Economic development

Japanese: 経済発展 - けいざいはってん（英語表記）economic development

The process by which an underdeveloped, low-income national economy is transformed into a modern industrial economy through the accumulation of human resources, productive capital, social capital, and technological capabilities. Economic growth is sometimes used synonymously with economic growth and economic progress, but economic growth primarily refers to the long-term increase in the results of economic activity year after year, and the rate of economic growth is indicated by an increase in gross national product or national disposable income. On the other hand, the concept of economic progress can be said to emphasize the increase in social welfare obtained by enjoying the results of economic activity. In contrast, economic development is generally considered to be a concept that emphasizes the foundation or stock that supports economic activity, which generally includes both quantitative expansion and qualitative improvement. The theory of economic development, which holds that even the most primitive and poor economy can develop into a relatively prosperous economy, is important for developing countries. The issue of economic development is usually discussed in this context.
As with many concepts in economics, there is no clear definition of developing countries. However, in the broadest sense, the level of income per capita is generally seen as an indicator of a country's level of prosperity and economic development. There are also huge differences among developing countries, making it difficult to draw general conclusions about the reasons why certain countries are underdeveloped and the most effective ways to change their economic structure. Since the differences in income levels between developed and developing countries are not necessarily due to conditions beyond human control (natural resources, climate, etc.), all countries have the potential to develop. The task of development economics is therefore to determine how best to realize this potential. Conversely, development economics involves the study of the main causes and symptoms of underdevelopment. Although there are significant differences among developing countries, there are also many common characteristics. In most developing countries, primary industries (agriculture and extraction) provide the majority of national income, and often a large proportion comes from a small number of products. The level and scope of secondary industrial activity is very low and they are characterized by technological underdevelopment. Most of these countries have large surplus populations (unemployed or underemployed) and high population growth rates. Another common feature is inadequate infrastructure, such as poor road and transport networks and lack of irrigation facilities. Equally important are underdevelopment of human resources in terms of skills and education, and weak economic and financial institutions. Since the Second World War, the development policies followed by both developed and developing countries have attempted to change the situation by injecting the missing elements into the problem economy. A good example of this approach was the creation of new industrial sectors, which was based on the idea that this would not only reduce the developing country's dependence on a few primary products, but also increase its technological resources and income. Since domestic capital resources were generally insufficient for large-scale industrialization projects, large amounts of foreign funds were introduced in the form of foreign investment, government bonds, government subsidies, etc. As a result, industrial development has taken place in many developing countries since 1950. Large amounts of domestic and foreign capital have also been poured into infrastructure development, and plans have been made to increase the number and quality of skilled and trained personnel. At the same time, there were growing calls in developed countries for establishing a system of world trade that would be beneficial to developing countries, such as by reducing price fluctuations in key primary products and by giving preferential treatment to exports of manufactured goods from newly established industries in developing countries.
There is little doubt that these policies helped the economy grow, but the overall results were generally disappointing. The emphasis on industrialization led to the development of complex manufacturing plants, but it was unsuccessful because it lacked skilled labor and sufficient, reliable domestic and export markets. Moreover, such industries were capital intensive rather than labor intensive, and therefore did not create large numbers of jobs. Another result was that resources were diverted to large industrial projects and infrastructure such as highways and airports, leaving the traditional sectors of the economy on which the majority of the population depended underfunded and barely developed. The educational reform program produced a large number of highly educated people that the economy could not adequately absorb. Another serious and continuing problem was the failure to curb population growth. In short, while developing non-oil producing countries experienced some growth in national income during the 1970s, rapid population growth meant that per capita national income growth was only modest. At the same time, many developing countries continue to face serious structural imbalances in their economies, with high unemployment, balance of payments deficits, and rising foreign debt. It is therefore widely accepted that attempting to replicate the economic structures of developed countries in developing countries through large-scale capital investment programs is not the most effective way of achieving development.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

人的資源，生産資本，社会資本，技術力の蓄積に伴って，未発達で低所得の国家経済が近代的な産業経済に生れ変るプロセス。経済成長 economic growthや経済進歩 economic progressと同義に用いられることもあるが，経済成長は，年々の経済活動の成果の長期的な増大をまず意味し，経済成長率は国民総生産ないし国民可処分所得の増加で示される。一方，経済進歩の概念は，経済活動の成果の享受によって得られる社会的厚生の増大を重視するものといえよう。これらに対して，経済発展は，一般的には量的な拡大とともに質的な向上が含まれる経済活動を支える基盤ないしストックをより強調する概念と考えられる。どんなに原始的で貧しい経済であろうと，相対的に繁栄した経済に発展できるという経済発展理論は，発展途上諸国にとって重要な意味をもつ。経済発展の問題は，こうした文脈において通常議論される。
経済学の多くの概念と同様，発展途上諸国の明確な定義はない。とはいえ，広義では一般に国民1人あたりの所得水準が国の繁栄と経済発展のレベルを示す指標とみられている。発展途上諸国の間でも非常に大きな違いがあるため，特定の国の発展が遅れている理由と経済構造を変える最も効果的な方法について一般的な結論を下すのはむずかしい。先進国と発展途上国の間にみられる所得水準の違いは，人間の力ではどうしようもない条件 (天然資源，気候など) によるものばかりではないとされているため，すべての国家は発展できる潜在能力をもっていることになる。したがって，開発経済学の課題は潜在能力を最もうまく実現する方法を決定することである。反対に，開発経済学には低開発の主要な原因と兆候に関する研究が含まれる。発展途上諸国の間には大きな違いがあるが，共通した特徴も少くない。発展途上国の大半は，第1次産業 (農業や採取) が国家収入の大半を占めており，数少い種類の生産品が大きな割合を占めていることもままある。第2次産業の活動の水準と範囲はきわめて低く，技術的な未発達を特徴としている。こうした国の大半は大量の余剰人口 (失業ないし不完全就業状態) をかかえ，人口増加率も高い。もう一つの共通した特徴は，貧弱な道路網や輸送網，灌漑設備の欠如といったインフラストラクチャーの不備である。同様に，技術や教育面での人的資源の低開発と経済・金融機関の弱さも重要である。第2次世界大戦以来，先進国と発展途上国が従う開発政策は，ともに問題の経済に欠けている要素を注入することによって状況を変えようとしてきた。このアプローチの好例は，新しい産業部門の建設である。それによって発展途上国の少数の1次産品への依存が緩和されるだけではなく，技術資源や収入を増大させることができる，との考えに基づいていた。大規模な工業化計画には国内の資本資源では一般に不十分であるので，海外投資，国債，政府補助金などの形で外国の資金が大量に導入された。その結果，1950年以来，多くの発展途上国で工業開発が行われた。また，大量の国内外の資本がインフラ開発に投入され，技術をもち訓練された人員の数をふやし質を高めるための計画が立案された。同時に，先進国では発展途上国に有益な世界貿易のシステムを確立すべきであるという声が高まった。こうした方策には，おもな1次産品の価格変動を小さくしたり，途上国で新設された産業の製造品の輸出に特恵待遇を与えることなどが含まれる。
このような政策が経済成長に役立ったことはほぼ疑いはないが，全般的な結果は総じて期待はずれであった。工業化の強調は複雑な製造工場の発達につながるが，熟練工と十分で確実な国内市場と輸出市場を欠いていたため成功しなかった。そのうえ，その種の産業は労働集約的というより資本集約的であるため，大量の雇用を生み出す効果はなかった。もう一つの結果は，資源が大規模な工業プロジェクトや高速道路，空港などのインフラ整備に振向けられたために，国民の大多数が依存する伝統的な経済分野の資金が不足し，ほとんど発展がみられなかったことである。教育の大変革計画は，経済が十分に吸収できない高学歴者を大量に生み出すことになった。もう一つの深刻で継続的な問題は，人口増加率の抑制に失敗したことであった。要するに，発展途上の非石油産出国では 1970年代に国民所得のある程度の成長がみられたが，急速な人口増加によって1人あたりの国民所得の成長はわずかにとどまった。同時に，多くの発展途上国は，高失業率，国際収支の赤字，対外債務の増大などを伴う深刻な経済の構造的不均衡に依然として直面している。したがって，大規模な資本投資計画によって途上国に先進国の経済構造を再現する試みは，発展を達成する最も効果的な方法ではないと広く認められている。

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