Can Developing Countries Catch Up to Developed Countries

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Introduction

Globalization has been widely related to the fast-growing economies of the countries around the world. Developed countries are observed to easily catching up with the emerging trends when it comes to the economic issues of the country. As the developed countries continuously grow as a progressive countries, the developing countries also exert a lot of effort to catch up with the economies of these large countries somehow. A lot of facts should be considered in order to understand the grounds in defining the productivity of the developed and developing countries. It is quite obvious that large countries such as United States are very much progressive than any other countries which totally defines the difference between how a developed country emerges from a developing country.

Though the developing countries like Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing countries have shown their productivity through a progressive economy, it is still doubted that these countries could catch up with the developed countries in terms of economic stabilization and other important factors. Usually, a developing country depicts a lower form of government and a less progressive economy than the developed countries (Waugh, 2000). More often than not, these countries are regarded to have a lower level of living when it comes to the basic needs of the people. However, some developing countries still pose a higher level of living standard than other developing countries just like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which is known for having a good oil resource that even exports oil resources for the developed countries such as United States. The developing countries that have set a higher standard of economy are then called the newly industrialized countries in order to distinguish the status of development from other developing countries but still they are not yet tagged as a developed countries.

On the other hand, developed countries can be distinguished as having a higher level of economy in many aspects. These aspects though are put into a large issue because of the things that are needed to consider (Smeeding, 2005). But a distinguishing factor that is said to differentiate developed countries from the developing countries is the income per capita and the gross domestic product. Also, industrialization and the Human Development Index are said to be determinants of being a developed country as to how they depict the countrys productivity (Bo|yk, 2006). The development process of a developed country is projected through the overall impact of the aspects mentioned which basically caters to the welfare of the country. Somehow, being a developed country should heed with the modern infrastructure and dissent the low technology used in the major industries of the country (Bo|yk, 2006). Compared to the developing countries, developed countries are really into the emergence of the high technology and even applied to the natural resources of the country in order to be more productive. This entails sufficiency and self-sustaining country which has a continuous economic growth that enables the people to exert the potentials they got and hence contribute to the progress of the country (Waugh, 2000). The standard of living then is maximized as the people get their needs and wants wherein no deprivation is experienced unlike in developing countries which have difficulties in attaining what they really want.

If enumerated, not just the major economic aspects can determine the progress of developed countries. Not just the political, social and economic aspects of the countries are battled out in defining the two but also the number of people or the population of the countries. Developed countries are said to have a lesser population rate than in developing countries which prevails a rapid growth of population (Bo|yk, 2006). Most commonly, developing countries depend on the agricultural resources of the country unlike in the developed countries which are dominated by high technology industries that make a faster production (Smeeding, 2005).

However, there is still room for improvements when it comes to the sense of catching up with the progress of the developed countries. An argument is thrown to the idea of whether developing countries can catch up with the developed countries and possess a continuous growth or not. All aspects are covered such as the political, social and economic sense of the country in order to catch up with the success of the developed countries. An extensive comprehension should be made on the given topic where developing countries are being compared to the developed countries. A question is put on a highlight whether the developing countries can cope up with the changes and industrialization processes like what the developed countries have undergone in order to achieve their level of economy and continuous growth (Waugh, 2000). Through this argumentative paper, will try to evaluate the validity of the facts and ideas pertaining to the question which will be answered throughout the discussion and come up with a concrete conclusion. Developed and developing countries will be catered in all aspects in order to answer the question of whether the developing countries can catch up with the developed countries.

Discussion

Primarily, the basis of a developed country is seen on the GDP, income per capita and life expectancy. It is not believed that the developing countries can be as progressive as the developed countries today. This is due to the political corruption and other limiting factors that make the growth of the country become stagnant. Usually, developing countries are also regarded as poor countries which only depict a low standard of living. Low standard of living depicts unemployment, scarcity of resources and rapid growth of population. In line with the difficulties of the developing countries to catch up with the aspects mentioned, globalization is a challenge for the third world countries to continuously grow and emerge in the world market when it comes to the terms of trade. The governments of the developing countries are somehow preventing, if not limiting, the operation of goods and services across borders as they have limited resources for the domestic needs (Guillén, 2003). Thus, in this sense, domestic goods and services are not marketed worldwide because of scarce resources which are limited only for the domestic use that entails a poor income.

The opportunity of the developing countries to trade with other countries is dismissed and the potential market is not achieved. This makes a slow growth of the economy of the countries because less chance is seen for them to practice globalization and adapt a worldwide system not only in trading but also in governance of the country and other aspects. Sometimes, catching up with the developed countries can put the developing countries to be at risk and put to damage because of the attempt to integrate with the world economy. It implies that the developing countries should be able to come up with a stable economy first before they emerge in the world market and catch up with the developed countries (Guillén, 2003). It is suggested that the developing countries better excel first on the industrialization of the economy before coping with the trends of the developed countries. Considering that most policies in the world market pertains to the developed countries, developing countries are not that competent to compete with the industrialized countries because of the system that they prevail to use in the governance of the economy.

In addition, catching up with the developed countries depicts a type of globalization not only in the world market but also in the advances in the information and communication technology (Freund and Weinhold, 2000). The use of internet and other significant high technology increases the level of expectancy for the capability of a country on its development process (Freund and Weinhold, 2000). It also defines the boundary related to the continuous growth and development of the country with regard to their social, political, cultural and economic strengths (Smeeding, 2005). However, the fact that the disparity between developed and developing countries is explicit, the information communication technology is also segregated as to the distribution of information throughout the countries. Hence, developed countries are indeed advance in all aspects of the economy unlike the developing countries.

The development today of the counties has something to do with the peoples interaction with technological innovation and how human value them. This kind of innovation allowed the developed countries to emerging through the organizations and institutions that give a good response on the areas of productivity, flexibility, safety and accountability (Oatley, 2005). Achieving a technological sense of innovation can make the development of a country more sustainable and possess a continuous process of progressing with the help of the information shared all over. Hence, the information will not be limited anymore because this restriction makes the development of the country stagnant and sometimes a failure arises. Richer countries dominate the developing countries and these smaller countries tend to be under the control of the larger countries like how they manipulate some areas of the country. More often, the policies are set in a globalized manner and this makes the ability of the country to show its potentials in a certain area because of being dominated by the developed countries (Booysen, 2002). Therefore, it is seen that developing countries have difficulties catching up with the developed countries because of the emergence of the developed countries. They hinder the growth and development of smaller countries because they block the potentials and the ability to maximize development worldwide.

But, to lighten the hindrance being experienced by the developing countries, there are still hopes seen on how the developing countries can emerge in the worldwide scene. The developing countries are now called the LEDCs r the less economically developed country which is the poorest subset of the LDCs or less developed country. This somehow distinguishes the developing countries on a higher level and defines the standard of living from the lower developing countries. Not all developing countries possess the same level of poor living though and some are expected to be fully developed sooner or later. Criticisms on the developing countries are not appropriate because they just increase the inferiority of the developing countries from the developed countries (Whelan and Maitre, 2005). In some areas, this somehow signifies the desire of the developing countries to adopt the development model of the developed countries which does not usually fit the economic system of a certain developing country (Booysen, 2002). However some countries do not adopt these changes and stick to their own way of governing the economy just like for example Cuba (Clarke and Hulme, 2005). The country has remained developing due to the low income per capita but still prevails as more productive when it comes to the health and educational senses compared to the United States. It also dominates United States with regard to the literacy of the people.

Developing countries as mentioned earlier, are not classified as one because these countries have varied progress and do not pertain to only one system of economy. Thus, this can give way to the developing countries to be like the developed countries in the future. Somehow, the developed countries get some goods and services from the developing countries and usually they are the biggest importer of the commodities that they need (Oatley, 2005). For example the relationship between Saudi Arabia and United States, Saudi Arabia has been the largest supplier of petroleum for the United States in order to run the industries and thus be able to sustain the growth and development. Without the help of Saudi Arabia, the tendency is, United States will be having difficulties in getting enough sources for the stabilization of the major industries. Some of the developing countries are now considered developed just like Israel and other.

In order to catch up with the developed countries, it is important that these developing countries should make sense of the globalization wherein they will benefit from adopting a worldwide policy and open the communication between each other (Freund and Weinhold, 2000). There are times that competition is dismissed between the developed and developing countries and instead, developed countries are willing to extend help for the poorer countries. This is commonly done to get the attention of the people and make the country more progressive through the help that the bigger countries give. When it comes to the worldwide policy through globalization, it is important to note that the countries should choose the right combination of policies that will open more opportunities and avoid failures as much as possible (Booysen, 2002).

Conclusion

In spite of all the hindrances that are linked to the growth and development of the less developed countries, there is still a big chance of catching up with the giant countries. Aside from the hindrances being experienced in the domestic scene, worldwide difficulties are also prevalent but still, a hope is seen n the future. It is not too late though, and the developing countries still have enough time to manage the economic system well. The leaders should be able to strengthen the political, social, economic and technological aspects of the country to sustain its continuous growth like Norway, United States, United Kingdom and other developed countries. Strengthening the political sense of a developing country requires a keen selection of the leaders that will serve with integrity and passion in order to avoid corruption. The social aspect falls into the criteria of the peoples cooperation and the social affairs of the country on other countries to build a good rapport. Economic aspect caters to the whole system of the government and determines the income per capita, gross domestic product and the population rate which determines the employment and unemployment rate of the country, while technological aspect is the innovation introduced through the globalization and development process. A developing country can look for ways to adapt globalization that will not harm the economic system of the country and thus be able t benefit from operating globally.

Thus, the developing countries or the less developed countries (LDCs) should take globalization as a challenge of being innovative and an opportunity to be developed and grow continuously. It will be very easy for the developing countries to catch up with the emergence of the developed countries because of the information that can be shared through the information communication technology and make it easier for the small countries to adopt new trends and policies of governing the country more efficient. Although poverty explicitly corrupts the ideas of being progressive for the developing countries, it still inspires the leaders to striver harder and not be underestimated by other countries. Developing countries can catch up with the developed countries if the proper way of governing the country will be exercised. If all aspects will be set to their proper way of executing the policies, deprivation and poverty will be avoided in the developing countries and the development will happen sooner. Sustainable growth and development should be maintained through in order to hold on to the progress of the economy.

References

Booysen, F. (2002) An Overview and Evaluation of Composite Indices of Development, Social Indicators Research 59(2): 11551.

Clarke, D. and Hulme, D. (2005) Towards a Unified Framework for Understanding the Depth, Breadth and Duration of Poverty. Manchester: Global Poverty Research Group.

Bo|yk, P. (2006). Newly Industrialized Countries. Globalization and the Transformation of Foreign Economic Policy. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Freund C. and Weinhold D. (2000), On the effect of the Internet on international trade. Boardof Governors of the Federal Reserve System  International Finance Discussion PapersNumber 693.

Guillén, M.F. (2003). Multinationals, Ideology, and Organized Labor. The Limits of Convergence. Princeton University Press.

Oatley, T. (2005). The Global Economy: Contemporary Debates, Pearson Longman, New York.

Smeeding, T. (2005). Public policy, economic inequality, and poverty: The United States in comparative perspective. Social Science Quarterly, 86, 955-983.

Waugh, D. (3rd edition 2000). Manufacturing industries (chapter 19), World development (chapter 22). Geography, An Integrated Approach. Nelson Thornes Ltd.. pp. 563, 576579, 633, and 640.

Whelan, C.T. and Maitre, B. (2005) Comparing Poverty and Deprivation Dynamics: Issues of Reliability and Validity, EPAG Working Paper No. 53. Colchester: University of Essex.

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