Cambridge International as and a level Economics Ebook

Developed economies: 
economies with high GDP per head.
Developing economy: 
an economy with a low GDP per head.
KEY TERMS
232
Cambridge International A Level Economics

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SELF-ASSESSMENT TASK 
9.10
Between 2006 and 2012 the number of people 
living in poverty in Rwanda, as measured by 
the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 
fell from 80% to 66%. Th
is was largely due to 
improvements in access to water and sanitation. 
On the same measure, poverty in Nepal fell from 
60% to 45%. Th
is time it was largely the result of 
improved health.
Some critics of the MPI claim that not all relevant 
items are included while others think that the 
weightings are not appropriate. Defenders of the MPI 
argue that the MPI does include some of the most 
important indicators of poverty.
1
How is health poverty measured in the MPI?
2
Identify two indicators of poor living standards 
not referred to in the passage.
3
Explain why a lack of education is an important 
indicator of poverty.
SELF-ASSESSMENT TASK 9.9
Region
HDI group
Life expectancy 
(years)
Mean years 
of schooling 
(years)
Expected years 
of schooling 
(years)
GNI per capita 
2005 PPP 
(US$)
Arab states
0.652
71.0
6.0
10.6
8,317
East Asia and the 
Pacific
0.683
72.7
7.2
11.8
6,874
Europe and Central 
Asia
0.771
71.5
10.4
13.7
12,243
Latin America and 
the Caribbean
0.741
74.7
7.8
13.7
10,300
South Asia
0.558
66.2
4.7
10.2
3,343
Sub-Saharan Africa
0.475
54.9
4.7
9.3
2,010
Table 9.3 
HDI by regions, 2012
Source
: Human Development Report 2013, UNDP
Study the information in 
Table 9.3 
and then answer the questions that follow.
1
Assess the extent to which the information 
suggests there is a positive correlation between 
education (as measured by mean years of schooling) 
and GNI per head.
2
Discuss whether the information shown suggests 
that the region of sub-Saharan Africa was the least 
developed in 2012.
Africa, may, for example, be quite distinct from those of 
developing countries in Asia.
A number of developing economies in Africa, Asia and 
Latin America do, however, suff er from