in the U.S.
5. In what way does nationalism tend to be a hindering force in attaining modern economic growth and
development, and in what way a facilitating force?
Answer: This is a question that would depend on what you have covered in lecture.
6. What are the three main indicators that make up the Human Development Index?
Answer: Life expectancy, educational attainment, GDP per capita measured in PPP terms.
7. If countries are first ranked by level of real GDP per capita, and then by the value of the Human
Development Index, would you expect the ranking of countries to be similar or different? Explain.
Answer: The final column of Table 1 in the Human Development Report (hdr.undp.org) shows the
difference in ranking between the two classification methods and students can be directed
to that.
8. Comment on the following statement: The level and growth rate of real GDP per capita can be a
misleading indicator of development. At the same time, countries that experience sustained increases
in real GDP per capita over time will tend to be more developed.
Answer: Open-ended essay.
9. What are the three major components of economic growth?

Answer: Capital accumulation, labor force growth, and technological progress.
10. Explain the lingering effects of colonialism and how it is still playing a role in hindering economic
development in the developing world.
Answer: Answers should be based on the points covered in the section on the colonial impact as
well as in lecture.
11. Why might the use of more advanced technology not be a sufficient condition for sustained
economic growth?
Answer: It may require an inefficiently high capital labor ratio and complementary factors,
especially education, may be lacking. Additional points depend on lecture coverage.
12. The 2006 Human Development Report reported that the HDI of South Africa was 0.653 (and its rank
was 121) and that of the Peru was 0.767 (and its rank was 82). South Africa’s per capita income
(in PPP dollars) was 11,192 and that of Peru was 5,678. Comment and explain.
Answer: Instructors can use figures similar to those in the question from the most recent issue of
the HDR (at hdr.undp.org) in updating this question. Students should discuss the
difference between economic growth (per capita income) and economic development by
discussing the components of the HDI.
13. What are remittances and what role do they in developing countries? How could this potentially
benefit an economy?
Answer: An answer should pose a definition, mention how remittances reduce poverty for many
migrants and their families, and speak to the possible net increase in labor force skills
driven by the desire to emigrate.
14. Are living standards in developed and developing countries converging? Give evidence to support
your answer.
Answer: Answers should refer to Figures 2.8–2.10 and the supporting text.
How do differences in culture lead to comparative development?

Answer: Cultural factors effect the development and amount of emphasis put on education,
institutions, and how effective civil society is. An important part of the answer should be
how the role of culture has not been clearly established due to its complexity.
15. In what way(s) do the development paths chosen by Pakistan and Bangladesh differ? What are the
main factors that have contributed to these differing paths?
Answer: The key differences are the aspects of economic development discussed in the chapter.
The case study at the end of the chapter provides comparative figures for the two countries
and the main factors contributing to the divergent paths.
16. How is poverty measured? What is the extent of poverty in the developing world?
Answer: The concept of absolute poverty is discussed in the text and the progression of absolute
poverty in the developing world is shown in Figure 2.7. If the concept of relative poverty
was discussed in the lectures, instructors may look for that distinction in the answer.
17. What are the major differences between the new HDI and the original HDI?
Answer: Open ended essay. Refer to pages 54–56 of text for the discussion.

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 Sample Questions

9. What are the three major components of economic growth?

How do differences in culture lead to comparative development?

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