Where Does Level of Development Vary by Gender?

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Mabel Lyons
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288 The Cultural Landscape FIGURE 9-15 Developing regions with low HDIs: South Asia and sub-saharan Africa. (left) Sugarcane is transported by rickshaw to a wholesale market in Hyderabad, India.

India, South Asia s largest country, has become the world s fourth-largest economy, behind the United States, China, and Japan, and the rate of growth of its economy is second only to China s.

1 288 The Cultural Landscape FIGURE 9-15 Developing regions with low HDIs: South Asia and sub-saharan Africa. (left) Sugarcane is transported by rickshaw to a wholesale market in Hyderabad, India. (right) Family in Kenya hoe a field to plant tomatoes. India, South Asia s largest country, has become the world s fourth-largest economy, behind the United States, China, and Japan, and the rate of growth of its economy is second only to China s. India is the world s leading producer of jute (used to make burlap and twine), peanuts, sugarcane, and tea and has mineral reserves, including uranium, bauxite (aluminum ore), coal, manganese, iron ore, and chromite (chromium ore). It is also one of the world s leading rice and wheat producers (Figure 9-15, left). The country has become a major manufacturer, though not as rapidly as China. In addition, India has become a major service provider. When you phone an airline, a help desk, or a credit card company, chances are your call will be answered by someone actually located in India. Sub-Saharan Africa: HDI.51 Africa has been divided into two regions: Countries north of the Sahara share economic and cultural characteristics with Southwest Asia; south of the desert is sub-saharan Africa. Among the countries of this region, South Africa is a major source of minerals, including chromium, diamonds, manganese, and platinum. Other countries in the region also contain resources important for development, including bauxite in Guinea, cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, diamonds in Botswana and Congo, manganese in Gabon, petroleum in Nigeria, and uranium in Niger. Regional wealth is comparable to levels found in other LDCs. Despite these assets, sub-saharan Africa offers the least favorable prospect for development (Figure 9-15, right). The region has the world s highest percentage of people living in poverty and suffering from poor health and low education levels. And economic conditions in sub-saharan Africa have deteriorated in recent years: The average African consumes less today than three decades ago. Some of the region s economic problems are a legacy of the colonial era. Mining companies and other businesses were established to supply European industries with needed raw materials rather than to promote overall economic development in sub-saharan Africa. Africa s many landlocked states have difficulties shipping out raw materials through neighboring countries. And in recent years, African countries have suffered because world prices for their resources have fallen. Political problems have also plagued sub-saharan Africa. European colonies were converted to states without regard for the distribution of ethnicities (see Figure 7-34). After independence, leaders of many countries in the region pursued personal economic gain and local wars rather than policies to promote development of their national economies. These frequent internal wars, as well as those between countries in sub-saharan Africa, have retarded development. But the fundamental problem in many countries of sub- Saharan Africa is a dramatic imbalance between the number of inhabitants and the capacity of the land to feed the population. Nearly the entire region has either a tropical or a dry climate. Both climate regions can support some people, but not large concentrations. Yet, because sub-saharan Africa has by far the world s highest rate of natural increase, its land is more and more overworked, and agricultural output has declined. KEY ISSUE 3 Where Does Level of Development Vary by Gender? Gender-Related Development Index Gender Empowerment A country s overall level of development masks inequalities in the status of men and women. Gender inequality

CONTEMPORARY GEOGRAPHIC TOOLS Wal-Mart and China No corporation exposes the effects of globalization on the world s economy more effectively than Wal-Mart. Wal- Mart Stores, Inc.

Geographic research has documented the key role played by geographic tools in Wal-Mart s growth.

from its origin. Wal-Mart was founded by Sam Walton in 1962 with a single store in Bentonville, Arkansas. It was not until 1995 that each of the 5 states had at least one Wal-Mart.

2 CONTEMPORARY GEOGRAPHIC TOOLS Wal-Mart and China No corporation exposes the effects of globalization on the world s economy more effectively than Wal-Mart. Wal- Mart Stores, Inc., was the world s largest corporation in 28, with revenues of $379 billion. The company operated 7,2 stores worldwide in 28, including 4,2 in the United States, and employed 2.1 million. Geographic research has documented the key role played by geographic tools in Wal-Mart s growth. Most important has been application of the distancedecay concept, which was defined in Chapter 1 as the diminishing in importance and eventual disappearance of a phenomenon with increasing distance from its origin. Wal-Mart was founded by Sam Walton in 1962 with a single store in Bentonville, Arkansas. It was not until 1995 that each of the 5 states had at least one Wal-Mart. Maps of opening dates of each Wal-Mart store show a diffusion pattern (Figure 9-16). In the 197s, Wal-Mart was a small company confined largely to Arkansas and Missouri. In the 198s, it was concentrated in the south-central regions of the United States. In the 199s, Wal-Mart reached the northeast, north-central, and west coast regions. The diffusion pattern resulted from a deliberate application of distance-decay principles. Rather than sprinkling stores around the country, the company preferred to saturate communities with stores before moving to new territory. New stores were opened near existing ones so that they could share the same advertising and central management control and, most importantly, the same distribution center. Distribution centers are very large facilities of more than 1 million square feet typically serving several dozen stores. State-of-theart inventory controls move merchandise from the distribution center to the stores. To locate new stores, Wal-Mart mapped a one-day driving distance around a distribution center. New stores were placed first at the outer edge of the oneday ring around the distribution center; additional stores were added closer in until the market area was saturated. New distribution centers were opened at everincreasing distances from Arkansas until the company finally reached California in 199 and New England in Wal-Mart s U.S. retail stores are part of a global network. Most of Wal-Mart s merchandise is made in China; moved by truck from factories to Wal-Mart s Global Procurement Center in Shenzhen, China; loaded on container ships for the two-week passage across the Pacific Ocean; unloaded in the port of Long Beach, California; and transported primarily by truck across the United States to the distribution centers FIGURE 9-16 Growth of Wal-Mart stores. Wal-Mart diffused from Arkansas through the United States using a distance-decay model of store location. exists in every country of the world, according to the United Nations. In some countries women have achieved near equality with men, whereas in other countries women lag far behind the level of development for men. The United Nations has not found a single country in the world where women are treated as well as men. To measure the extent of each country s gender inequality, the United Nations has created two indexes. The Gender-Related Development Index (GDI) compares the level of women s development with that of both sexes. The Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) compares the ability of women and men to participate in economic and political decision making. 289

3 29 The Cultural Landscape Gender-Related Development Index The GDI is constructed in a manner similar to the HDI, discussed in the first two sections of this chapter (Figure 9-17). The GDI combines the same indicators of development used in the HDI, adjusted to reflect differences in the accomplishments and conditions of men and women: Economic indicator of gender differences: Per capita female income as a percentage of per capita male income (Figure 9-18) Social indicators of gender differences: Number of females enrolled in school compared to number of males (Figure 9-19) and percent of literate females compared to percent of literate males (Figure 9-2) Demographic indicator of gender differences: Life expectancy of females compared to males (Figure 9-21) The GDI penalizes a country for having a large disparity between the well-being of men and women. For example, Hungary and Saudi Arabia have approximately the same GDP per capita, but Hungary has a higher GDI than Saudi Arabia in part because the disparity between female and male income is lower in Hungary than in Saudi Arabia. A country with complete gender equality would have a GDI of 1.. No country has achieved that level. A high GDI means that both men and women have achieved a high level of development, though women may have a slightly lower level than men. A low GDI means that women have a low level of development and the level is substantially below that of men. Gender Empowerment The GEM measures the ability of women to participate in the process of achieving improvements in their status, that is, to achieve economic and political power. In every country of the world, both MDCs and LDCs, fewer women than men hold positions of economic and political power, according to the United Nations GEM scoring system. The GEM is calculated by combining two indicators of economic power and two indicators of political power (Figure 9-22): Economic indicators of empowerment: Per capita female income as a percentage of per capita male income (Figure 9-18) and percentage of professional and technical jobs held by women (Figure 9-23) Political indicators of empowerment: Percentage of administrative jobs held by women (Figure 9-24) and percentage of members of the national parliament who are women (Figure 9-25) A country with complete equality of power between men and women would have a score of 1.. As with the GDI, countries with the highest GEMs are MDCs, especially in North America, Northern Europe, and Oceania. The lowest scores are in Africa and Asia, though lack of data prevents calculating scores for many LDCs. Every country has a lower GEM than GDI. A higher 8 ARCTIC 7 ARCTIC GENDER-RELATED DEVELOPMENT INDEX.9 and above Below.5 FIGURE 9-17 Gender-Related Development Index (GDI). Similar to the Human Development Index (HDI), the GDI combines four measures of development, lowered by the amount of disparity between males and females. A high GDI means that men and women have both achieved high levels of development, though women have a slightly lower level. A low GDI means that women have a low level of development and a level substantially lower than that for men CORAL , 2, 3, MILES 1, 2, 3, KILOMETERS

4 Chapter 9: Development ARCTIC 7 ARCTIC FEMALE INCOME AS PERCENT OF MALE INCOME CORAL 4 59 Below , 2, 3, MILES 18 1, 2, 3, KILOMETERS FIGURE 9-18 Economic indicator of gender difference: Income. The average income of women is lower than that of men in every country of the world, both in MDCs and LDCs. Women on average have two-thirds of the income of men in MDCs. This translates into an income gap of $12,. In LDCs, the disparity between male and female income is relatively low in dollar terms but high on a percentage basis. Earnings for women lag far behind those of men in LDCs, although both figures are much lower than those found in MDCs. 8 ARCTIC 7 ARCTIC SCHOOL ENROLLMENT FEMALES AS PERCENT OF MALES 15 and above CORAL 9 99 Below , 2, 3, MILES 18 1, 2, 3, KILOMETERS FIGURE 9-19 Social indicator of gender difference (one of two): school enrollment. Girls are more likely than boys to be enrolled in school in MDCs, but less likely in LDCs. The percentage of females attending school is a key measure of gender disparity in sub-saharan Africa and Southwest Asia. In Latin America and much of Asia, boys and girls are equally likely to attend school, but attendance is lower than in MDCs. GDI compared to GEM means that women possess a greater share of a country s resources than they do power over allocation of those resources. The indicators presented in the previous key issues reflect sharp differences in the levels of development of MDCs and LDCs. To promote development, LDCs seek improvements in these indicators. Progress has been mixed (Figure 9-26). On the one hand, key indicators look better for LDCs now than they did a generation ago. On the other hand, the gap in key development indicators between LDCs and MDCs remains wide.

5 292 The Cultural Landscape 8 ARCTIC 7 ARCTIC PERCENT OF MALES LITERATE 98 and above CORAL Below , 2, 3, MILES 18 1, 2, 3, KILOMETERS 8 ARCTIC 7 ARCTIC PERCENT OF FEMALES LITERATE 98 and above Below 6 FIGURE 9-2 Social indicator of gender difference (two of two): literacy. In MDCs, literacy is nearly universal among both men and women. In Latin America and much of Asia, literacy is not universal, but rates are similar for men and women. In sub-saharan Africa and Southwest Asia, female literacy is low, and substantially lower than for males. Low female literacy is an especially important obstacle to development in these regions. It is both a cause and a consequence of the relatively low contribution females are allowed to make to the economy and culture of these regions CORAL , 2, 3, MILES 1, 2, 3, KILOMETERS

6 Chapter 9: Development ARCTIC 7 ARCTIC NUMBER OF YEARS THAT FEMALES LIVE LONGER THAN MALES and above CORAL 5 to 9 3 to 5 Below 3 No Data , 2, 3, MILES 18 1, 2, 3, KILOMETERS FIGURE 9-21 Demographic indicator of gender difference: life expectancy. The gender gap in life expectancy is greater in MDCs than in LDCs. In MDCs, a female baby born today is expected to live several years longer than a male baby, whereas in most LDCs, the gap in life expectancy between females and males is only a year or two. The inability of women to outlive men in LDCs derives primarily from the hazards of childbearing. Women in LDCs bear more children than in MDCs, often under poor medical conditions GENDER EMPOWERMENT MEASURE (GEM) 1.6 and above.3.59 Below FIGURE 9-22 Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM). The GEM combines two measures of the economic power of women and two measures of their political power. Information was not available to calculate the GEM for most LDCs. Compare to Figure 9-17: A country with a much lower GEM than GDI offers women less power than economic resources. PERCENT PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL WORKERS WHO ARE FEMALE Below FIGURE 9-23 Economic indicator of empowerment: professionals. The percentage of women occupying professional and technical jobs is considered an important measure of the economic power held by women in a country. Professional and technical jobs are regarded by the United Nations as those offering women the greatest opportunities for advancement to positions of influence in a country s economy. Cultural barriers may restrict the ability of women to obtain these jobs in the first place or to secure promotions to top-level decision-making positions.

How does development vary amongst regions? How can countries promote development? What are future challenges for development?

Chapter 9- Development How does development vary amongst regions? How can countries promote development? What are future challenges for development? Human Development Index (HDI) Development process of