What are developing countries called? Which countries are developing. From theory to practice
Assessment of the development of countries by various international organizations
The United Nations Statistics Division, however, does not have strict rules for dividing countries into "developed" and "developing". These definitions serve only for greater convenience in the collection and processing of statistical data and do not carry an assessment of the general historical development of a country or region.
The UN has developed the Human Development Index - a system that includes several fundamental indicators at once for assessing the development of a country. Namely: the level (gross national income, per capita income and other economic indicators), the level of literacy of the population, the level of education and education, the average life expectancy in the country.
In addition to the UN, the IMF (International Monetary Fund) is involved in assessing the development of countries. His criteria for assessing the development of a country or region are: income per capita, an expanded range of exports, the level of integration with the global financial system. If the lion's share of exports falls on one product - for example, then this one can no longer get first place in the IMF rating.
The World Bank, created specifically for financial assistance and support to developing countries, divides all states into 4 categories by income level with gross national income per capita. Measurements are taken in US dollars.
Developing countries
Today, developing countries include such giants as the rapidly developing BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China. As well as the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America, Africa.
Among them there is a classification.
New industrial countries. They have more than 7% annual GDP growth due to cheap labor and a good geographical location, economic modernization and the use of new technologies. This class includes the following countries: Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Chile, Cyprus, Tunisia, Turkey, Indonesia, Philippines, southern China.
More recently, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, along with Cyprus, Malta and Slovenia, have come to be regarded as "developed countries".
oil producing countries. The GDP per capita of these countries is equal to the GDP of developed countries. But the one-sided economy does not allow them to be classified as developed countries.
Least developed countries. They have an outdated concept of economic development, low GDP, low literacy, high mortality. These countries include most countries in Africa, Oceania and Latin America.
Countries with economies in transition
The post-socialist camp of the countries of Eastern Europe (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia), as well as the Baltic countries (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia), can hardly be attributed to both developed and developing countries. For them and several other states, the term "countries with economies in transition" is used.
Developed states are those countries that occupy leading positions in the world in terms of economy, standard of living and scientific and technological progress. They are often referred to as "industrial". At the moment, the population of these countries is 15 percent of the world's population. The most developed countries in the world are listed below.
The United States of America is one of the largest and most influential powers in the world in terms of economy, politics and population. By area, this state is in fourth place. The country borders on three states: Canada from the north, Mexico from the south and has a small border with the Russian Federation in the sea near Alaska. The country has four time zones and a great variety of landscapes - from the hot tropics to the arctic cold and from plains and canyons to mountain ranges and lakes.
More than 300 million people live in the USA, and most of them originate from immigrants from all over the world. This became possible thanks to the Great Colonization that took place since the 16th century after the great geographical discoveries of Columbus and Vespucci. Thus, there is a huge variety of races, nationalities, languages and religions. Although the official language is English, and the predominant religion is Catholicism.
48 of its 50 states are located on the North American continent, excluding Hawaii and Alaska
Japan is an economically developed country located on four large islands. The banking system, retail trade, communications, cargo transportation are perfectly organized here - in a word, everything that makes the country successful. The Japanese are very technologically savvy and are the authors of many inventions, especially with regard to electronics. This is organized through close interaction between the authorities and enterprises. The country has a low level of taxes and everything has been done for the comfortable existence of individual entrepreneurship.
Japan has an extremely free attitude towards religion. The original faith in the territory of this country is Shintoism, and now Buddhism and many other world religions are also widespread. But not everyone adheres to any one denomination. Often a Japanese can drop in to pray at the first temple he comes across, be it Buddhist or Shinto. This is due to the fact that the root faith - Shintoism - is the worship of the forces of nature, and not of any particular deity.
Government emphasizes science technology and work ethic
The history of Germany is very rich, the country has experienced many victories and defeats, ups and downs. At the moment, the state is included in the list of the most developed countries in the world and is an example to follow in terms of political structure, so few people already consider it through the prism of the terrible events of World War II.
Despite the almost complete destruction of infrastructure after the wars, the Germans were able to restore everything with their diligence, and now Germany is one of the “elephants” of the economy on which the whole world rests.
The main strength of the country lies in the automotive industry, as well as in the large amount of mineral resources on its territory.
This island nation has one of the richest and most amazing histories, dating back to the Celtic tribes. For several centuries, the British Empire had a powerful influence on the world order. And, although now the size of the country has again been reduced to one island, its power has not decreased. English is an international language and is considered official in many other countries. The fact is that the state retains and maintains close ties with all its former colonies.
Two-thirds of the country's economy is provided by the service sector, a little less by industry (mainly mechanical engineering, electrical equipment and electronics). The city of Birmingham is one of the first centers of the automotive industry. The tourism and agriculture industries are also well developed.
In terms of agricultural production, the country ranks sixth in the European Union.
France is a transcontinental world power with a rich history that has left its mark in the form of traditions, sights and even national cuisine. In addition, the chemical and cosmetic industries, as well as the food industry, are very well developed here, for example, these are world-famous French wines and cheeses.
According to statistical studies, France is one of the least religious countries in the world. Almost a third of people are atheists, another third simply do not identify themselves with any denomination, and only the remaining third identify themselves with any religion. And there are no official statistics on ethnic composition in the country, just as there are no concepts of "nationalities" or "national minorities" in general.
France is strong in space and nuclear technology
This Mediterranean state is part of the European Union, like most other developed countries. It has a powerful state budget, which is the seventh largest in the world.
The northern part of Italy is mainly engaged in industry, the southern - in agriculture, especially crop production (corn, sugar beets, olives, grapes, citrus fruits, etc.). Mechanical engineering and metallurgy predominate in industry. The most favorable economic situation is in Northern Italy, and a very high population density in those parts is associated with this.
Another actively developing aspect of Italy is civil airlines.
This state of East Asia is technologically advanced. Particular attention is paid to information security, astronautics, and robotics. In this regard, the country has one of the most advanced education systems. All educational institutions have access to high-speed Internet and free digital textbooks. Korea's economy is based largely on shipbuilding (45 percent of the world's market share in their products). The auto industry is also in active demand.
The country has a rich culture. Cinematography is actively developing here. The direction of e-sports is also successful, in particular in the discipline of Starcraft.
Korean martial arts and cuisine are widely known all over the world.
Canada
The second largest state in the world originates from the French colony, which in the 16th century was located on the site of the current city of Quebec.
At the moment, it is a developed country with a diverse ethnic composition (statistics say that more than 40 ethnic groups live here, most of which are Christians).
Canada is a multicultural country. This means that in any settlement you can find elements of completely different cultures, from Indian to Celtic. There are also many different national quarters. Canada's economy is based on services and agriculture.
This European country has access to the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea and has a varied terrain, especially mountainous. The territory of the state is extremely rich in minerals, mainly metal ores. Accordingly, the mining industry is well developed. As for heavy industry, shipbuilding and automotive industry (Seat brand) should be noted. The tourism sector is also at a high level. In 2016, 75 million people visited the country.
The main branch of tourism is a beach holiday due to the mild warm climate and beautiful seascapes.
Netherlands
This state is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and is ruled by a monarch. The advantages of the Dutch economy include a skilled workforce that speaks many languages, excellent infrastructure, equality between superiors and subordinates, high wages. The most developed production areas are mechanical engineering, petrochemistry, textiles, beer and clothing production. A lot is imported: cars, oil and oil products, food, equipment.
This is the only state that occupies the entire mainland. It is rich in mineral resources and iron ore, and also has the richest nature, which, due to its isolation, has become truly unique. Many species of animals and plants are found only here and nowhere else. The main economic sector in Australia is agriculture, in particular cattle breeding. A significant part is the production of wool.
Australian wool is sent to all corners of the world
Belgium
This country is one of the largest producers of metal and clothing products. Also not to mention Antwerp, the world-famous center for the diamond trade. Chemical production is also well developed. Belgium has a convenient location with access to the sea and rivers, so water transport is actively used. In addition, Belgium is valued by American multinational companies. Among other things, the country throughout its history has been famous for scientific and technological achievements, some Belgians have received Nobel Prizes in physics and chemistry.
Sweden
The Kingdom of Sweden is one of the richest countries in Europe. There are more than fifty global concerns that distribute their products around the world. For example, Oriflame, Volvo, Ericsson, TetraPak. The state is the world leader in the production of bearings. Other economic advantages that make a country developed include a very high level of innovation, excellent education of workers, and excellent infrastructure.
The Greek economy used to be one of the strongest in the world, but has fallen on hard times in the past few years. The main source of foreign exchange earnings is the tourism sector in conjunction with the service sector. A significant part of the population is also employed there - at least 900 thousand people.
According to statistical surveys in some countries of the world, Greece was named the most attractive tourist destination.
Highly developed countries differ from developing countries primarily in macroeconomic indicators. Leadership gives them a higher GDP, the availability of capital for investment, an open market that is in consumer demand. Developing countries need to overcome many economic and political nuances in order to achieve a higher status.
Our modern world is amazingly diverse. It is a neighborhood of rich and poor, developed and developing countries. How do they differ from each other? And which states can be classified as economically developed? Read about it in our article.
Developed and developing countries: the problem of identification
At the very beginning, it should be noted that the UN does not provide clear criteria by which a country can be attributed to one or another type. Thus, developed countries (English version of the term: developed countries) are designated as states that currently occupy a leading position in the world economy.
Developing countries are states with low living standards, lack of free market mechanisms, oligarchic governments, and so on. It is interesting that in the modern world there are also countries that do not develop at all. For these states, the UN came up with another class: "least developed states." The latter include Niger, Somalia, Chad, Bangladesh and a number of countries in Africa and Asia.
Such states of the planet as Japan, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, as well as a number of European countries are usually classified as economically developed countries of the world. But the countries of the former USSR are not included at all in any of the above groups, which indicates a certain subjectivity and imperfection of this political and economic classification.
Economically developed countries: the essence of the concept and selection criteria
Under economically developed states are meant countries with a market economy and the highest standard of living of their citizens. There are criteria according to which economists single out developed countries. These include the following:
- market model of the economy;
- high GDP per capita (over $12,000 per year);
- high social standards;
- the predominance of service enterprises in the structure of the economy;
- openness and transparency of power;
- active development of science and education;
- manufacturability and high productivity of agriculture.
Today, economically developed countries are the main carriers of the world's scientific and technical potential. In many ways, it is this feature that is the main factor in the competitiveness of their economies.
Geography of developed countries
Developed countries today account for about 75% of the world's gross domestic product. At the same time, only 15% of the population of the planet Earth lives in these states. It is between the developed countries that the main part of international capital and "minds" moves.
According to the classification of the IMF (International Monetary Fund), 34 modern states belong to economically developed countries. These are the USA, Canada, all countries of the Eurozone, some states of East Asia, as well as Australia and New Zealand. The map below gives a general idea of their planetary geography (all developed countries of the world are marked in blue on it).
In the group of developed countries, the “seven” of the most developed countries also stands out. These include the USA, Japan, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain and Italy.
Industrial states of the planet
Industrialized or industrialized countries are a group of states whose economies are based on industry, industry. In the English literature there is a term: industrial countries.
If an industrial product occupies more than 50% in the structure of the country's GDP and exports, then it is usually classified as a group of industrialized countries. The list of these countries is determined by the IMF. Moreover, it is regularly changed and corrected.
In addition to industrial countries, the world also distinguishes agrarian (the economy of which is based mainly on agriculture), as well as agro-industrial countries.
Developed country examples: Japan
The Japanese economy is one of the most developed in the world. In terms of GDP, Japan ranks third in the world. High technologies are highly developed here, Japanese cars and ships are valued all over the world. The Japanese transportation system is known for its high-speed and modernized railways and highways.
The Japanese economic model is very unusual. It provides for the unity of big capital and state power in solving the country's pressing problems. The government, together with the largest Japanese concerns, are clearly coordinating their actions.
Agriculture in Japan manages not only to provide for its huge domestic needs, but also exports about half of all food produced in the country abroad. The basis of the agricultural complex here are small farms and farms.
USA: historical aspects of the state economy
The current success of the American economy is the result of several factors. Which ones?
First of all, this country got at its disposal vast and sparsely populated expanses, with the richest natural resource potential. On its basis, both industry and agriculture effectively developed. Another important point: in the United States there have never been so-called pre-capitalist relations, the "traces" of which would put spokes in the wheels of the country's development.
During the 19th-20th centuries, a huge number of "minds" moved to the United States - highly qualified, active and promising personnel. All of them have found their application in a prosperous overseas country, which laid a powerful foundation for the development of American science, higher education and technology.
The rapid growth of the population in the United States stimulated the development of the service sector. The country's economy has become consumer-oriented: already in 1915, the millionth passenger car was produced in the United States. It should be noted that none of the World Wars caused any damage to the US economy and infrastructure (unlike the countries of Europe, Russia or Japan, which took a long time to recover from the hard times of the war).
The role of the state in the modern American economy remains high. It fully controls the activities of individual branches of the national economy. First of all, we are talking about the military sector, the nuclear industry and some other areas.
Is Russia a developing or a developed country?
Is Russia a developed country or not? The International Monetary Fund answers this question unequivocally: no. Although Russia is not on the list of developing countries. But the Russian Federation can be safely attributed to the number of industrialized countries.
The economy of the Russian Federation is the fifth largest in the world in terms of total GDP. Its share in the world economy is about 3-3.5%. The leading sectors in the structure of the national economy of Russia are mining, construction, manufacturing, and the electric power industry.
The country exports mainly oil, natural gas, oil products, non-ferrous metals, timber, as well as various military equipment. Among the main import items, it is worth highlighting rolled steel, cars, appliances and equipment, pharmaceuticals and more. The main foreign trade partners of Russia are China, Germany, Belarus, Poland, Kazakhstan, France and Italy.
Finally…
Developed countries are states that occupy a leading place in the modern world economy and politics. All of them are distinguished by common features: high living standards, openness of power, the rapid development of science, the active introduction of high technologies in production, agriculture and other areas of people's lives and activities.
According to the IMF classification, there are 34 developed countries in the modern world. Almost all of them are located in the Northern Hemisphere, mainly within Europe.
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Developed countries typically include the 24 high-income industrialized countries of North America, Western Europe and the Pacific. Among the industrial countries, the most significant role is played by the countries of the so-called Group of 7 Big "7": the USA, Japan, Germany, Canada, Great Britain, Italy, France.
As economically developed countries, the International Monetary Fund singles out the states:
Countries qualifying by the World Bank and the IMF as countries with developed economies in the late XX - early XXI centuries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, USA.
The more complete group of developed countries also includes Andorra, Bermuda, Faroe Islands, Vatican City, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino.
Among the main features of developed countries, it is advisable to highlight the following:
1.GDP per capita averages about 20 thousand dollars and is constantly growing. This determines the high level of consumption and investment and the standard of living of the population as a whole. The social support is the “middle class”, which shares the values and basic foundations of society.
2. The sectoral structure of the economies of developed countries is evolving towards the dominance of industry and a pronounced trend towards the transformation of the industrial economy into a post-industrial one. The service sector is rapidly developing, and it is the leader in terms of the share of the population employed in it. Scientific and technological progress has a significant impact on economic growth and the structure of the economy.
3. The business structure of developed countries is heterogeneous. The leading role in the economy belongs to powerful concerns - TNCs (transnational corporations). The exception is a group of some small European countries where there are no world-class TNCs. However, the economies of developed countries are also characterized by the widespread use of medium and small businesses as a factor in economic and social stability. This business employs up to 2/3 of the economically active population. In many countries, small business provides up to 80% of new jobs and affects the sectoral structure of the economy.
The economic mechanism of developed countries includes three levels: spontaneous market, corporate and state. It corresponds to a developed system of market relations and diversified methods of state regulation. Their combination determines flexibility, quick adaptability to changing conditions of reproduction and, in general, high efficiency of economic activity.
4. The state of developed countries is an active participant in economic activity. The goals of state regulation are the formation of the most favorable conditions for the self-growth of capital and the maintenance of the socio-economic stability of society. The most important means of state regulation are administrative and legal (developed systems of economic law), fiscal (state budget and social funds), monetary and state property. The general trend since the early 1960s has been to reduce the role of state property from an average of 9% to 7% of GDP. Moreover, it is concentrated mainly in the infrastructure sector. Differences between countries in terms of the degree of state regulation are determined by the intensity of the redistributive functions of the state through its finances: most intensively in Western Europe, to a lesser extent in the USA and Japan.
5. The economies of developed countries are characterized by openness to the world economy and liberal organization of the foreign trade regime. Leadership in world production determines their leading role in world trade, international capital flows, and international monetary and settlement relations. In the field of international labor migration, developed countries act as hosts.
developing countries
Developing countries today represent the largest group of countries (more than 130), which sometimes develop so significantly in terms of per capita income, economic structure, and social structure of society that sometimes there is doubt about the appropriateness of including them in one classification group.However, recognizing the extreme diversity of the third world, it is necessary to evaluate the common thing that unites its participants not only formally, but also in reality, revealing a common position on world problems. The commonality of approaches to world problems is found in a common policy, for the more effective implementation of which developing countries create various interstate organizations (for example, the Organization of African Unity).
Without pretending to an unambiguous assessment, in our opinion, we can determine the following general characteristics of third world countries:
1) The scale of the spread of poverty.
Most developing countries are characterized by a very low standard of living of the population. At the same time, it should be taken into account that the bulk of the population of these countries has a low standard of living, not only in comparison with developed countries, but also in comparison with the few rich groups of the population in their countries. In other words, in poor countries there are rich people, but there is no middle class. As a result, a system of income distribution is observed, when the incomes of the 20% of the upper strata of society are 5-10 times higher than the incomes of the 40% of the lower strata.
2) Low level of labor productivity.
According to the concept of the production function, there is a systemic relationship between the volume of production and the combination of factors that create it (labor, capital) at the current level of technology. But this concept of technical dependency must be complemented by a broader approach. For example, it is necessary to take into account such factors as management, employee motivation, and the effectiveness of institutional structures. In third world countries, labor productivity is extremely low compared to industrialized countries. The reason for this may be, in particular, the absence or severe shortage of additional factors of production (physical capital, management experience). To increase productivity, it is necessary to mobilize domestic savings and attract foreign capital for investment in physical factors of production and in human capital. And this requires improving the system of general and special education, reforms, land tenure reform, tax reform, the creation and improvement of the banking system, the formation of a non-corrupt and efficient administrative apparatus. It is also necessary to take into account the attitude of workers and management to improve their skills, the ability of the population to adapt to changes in production and society, attitude to discipline, initiative, attitude to power. The impact of low incomes on labor productivity in Third World countries is manifested in the poor health of the general population.
It is known that poor nutrition in childhood has an extremely negative effect on the physical and intellectual development of the child. An irrational and inadequate diet, lack of basic personal hygiene conditions can undermine the health of workers in the future and adversely affect labor motivation. The low level of productivity in this situation is due in large part to apathy, physical and emotional inability to compete in the labor market.
3) High population growth rates. The most obvious indicator that characterizes the differences between industrialized countries is the birth rate. No developed country reaches the birth rate of 20 births per 1,000 people. population. In developing countries, the birth rate varies from 20 people (Argentina, China, Thailand, Chile) to 50 people (Niger, Zambia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda). Of course, the mortality rate in developing countries is higher than in industrialized ones, the improvement in health care in third world countries makes this development not so significant. Therefore, the population growth rate in developing countries today averages 2% (2.3% without China), and in industrialized countries - 0.5% per year. Therefore, in third world countries, approximately 40% of the population are children under the age of 15 (less than 21% in developed countries). In most third world countries, the burden on the economically active part of the population (from 15 to 64 years old) in terms of maintenance of the disabled part of society is almost 2 times higher than in industrialized countries.
4) High and rising unemployment.
In itself, population growth is not a negative factor in economic development. But in conditions of economic stagnation, additional jobs are not created, so high natural population growth generates huge unemployment. If hidden unemployment is added to visible unemployment, then almost 35% of the labor force in developing countries is not employed.
5) Great dependence on agricultural production and export of fuel and raw materials.
Approximately 65% of the population in developing countries lives in rural areas, and in industrialized countries - 27%. More than 60% of the labor force in third world countries and only 7% in industrialized countries are employed in agricultural production, while the contribution of the agricultural sector to the creation of GNP is about 20% and 3%, respectively. The concentration of the labor force in the agricultural sector and the primary sector of industry is due to the fact that low incomes force people to take care of food, clothing, and housing in the first place. The productivity of agricultural production is low due to an excess of labor in relation to the natural area for cultivating the land, as well as due to primitive technology, poor organization, lack of material resources and poor quality of labor.
The situation is complicated by the system of land use, in which the peasants are most often not the owners, but the tenants of small plots. This nature of agrarian relations does not create economic incentives for productivity growth. But even in countries where land is abundant, primitive tools do not make it possible to cultivate a plot of more than 5-8 hectares.
In addition to the dominance of the agricultural sector in the economy, exports of primary products (agriculture and forestry, fuel and other types of mineral raw materials) are observed in third world countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, primary products account for more than 92% of foreign exchange earnings.
6) Subordinate position, vulnerability in the system of international economic relations.
It is necessary to emphasize the sharp disparity in the economic and political power of third world countries and industrialized countries. It manifests itself in the dominance of rich countries in international trade, in the ability of the latter to dictate the terms of technology transfer, investment and foreign aid.
A significant, although less obvious, factor in the persistence of underdevelopment is the transfer to developing countries of a system of Western values, behavior, and institutions. For example, planting in the past in the colonies inappropriate education systems and programs for them, the organization of trade unions and administrative systems according to Western models. Today, the high economic and social standards of developed countries have an even greater impact (demonstration effect). The lifestyle of the Western elite, the desire for wealth can contribute to corruption, theft of national wealth in developing countries by a privileged minority. Finally, the brain drain from third world countries to developed countries also negatively affects the economic development of the emigration of qualified personnel. The cumulative impact of all negative factors determines the vulnerability of developing countries to external factors that can have a major impact on their economic and social situation.
The diversity of developing countries necessitates a certain classification that could reflect their differentiation.
The classification of developing countries developed by the UN makes it possible to distinguish 3 groups of countries: the least developed (44 countries), developing countries - non-oil exporters (88 countries) and OPEC member countries (13 oil exporting countries).
Another classification is proposed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which includes some countries and territories not covered by UN statistics. This classification includes low-income countries (61 countries), middle-income countries (73 countries), newly industrialized countries (11 countries), and OPEC oil exporting countries (13 countries).
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has developed its own classification system. This classification includes 125 countries (developing and developed), each with a population of more than 1 million people. These countries are then divided on the basis of per capita income into four groups: low income, middle income, upper middle income, and high income. The first three groups cover 101 countries, most of which are developing countries. The remaining 24 high-income countries are divided into 2 groups: 19 countries are typical industrialized countries, and 5 countries (Hong Kong, Kuwait, Israel, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates) are classified by the UN as developing countries.
To assess the degree of differentiation of developing countries, 7 indicators can be applied:
1) Country sizes (area, population and per capita income).
Of the 145 member countries of the UN, 90 countries have a population of less than 15 million people. Large countries coexist with small ones. A large territory usually brings advantages: possession of natural resources and capacious potential markets, less dependence on imported raw materials.
2) Features of historical development and the colonial period.
Most of the developing countries were in the past colonies of Western European countries, the USA, and Japan. The economic structures and social institutions of the colonies were modeled after the metropolises.
3) Provision of material and labor resources. Some developing countries are very rich in mineral resources (the countries of the Persian Gulf, Brazil, Zambia), others are very poor (Bangladesh, Haiti, Chad, etc.).
4) The role of the private and public sectors.
In general, the private sector in the economy is more developed in Latin America and Southeast Asia than in South Asia and Africa.
5) The nature of production structures.
There is a certain differentiation in the sectoral structure of the economies of developing countries, although most of them are agricultural raw materials. Subsistence and commercial agricultural production provides employment for most of the population. But in the 1970s and 1990s, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia dramatically accelerated the development of the manufacturing industry and actually turned into industrial countries.
6) The degree of dependence on external economic and political forces.
The degree of dependence on external factors is influenced by the provision of the country with material resources, the structure of the economy and foreign economic relations.
7) Institutional and political structure of society.
The political structure, the interests of social groups and the alliances of the ruling elites (large landowners, the comprador part of big business, bankers, the military) usually predetermine the development strategy, and can be a brake on progressive changes in the economy and society, preserving economic backwardness if the ongoing changes seriously infringe on their interests.
At the same time, it should be noted that no matter how the balance of power between the military, industrial and large landowners in Latin America, between politicians, high officials and leaders of tribal clans in Africa, between oil sheikhs and financial magnates in the Middle East, most developing countries openly or veiledly controlled by small, but rich and powerful elites. Democratic attributes (elections to local authorities and parliament, freedom of speech) are often just a screen that covers the real power in the country.
industrialized countries
Industrialized countries include 24 countries that are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). These are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Canada, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand. Norway, Portugal, San Marino, USA, Finland, France, Sweden, Switzerland. Japan. Since 1996 Singapore was classified as an industrialized country.The main features of industrialized countries:
1) High level of GDP per capita. In most industrialized countries, this figure is at the level of 15 to 30 thousand dollars per capita per year. In industrialized countries, GDP per capita per year is about 5 times higher than the world average.
2) Diversified structure of the economy. At the same time, the service sector currently provides the production of more than 60% of the GDP of industrialized countries.
3) The social structure of society. Industrialized countries are characterized by a smaller income gap between the poorest and richest 20% of the population and the presence of a powerful middle class with high living standards.
Industrialized countries play a leading role in the global economy. Their share in the world gross product is more than 54%, and the share in world exports is more than 70%. Among the industrialized countries, the so-called countries of the seven, or C-7, play the most important role. These are the USA, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan. They provide 47% of the world's gross product and 51% of world exports. Among the countries of the seven, the United States dominates.
In the 1990s, the US economy steadily ranked first in terms of competitiveness, but the US economic leadership in the world tended to weaken. Thus, the share of the United States in the GDP of the non-socialist world decreased from 31% in 1950 to 31%. up to 20% now. The share of the United States in the exports of the non-socialist world decreased especially significantly - from 18% in 1960 to 12% in 1997. The US share of world direct foreign investment has fallen from 62% in 1960 to 20% today. The main reason for the relative weakening of the US position in the world economy is the high economic growth rates of Japan and Western Europe, which rather quickly, using American assistance under the Marshall Plan, restored the economy destroyed by the war and carried out profound structural changes in the economy, creating new industries. At a certain stage, Japanese and Western European sectors of the economy achieved international competitiveness and began to successfully compete in the world market with American companies (for example, German and Japanese automobile corporations).
However, despite the relative weakening of the US economic position, the role of the US in the global economy after the Second World War has always been a leading one. First, compared to any country in the world, the United States has the largest GDP - more than $ 7 trillion. dollars per year and, accordingly, the most capacious domestic market in the world. But the main factor of US economic leadership is leadership in the field of scientific and technological progress, the introduction of its results into production. The US today accounts for 40% of the world's R&D (research and development) spending. The share of the United States in world exports of science-intensive products is 20%. Most notably, the United States leads the way in information technology. Currently, the United States hosts 75% of the data banks of all industrialized countries. In addition, the US leads the world in food production, providing, in particular, more than 50% of world grain exports.
After the collapse of the USSR and the world socialist system, the United States became the only world superpower that is the economic, political and military leader of the modern world. The preservation and strengthening of the leading role of the United States in the world is officially enshrined in the US National Security Concept.
The second center of economic power is Western Europe.
Western Europe is dominated by two market economy models: democratic corporatism and the social market model.
Both models have a lot in common, so there is no hard boundary between them:
1. Democratic corporatism.
Typical for countries such as Sweden, Austria. This model is characterized by a high share of state entrepreneurship in the production of goods and services, and in investments. The promotion of economic growth and general welfare is carried out by coordinating public and private interests. The labor market is characterized by strong trade unions and sectoral labor agreements. Preference is given to adapting the workforce to the labor market through professional retraining. The state pursues an active employment policy and provides a high level of unemployment benefits.
2. Social market model.
This model is more typical for Germany. The share of state entrepreneurship in the production of goods and services, in investments is insignificant. This model provides support for both individual groups of the population (youth, low-income people) and entrepreneurs who cannot resist large corporations (small businesses, farmers). The social market model is based on an unspoken consensus of social and political forces.
The economic development of Western Europe after the Second World War is inseparable from the process of integration that has engulfed all of Western Europe.
The economic development of Western Europe in the post-war period, which took place in the context of deepening and expanding integration, was dynamic and successful. Western Europe quickly restored the economy destroyed by the war, created modern competitive sectors of the economy, increasing its share in world production and exports compared to the United States.
The world leadership of Western Europe can be characterized by the following components:
1) Western Europe today is the main center of international trade, providing more than 50% of world exports, ahead of the US and Japan. Western Europe now accounts for more than 40% of the world's gold and foreign exchange reserves.
2) Western Europe is leading in the pharmaceutical industry, in certain branches of transport engineering, in some branches of light industry. In addition, Western Europe is a major center of international tourism.
Main economic problems
The share of Western Europe in the world economy has declined somewhat over the past 20 years, economic growth rates have been low, and many traditional industries have survived the crisis (metallurgy, textile industry). European firms have failed to be highly competitive in electronics and telecommunications, where the US is leading. In the field of mass production of high-tech goods, Western Europe lags behind Japan and the newly industrialized countries of Southeast Asia. But the main economic and social problem in Western Europe remains mass unemployment, which reaches 10% of the labor force, which is much higher than in the US and Japan.
The third center of the world economic - Japan. To characterize the economic model of Japan, the concept of hierarchical corporatism is currently used.
The characteristic of this model includes the following features:
1) insignificant participation of the state in the production of goods and services, in marketing, in investments.
2) the active participation of the state in stimulating business activity, in changing the structure of the economy.
3) in the labor market, the simultaneous conclusion of labor agreements at the firm level is practiced. Labor relations are characterized by firm paternalism (the system of lifetime employment, the firm is our common home).
4) Firms and the state pay special attention to improving the skills of the workforce, involving workers in production management.
In the economic literature, the concept of the Japanese economic miracle is used to characterize the economic development of Japan, which emphasizes the phenomenal success of the country, which has turned from a second-rate and isolated country into a world power with a dynamic and competitive open market economy.
Population of developed countries
The population of developed countries is aging.For the majority of the population of developed countries, wages are the main source of subsistence; as a rule, they make up from 2/3 to 3/4 of the national income.
The average standard of living of the population of developed countries is largely determined by unearned income, and the inequality of individuals is associated primarily with the uneven ownership of property. For example, in the United States, 1% of the population owns 19% of the total wealth of the country.
Loans are provided, first, to increase food production and improve the living standards of the poorest segments of the population of the least developed food-deficit countries. Secondly, to increase the potential for food production in other developing countries in order to improve the living conditions of the poorest segments of the population.
78% of the population of developed countries and 40% of the population of developing countries will live in cities and urban agglomerations. The highest rates of urbanization are characteristic of Europe, North and Latin America, and Oceania.
The most difficult at present is a complex of ethical problems associated with the inevitable decrease in the level of consumption of material goods by the population of developed countries and changes in social relations.
The reasons for the growing role of environmental management in the service sector are associated with both the aggravation of the environmental situation and the formation of an environmental outlook among the population of developed countries.
The age pyramid of the population of developing countries sharply narrows from the bottom to the top, while the wall of the age pyramid of the population of developed countries is almost steep, and sometimes even has a negative steepness - until the rise reaches the oldest age classes. Such sharp differences are partly due to the fact that in developing countries the birth rate is higher and the survival rate is lower.
The organization of a person is also characterized by his accuracy, discipline, commitment, law-abidingness. The population of developed countries has these qualities to a much greater extent than the population of other countries. This is due to various reasons, including traditions and the system of education.
But there are also pessimistic scenarios. The declining population of developed countries opens Eldorado to the countries of the big population explosion. Underprivileged nations, but on the rise of population growth, may appropriate for themselves—by good or by force—the lands and resources of wealthy but declining nations. These latter will gradually mix with the aliens until they lose their individuality. They will disappear, as many nations have already disappeared, having fallen into a similar situation.
In recent decades, the population of developed countries is focused on the search for social compromises. The main part of the population prefers to solve social problems rationalistically, without extremes, on the basis of the rules defined by existing laws.
The change in the position of man as a consumer of material and spiritual goods is also associated with the scientific and technological revolution. In the conditions of satisfying the most urgent needs of the vast majority of the population of developed countries, the evolution of needs that stimulate production is going in the direction of not quantitative, but qualitative improvement of all aspects of people's lives. At the same time, both the process of unifying the needs of various groups and strata of society, erasing the visible boundaries between these social formations, and the process of individualization of needs, associated with a more general movement aimed at increasing the autonomy of the individual in the light of less rigidity and greater mobility of social ties of modern man, can be traced.
When analyzing the quality of life in a country, the distribution of the population by income is of significant importance. The distribution curve is typical for Russia in the late 80s. It has been repeatedly noted that in a normally functioning economy, the differentiation of personal income can be approximated by a log-normal distribution law.
Thus, 25% of the world's population living in developed countries consumes 80% of the world's gross domestic product. Dynamics of the fertility rate. In developed countries, the total population growth rate (excluding deaths) is 0 6% / yr, and in developing countries it reaches 2 1% / yr. Using these data as a baseline, it can be obtained that the population doubling time in developed countries is 117 years , and developing - only 33 5 years.
The population below working age is projected to decrease by 55 million people. The risk of dying at a younger age in the Russian population is noticeably higher than in the population of developed countries. The population of working age is more likely to die due to external causes, which include accidents, poisoning, injuries. For the population of older and middle ages, the probability of death from cardiovascular diseases is the highest.
The gulf between the two groups of countries is especially pronounced in per capita terms. In developing countries, per capita production of heavy industry products is 30 times less, and metalworking products - 60 times less than per capita in developed countries.
The rudimentary state of technology in less developed countries moves these countries away from the cutting edge of technological progress. The vast amount of technological knowledge accumulated by developed countries could be used by less developed countries without significant research costs. For example, the use of modern experience in crop rotation and contour farming does not require additional capital investments, but significantly increases labor productivity. Large grain losses can be avoided by just increasing the height of the bins by a few inches. Such technological changes may seem quite trivial for the population of developed countries. But for poor nations, the increase in productivity resulting from such changes could mean ending hunger and reaching a level sufficient to survive.
Developed country levels
The stage of a country's economic development largely determines its level of economic development, i.e. the degree of economic maturity of the national economy. According to the level of economic development, countries (more precisely, their economies) are divided into two large groups - developed and less developed. Almost all developed countries are members of an international organization called the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and therefore it is often identified with the club of advanced economies, although the OECD also includes several less developed countries (Turkey, Mexico, Chile, countries of Central and Eastern Europe ). Less developed countries are often referred to as developing countries, emerging market countries, although sometimes these terms are given a narrower meaning. Therefore, cautious researchers refer to the entire group of less developed countries as emerging market and developing countries or developing and transition economies.Among the developed and less developed economies, various subgroups are distinguished, although they are more often called groups. For example, they distinguish a group of twenty (G20) of the largest economies in the world - from developed countries, these are the seven leading developed economies plus the EU presidency plus Australia and South Korea, and from less developed countries, these are the BRICS countries (eng. BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) plus Mexico, Argentina, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia. These countries account for 90% of world GDP, 80% of world trade and two-thirds of the world's population.
Among the developed countries, the group of seven (G7) of the largest developed economies is often analyzed - these are the USA, Japan, Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Canada (at political meetings of this group, Russia is also included in it). There is also such a group of developed newcomer countries as South Korea, Singapore, Fr. Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Among the less developed countries, under the abbreviation BRICS, there are five leading economies on their continents. At the same time, other groups are being analyzed: these are the newly industrialized countries (NICs) at the stage of active industrialization, led by China, India and Brazil; countries with economies in transition, which include former socialist countries transitioning to a market economy; countries - exporters of fuel, as well as countries - exporters of other raw materials, in which fuel or other types of raw materials account for more than half of their exports; the least developed countries, which have a GDP per capita of less than $750, a low human development index, and economic growth are highly unstable; debtor countries, which the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lists as countries with a negative current account balance over the past four decades, as well as poor countries with large external debt. Many countries fall into several groups at the same time, such as Russia: it is a member of the BRICS, is a country with a transitional economy and belongs to the fuel exporting countries.
The typology of countries according to the level of economic development differs for different international organizations. The following is a typology of the IMF, combined with its statistics on the share of groups, subgroups and individual countries in world GDP production (calculated at purchasing power parity (PPP) of national currencies, i.e. in US prices).
Traditional and socialist economic systems
The traditional economic system (traditional economy), often called pre-capitalist, continues to dominate only in the backward countries of Asia and Africa, which are still at that stage of economic development when labor and land remain the main economic resources.
The traditional system is characterized by the dominance of such forms of ownership as communal (mainly in the form of communal ownership of land), state (again, mainly land), and earlier such a form of ownership as feudal (characterized by land ownership under the conditions of fulfilling feudal duties). In this system, the freedom of economic agents is strongly constrained by the community, the state and the feudal lords. Economic decisions are made not only in conditions of constraint on the rights of private property, but also on the basis of time-honored traditions (in medieval Russia, they tried to "live in the old days"), which also reduces the independence and, accordingly, the activity of economic agents.
Previously, the traditional system dominated all countries for thousands of years and hence its name. There are no longer states in the world in which it dominates, but there are many countries where it coexists with the market system. Such islands of the traditional economy in a market system are called ways.
The socialist economic system (socialist economy, socialism) is now functioning only in North Korea and Cuba, although in the last century it existed in our country and many other countries. It is based on the dominance of public, primarily state, property (predominantly state-owned or cooperative enterprises), which greatly hampers the independence of economic agents. In such a system, it is not customary to reward entrepreneurs other than managers of state-owned firms. Key economic decisions are ultimately made by the main owner, the state, mainly in the form of directives (orders) for enterprises.
The shortcomings of the socialist economic system led to the transition of the vast majority of the states of this system to the rails of the market system, and therefore their economies are often called transition economies, and they are countries with economies in transition.
Socially developed countries
The world economy is a system of national economies of individual countries, united by the international division of labor, trade, production, financial, scientific and technical ties. This is a global geo-economic space in which, in the interests of increasing the efficiency of material production, goods, services, capitals circulate freely: human, financial, scientific and technical. The world economy is a holistic, but at the same time contradictory system of national economies. Not all countries (and there are about two hundred of them) are equally involved in the world economy. From the point of view of the level of their development and the socio-economic organization of production in the complex structure of the world economy, the center and the periphery are quite clearly visible. The center is mainly industrialized countries with an efficient, more or less regulated market economy, capable of quickly adapting to the world economic situation and mastering the achievements of scientific and technological progress, and exporting high-tech products. Periphery - first of all, developing countries, as a rule, having a raw material specialization, an insufficiently effective mechanism for self-development, a relatively low level of an integrated economy.The center is a relatively small group of industrialized countries (24 states (USA, Canada, Western Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand)), which account for almost 55% of world GDP and 71% of world exports. These countries have a highly efficient and well-organized economy, developing according to the type of "social market economy". Their economic mechanism, which has a high elasticity, allows them to flexibly adapt to the world economic situation. They quickly introduce the achievements of scientific and technical thought.
The periphery includes mainly developing countries. With all their diversity, a number of common features can be distinguished:
The multistructural nature of the economy with the predominance of non-market relations and non-economic levers of the organization of the economy;
Low level of development of productive forces, backwardness of industry and agriculture;
Raw material specialization.
In general, they occupy a dependent position in the world economy.
The center and the periphery are two pluses of a single world economy. They are not isolated, but, on the contrary, are closely interconnected. However, economic cooperation between them has a rather contradictory character, since they are aimed at solving various problems.
Having achieved a high standard of living, developed countries are creating a qualitatively different structure of production and consumption, which are increasingly associated with the leisure and service industries, while in many developing countries there is not even enough food. In general, between the center and the periphery of the world economy, the difference in living conditions continues to increase.
The main groups of countries: developed countries with market economies, countries with economies in transition, developing countries. The most complete picture of the groups of countries in the international economy is given by the data of the largest international organizations in the world - the UN, the IMF and the World Bank. Their assessment is somewhat different, since the number of countries participating in these organizations is different (the UN - 185, the IMF - 182, the World Bank - 181 countries), and international organizations monitor the economies of only their member countries.
For the purposes of economic analysis, the UN divides countries into:
Developed countries (states with a market economy);
countries with economies in transition (formerly socialist countries or countries with central planning);
developing countries.
Consider the features of each of the selected subsystems. Countries with a developed economy are those states that are characterized by the presence of market relations in the economy, a high level of rights and civil liberties in public and political life. All countries with developed economies belong to the capitalist model of development, although the nature of the development of capitalist relations here has serious differences. The level of GDP per capita in almost all developed countries is not less than 15 thousand dollars a year, the level of social protection guaranteed by the state (pensions, unemployment benefits, compulsory medical insurance), life expectancy, the quality of education and medical care, the level of cultural development. Developed countries have passed the agrarian and industrial stage of development with the predominant importance and contribution to the creation of the GDP of agriculture and industry. Now these countries are at the stage of post-industrialism, which is characterized by the leading role in the national economy of the sphere of non-material production, which creates from 60% to 80% of GDP, efficient production of goods and services, high consumer demand, constant progress in science and technology, strengthening of the social policy of the state .
The group of countries with developed economies, the IMF includes, first of all, the leading capitalist countries, called the Big Seven (G7), which includes the United States, Japan, Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy and Canada. These states occupy a dominant position in the world economy, primarily because of their powerful economic, scientific, technical and military potential, large population, high level of aggregate and specific GDP. Further, the group of developed countries includes relatively small in comparison with the potential of the G7, but economically and scientifically highly developed countries of Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Such states as South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan (the so-called dragon countries of Southeast Asia) and Israel began to be considered economically developed. Their inclusion in the group of developed countries was a merit for the rapid progress in economic development in the post-war period. This is a truly unique example in world history, when absolutely nothing of themselves back in the 1950s. countries seized world economic superiority in a number of positions and turned into important world industrial, scientific, technical and financial centers. The level of GDP per capita, the quality of life in the dragon countries and Israel have come close to those of the leading developed countries and in some cases (Hong Kong, Singapore) even surpass most of the G7 countries. Nevertheless, in the subgroup under consideration there are certain problems with the development of a free market in its Western sense, there is its own philosophy of the formation of capitalist relations.
The UN includes South Africa among the developed countries, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) also includes Turkey and Mexico, which are members of this organization, although they are rather developing countries, but they entered it on a territorial basis (Turkey belongs to part of Europe, and Mexico is part of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Thus, the number of developed countries includes about 30 countries and territories.
Developed countries are the main group of countries in the world economy. In the late 90s. they accounted for 55% of world GDP, 71% of world trade and most of the international capital movement. The G7 countries account for more than 44% of world GDP, including the USA - 21, Japan - 7, Germany - 5%. Most developed countries are members of integration associations, of which the most powerful are the European Union - the EU (20% of world GDP) and the North American Free Trade Agreement - NAFTA (24%).
Countries with economies in transition
This group includes states that from the 80-90s. carry out the transition from an administrative-command (socialist) economy to a market economy (which is why they are often called post-socialist). These are 12 countries of Central and Eastern Europe, 15 countries are former Soviet republics, and according to some classifications they also include Mongolia, China and Vietnam (although formally the last two countries continue to build socialism). Sometimes this entire group of countries is classified as developing (for example, in IMF statistics), based on the low level of GDP per capita (only in the Czech Republic and Slovenia it exceeds $10,000), and sometimes only the last three countries are included in them.
Countries with economies in transition produce about 6% of world GDP, including the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (without the Baltics) - less than 2%, the former Soviet republics - more than 4% (including Russia - about 3%). Share in world export - 3%. China produces about 12% of the world's GDP. There are countries here that have made significant progress in economic development over ten years of market reforms: Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. In some of them, the standard of living has come close to the standards of Western European countries, and economic growth rates remain consistently high and even exceed those of Western Europe. The main structural transformations in the economy have already been carried out, and the issue of integration into the single European market is on the agenda.
Other states, such as Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Albania, Macedonia, are in the process of transformation of the entire economic system, and they have yet to solve rather complex problems of the transition period. There are also countries that are experiencing stagnation and have already stopped moving towards a market orientation. These include, for example, Belarus, where market reforms have stalled and there is a serious threat of a return to the old administrative-command system. This group also includes countries that have been seriously affected by hostilities as a result of the violation of their territorial integrity and numerous ethnic conflicts. Such states are simply not in the mood for reforms now, they are faced with the problem of restoring the war-torn economy. These are Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
If in this youngest group of countries one tries to distinguish subgroups, then a different classification is possible. One group can be divided into the former Soviet republics, which are now united in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). This makes it possible to make a similar approach to reforming the economy, a close level of development of most of these countries, uniting in one integration grouping, although the subgroup is quite heterogeneous.
Another subgroup can include the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, including the Baltic countries. These countries are characterized by a predominantly radical approach to reforms, a desire to join the EU, and a relatively high level of development of most of them. However, the strong lag behind the leaders of this subgroup, the less radical reforms lead some economists to the conclusion that it is advisable to include Albania, Bulgaria, Romania and some republics of the former Yugoslavia in the first subgroup.
China and Vietnam can be singled out as a separate subgroup, carrying out reforms in a similar way and having a low level of socio-economic development in the first years of reform, which is now rapidly increasing.
From the former large group of countries with administrative- by the end of the 90s. only two countries remained: Cuba and North Korea.
Developing countries (DC)
The group of developing countries (less developed, underdeveloped) includes states with a market economy and a low level of economic development. Of the 182 countries that are members of the International Monetary Fund, 121 are classified as developing. Despite the significant number of these countries, as well as the fact that many of them are characterized by a large population and vast territory, they account for about 40% of world exports 26%.
They represent the periphery of the world economic system. This includes the countries of Africa, the countries of the Asia-Pacific Region - Asia-Pacific (except Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the dragon countries of Southeast Asia and the Asian states of the CIS), the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Subgroups of developing countries are also distinguished, in particular, a subgroup of Asia-Pacific countries (Western Asia plus Iran, China, countries of East and South Asia - all other countries of the region), a subgroup of African countries (Sub-Saharan Africa minus Nigeria and South Africa - all other African countries beyond except Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria, Tunisia).
The whole grouping of developing countries is very heterogeneous, and, rather, it would be more correct to call it third world countries. Developing states include, in particular, those states that, in many respects of the level and quality of life, are higher than any developed country (the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait or the Bahamas). GDP per capita, the amount of government social spending here corresponds to or even exceeds that of the G7 countries. There are medium-sized countries in the group of developing countries, with a good level of development of economic and social infrastructure, there are also a significant number of countries with an extremely backward national economy, the majority of whose population is below the poverty line, corresponding, according to the UN methodology, to one dollar of expenditure per day per inhabitant. It also cannot be argued that all of them are economies of the agrarian or agrarian-industrial type.
The name of the group - developing countries - rather reflects the model of their national economy, in which the role of market mechanisms and private entrepreneurship is extremely small, and subsistence or semi-subsistence economy, the predominance of the agricultural and industrial sectors in the sectoral structure of the economy, a high degree of state intervention in the economy and a low level of social protection. Due to the general nature of the above features, it is quite legitimate to classify as developing states the majority of transitional economies, in which the standard of living has significantly decreased due to the ineffective management of economic transformations. In view of such difficulties in classification and the diversity of developing countries, it is easiest to classify them by the method of exclusion. Accordingly, developing countries should be considered those states that are not included in the group of countries with developed market economies and are not the former socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe or the former republics of the former USSR.
For the purposes of specific economic analysis, developing countries are divided into:
Countries - net creditors: Brunei, Qatar, Kuwait, Libya, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia;
net debtor countries: all other DCs;
energy exporting countries: Algeria, Angola, Bahrain, Venezuela, Vietnam, Gabon, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Cameroon, Qatar, Colombia, Congo, Kuwait, Libya, Mexico, Nigeria, UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Ecuador;
energy importing countries: all other RSs;
Least developed countries: Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Bhutan, Vanuatu, Haiti, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Djibouti, Democratic Republic of the Congo (former Zaire), Cape Verde, Zambia, Yemen, Cambodia, Kiribati, Comoros, Laos, Lesotho, Liberia, Mauritania, Madagascar, Rwanda, Western Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia.
Problems of developed countries
Functional illiteracy, which will be discussed in the article, is somewhat similar to an iceberg: a visible, but smaller part is outside, a large, but hidden, inside. This phenomenon is complex and multifaceted. Currently, it is being studied by scientists and comprehended by the general public in many countries. They argue about it, look for approaches, develop special programs, and so on. The information below represents one of the attempts to approach this problem and in no way claims to be a comprehensive analysis of it. However, in our opinion, they are necessary, because for Russia, this problem is likely to become extremely aggravated in the near future. In the early 1980s, a number of developed countries were struck by reports of the presence in them, hitherto considered cultural, of a paradoxical phenomenon called "functional illiteracy." This was the beginning of awareness among the general population of a new process, which later led to significant reforms in educational systems and socio-cultural policy. “The nation is in danger”, “the crisis of reading has come”, “are we becoming proletarians?” - these and other similar expressions reflected the acute concern of different sections of society in America, Canada, Germany, France and other countries with new social cataclysms.What exactly was it about? Functional illiteracy is not adequate to the traditional idea of illiteracy. As defined by UNESCO, this term applies to any person who has significantly lost reading and writing skills and is unable to comprehend a short and simple text relevant to everyday life. The problem turned out to be so acute that 1990, at the initiative of UNESCO, was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly the International Year of Literacy (IGY). During 1991, the results of relevant activities in many countries and international organizations were summed up. Currently, on their basis, legislative acts, decisions, plans and programs are being developed to continue and develop the movement to overcome and prevent illiteracy in its various forms.
How does functional illiteracy manifest itself in everyday life, why has it come to be regarded as a phenomenon that poses a danger to society, what are the reasons for the development of this process? Experts from different countries interpret this phenomenon in different ways and focus on its various aspects. The terms used are also different: “functional illiteracy” (“functional illiteracy”), “secondary illiteracy” (“secondary illiteracy”), “semiliterate” (“semi-literate”), “dysletic”, “dyslexic” (“ those who do not speak a dictionary, with poor vocabulary”), etc. In the United States, in recent years, the term “family litOracy” associated with this problem is widely used, as well as the term “at-Risk” - “those who belong to risk group" or "at risk". But by "danger" and "risk" here is meant something completely different from what is usually meant, because this “risk” is associated precisely with a low level of education, in other words, with functional illiteracy. The term took root in the United States after the report "A nation at risk" ("A nation in danger").
US illiteracy statistics
To illustrate the scale of this phenomenon, here are some impressive figures. According to American researchers, one adult in four is poorly literate. There is also such a phenomenon as passive literacy, when adults and children simply do not like to read. In the report "A Nation in Peril", the National Commission cites the following figures, which it considers as "risk indicators": about 23 million adults in America are functionally illiterate, they find it difficult to cope with the simplest tasks of daily reading, writing and counting, about 13% of all Seventeen-year-old US citizens may be considered functionally illiterate. Functional illiteracy among young people can rise to 40%; many of them do not have a range of intellectual skills that one would expect from them: about 40% cannot draw conclusions from the text, only 20% can write an essay where there will be a convincing argument, and only 1/3 of them can solve a mathematical task requiring step-by-step actions.
According to D. Kozol (1985), data from various sources show that approximately 60 to 80 million Americans are illiterate or semi-literate; from 23 to 30 million Americans are completely illiterate; cannot actually read or write; between 35 and 54 million are semi-literate - their reading and writing skills are far below what is needed to "handle the responsibilities of daily life." The author provides a compelling account of how "illiteracy takes a heavy toll on our economy, affects our political system, and, more importantly, the lives of illiterate Americans."
According to the researchers, this problem is especially difficult because it is latent. Adults usually seek to hide the defects of their education and upbringing - inability, ignorance, poor level of information content and other skills and qualities that hinder success in the modern information society.
A functionally illiterate person really has a hard time even at the household level: for example, it is difficult for him to be a buyer and choose the necessary product (because these people are guided not by the information about the product indicated on the package, but only by labels), it is difficult to be a patient (t because when buying a medicine, the instructions for its use are not clear - what are the indications and contraindications, side effects, rules for use, etc.), it is difficult to be a traveler (orient yourself in road signs, terrain plans and other similar information if he has not been in this place, the problem is to calculate in advance and plan for travel expenses, etc.). Among other problems: paying bills, filling out tax receipts and bank documents, processing postal items and letters, and so on. Functionally illiterate people experience problems related to the upbringing of children: sometimes they cannot read the teacher's letter, they are afraid of visiting him, it is difficult for them to help the child with homework, etc. Problems with household electrical appliances, the inability to understand the instructions for them, lead to their damage, and sometimes to household injuries of the owners. Functionally illiterate people cannot work with computers and other similar systems. According to experts, functional illiteracy is one of the main causes of unemployment, accidents, accidents and injuries at work and at home. Losses from it amounted, according to experts, about 237 billion dollars.
Millions of indigenous people in developed countries who have been in school for a number of years have either practically forgotten and lost the skills and abilities of reading and elementary calculations, or the level of these skills and abilities, as well as general educational knowledge, is such that it does not allow them to “function” effectively enough in ever more complex society. In Canada, among those aged 18 and over, 24% are illiterate or functionally illiterate. Among the functionally illiterate, 50% attended school for nine years, 8% had a university degree. The results of a survey in 1988 indicate that 25% of the French did not read books at all during the year, and the number of functionally illiterate is about 10% of the adult population of France. Data presented in a 1989 report by the Ministry of National Education show a low level of schooling: about one in two going to college can write reasonably well, 20% of students do not have reading skills. Meanwhile, success in learning is closely related to the level of reading activity.
According to French researchers, not all functionally illiterate people can be classified as excluded by society in a professional or economic sense. However, all of them are culturally limited to one degree or another and cut off from social and intellectual communication. Regardless of age, economic position and life experience, a functionally illiterate person can be characterized as follows: poor school performance, negative attitude towards cultural institutions due to inability to use them and fear of being judged by experts, etc. It follows from the characteristics that the difficulties experienced by these people are not so much pragmatic difficulties as cultural and emotional ones.
Weak Readers
The group of people closest to the functionally illiterate, or to some extent coinciding with them, can be called "weak readers" - weak readers, who are characterized by "passive reading". This includes adults and children who do not like to read. This group of readers has recently been studied by French sociologists.
The definition of "weak reader" indicates the level of mastery of cultural skills and experience, which depends primarily on education, social background, and especially - on changes in family, professional or social relationships. The authors emphasize that usually a "weak reader" is presented as a person who does not have time to read. In reality, this is a psychological reason: neither his life circumstances nor his professional orientation contribute to the transformation of reading into a permanent habit. He reads from time to time and does not spend much time on it, considering this activity inappropriate. In reading, such people usually look for "useful" information, i.e. information of a practical nature. In addition, in their environment most often they read little and rarely talk (or do not talk at all) about books. For this category of readers, the world of culture is beyond the barrier of its own ignorance: the library evokes a feeling of timidity and is associated with an institution reserved for the initiated, bookstores also offer too much choice, which is more of an obstacle than an incentive to reading. School literary education, received in childhood and fell on poorly prepared soil, rather caused a rejection of literature (largely due to the compulsory nature of education), rather than contributed to the development of interest in reading and self-education skills.
Experts have not yet come to a consensus on whether the “reading crisis” really existed and still exists, or whether the reason lies in a completely different thing - an ever-increasing gap between the level of “school products” provided by modern ones and the requirements of “social order” with aspects of society and its social institutions.
The features of the modern development of society are informatization, the development of high technologies and the complication of the fabric of social life. The competitiveness of developed countries, their participation in the world market of the division of labor is increasingly dependent on the level of education of workers, their skills and abilities for continuous professional development (“lifelong learning” - lifelong learning, i.e. continuous self-education). The aforementioned Nation in Peril report states the following: “...these shortcomings have come to light at a time when the demands placed on highly skilled workers in new fields are becoming increasingly difficult. For example...computers, computer-controlled equipment is permeating every aspect of our lives - homes, factories, and offices. One estimate is that by the end of the century, millions of jobs will involve laser technology and robotics. Technology is being radically transformed in many other pursuits. These include health care, medicine, energy, food processing, repair work, construction, science, education, military and industrial equipment.”
As you can see, the attitude to the level of development of the reading culture of the individual, as well as to the process of reading activity has changed today and is acquiring paramount importance for society. According to French sociologists, the idea of reading as a skill acquired at school is not correct enough, because in fact, reading is the result of a cultural experience, the degree of mastery of which largely depends on social conditions, level of education and age.
Many researchers of "weak reading" and functional illiteracy believe that the roots and causes of the development of these phenomena lie in early childhood and stem not only from the school, but also the preschool period of the development of the child's personality. And a huge, decisive role here is played by the family, its socio-cultural environment and the reading culture of parents. The level of literacy and reading culture of children and adolescents today is of concern to parents, teachers, librarians in different countries. Thus, in the Netherlands in 1984, among children of 12 years old, 7% were not able to understand the simplest text. In Poland, Germany and the USA, about 40% of school-age children have difficulty understanding the simplest literary texts.
There are practically no absolutely illiterate people in Sweden. However, among the 8.5 million population, about 300-500 thousand adults experience difficulties in reading and writing. It is estimated that 5-10% of the 100,000 students who graduate from primary school each year cannot read and write with ease. High school teachers say they see too many 16- to 20-year-olds who are unable to read what they want and need to read. These are young people whose chances in life after leaving school are severely limited by the inability to perceive printed information. Swedish experts emphasize that this is a nationwide problem that is steadily escalating.
What lies at its foundation? A heated debate among specialists mainly concerned the issues of improving teaching methods, however, some of them believe that, most likely, the main reason is the insufficient development of the child's linguistic abilities at preschool age. Teachers emphasize that parents have neither the energy nor the opportunity to engage in the language development of children. Many of them fail to show children the value of books and reading. Too many students say their parents are so busy watching television that they simply don't have time to talk to their children. To quote one teenager: “My parents are far more interested in Dallas personalities… than in me! They can't even imagine that I'm at least as interesting as these stereotypes of theirs," which illustrates a typical picture of leisure in such families. Meanwhile, it is the parents in early childhood who bear the greatest responsibility for the speech development of the child. Society, however, cannot vouch for the correction of all previously made mistakes and negligence in family education. However, Swedish teachers believe that the school and society must ensure that students do not leave secondary school without adequate reading and writing skills.
Signs and characteristics of a weak reader (a person who cannot read)
What characterizes "weak readers"? First of all, the fact that they are bored and tedious to read. But these readers have other features as well. And the most typical of them are reading errors. So, these readers cannot always correctly correlate the symbol - the letter of the alphabet with the corresponding sound. This, firstly, leads to the fact that they must pause in order to understand the text they have read, and, secondly, leads to guessing. Guessing when reading, changing a few is different (this is especially true for long words). But even small mistakes with the replacement and rearrangement of letters lead to a change in the meaning of the text. The weakest are characterized by slow reading, jerky, constant repetition of phrases, stammering at the beginning of reading words, reading by syllables. They make morphological and syntactical errors, errors from the rearrangement of letters, etc., and also lose rhythm when reading. Many of them regard reading as hard work, boring, gloomy and dull, because they lack words and expressions. Many schoolchildren can read quite correctly in a phonetic sense, but words and images mean nothing to them. They only read because they have to. But at the same time, they never think about what they read, and do not pay attention to the content. Reading for them is something unpleasant that needs to be endured and performed. Of course, those who lack words and expressions, and those who struggle with their extremely poor reading technique, do not enjoy it. Reading is hard work! Typically, adults involved in child development spend a lot of time and energy trying to find the really best books for children and teens. When they begin to offer them, they often encounter stubborn resistance from such readers.
Educators emphasize that students whose reading skills are at the initial level may not always be able, even if they want to, to read what is meant by “good literature”. And only towards the end of their schooling, these students begin to realize that they need to improve their reading skills. As a rule, this leads them to low self-esteem and an inferiority complex. Young people come into life with a reading that gives them half-knowledge and half-understanding, so they feel half-capable of full-fledged activity. And this group of people is quite large today in any, even the most developed society that has cultural traditions.
So, from early childhood to old age, functional illiteracy accompanies a person, bringing trouble and additional suffering into his life. Today, however, modern developed countries are making a number of efforts to solve this problem, affecting the general population and relating to almost all spheres of life.
Markets of developed countries
The economic development of countries is largely determined by the nature and depth of the social division of labor, in the process of which the development of domestic markets takes place. The conditions of their functioning affect the efficiency of production of both its individual types and the economic system as a whole. The internal market, which means the system of exchange within the national economy without the export-import sector, is the primary element of the entire system of functioning of the world economy.It includes internal links that characterize the scale and forms of interaction between various types of production that make up the economy. External relations serve the participation of the national economy in the world economy. An analysis of domestic markets shows the driving forces of economic processes in each individual country and, to a certain extent, in the subsystem as a whole.
If for the first half of the XX century. Since the traditional directions of capital flows were developing countries, the last decades are characterized by an increase in the mutual interweaving of capitals of developed countries. The average annual growth rate of foreign direct investment in developed countries exceeds the growth rate of GNP and merchandise exports. At present, one-fifth of all manufacturing output is produced in France and England through foreign investment, a quarter in Italy, and about one-third in the FRG. England and the USA, traditionally the largest exporters of capital, now act as its main importers.
In the 1980s, Latin American countries experienced a period of severe economic crisis. The average economic growth rate in the region fell from 6% in the 1970s to 1.8% in the 1980s, inflation and unemployment rose significantly. There was a sharp reduction in the inflow of foreign investment, and many countries were forced to temporarily refuse to service their external debt.
Developing countries are one of the main borrowers in the international capital market, attracting an average of about 26 billion US dollars per year. Most of the external debt is represented by short-term floating rate debt, with approximately 80% of the debt held by the state.
Tight monetary policy and fiscal expansion carried out by a number of developed countries, and first of all in the United States and Great Britain, led to an increase in real interest rates and a slowdown in economic growth in them.
For developing countries, the structure of financial markets and the scheme of interaction between fiscal and monetary policies are fundamentally different than in developed countries.
The capacity of the financial market in developing countries is relatively small compared to the government's need to finance the budget deficit. High investment risks and significant emission volumes lead to a high cost of raising funds for the state, which necessitates the use of seigniorage to finance the gap between revenues and planned government spending.
As a result, the need to finance current government spending, including the cost of servicing previously accumulated debt, becomes the most important motive for the formation of the money supply in the country.
The low capacity of the financial market and low confidence in the state on the part of investors are among the main reasons for the growth of the money supply and the increase in the inflation rate.
The factors listed above also make it necessary for developing country governments to borrow on the international financial market by issuing bonds denominated in foreign currencies. The cost of funds raised in this way depends on interest rates in developed countries, as well as on the prices of exported and imported goods. The reasons for the growth in the cost of servicing external debt for developing countries may be an increase in interest rates in developed countries, a decrease in the cost of a unit of exports and an increase in the cost of a unit of imports.
The limited funds available for investment leads to competition for capital between the state and the private sector. Additional placement by the state of its debt obligations leads to a reduction in investment in private production, that is, there is a substitution effect between public spending and private investment. Foreign capital entering the financial market plays a dominant role in the pricing process. Prices of financial instruments are weakly dependent on fundamental economic indicators.
Due to the fact that in developing countries the state's participation in the capital of the banking system is high and the professional level of bank personnel is low, the distribution of credit resources often does not depend on economic factors (profitability and profitability). Associated with this is the low efficiency of investments. State participation also determines that in the event of the insolvency of the final borrower, the servicing of private debt can fall on the shoulders of the state budget.
The main foreign investors in emerging markets are the so-called qualified investors (banks, investment funds, speculative hedge funds) who are able to quite competently assess the risk and potential return on investments and invest their funds mainly in the most liquid instruments (government debt obligations and securities of export-oriented companies belonging to the "blue chips"). Such investors are focused mainly on making short-term investments, making a profit on arbitrage and speculative operations.
Insufficiency of domestic financial resources and underdevelopment of domestic financial markets, leading to high cost of borrowed capital for the producer, government intervention and an unfavorable structure of public debt are one of the main reasons for the high dependence of emerging markets on shocks in the international capital market. Other important factors in generating financial crises are expansionary monetary and/or fiscal policies and negative current account balances.
underdeveloped countries
The least developed countries represent a special category on a global scale. These states have an extremely low level of poverty, the economy is very weak, people and resources are exposed to the elements.According to recent studies and estimates, 48 of the existing ones are classified as the least developed countries of the world. This list is updated every 3 years. Checks and calculations are carried out by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). And the composition of the group of least developed countries is approved by the UN. A similar term for underdeveloped states was adopted in 1971. In order to be included in the list of the least developed countries, it is necessary to satisfy three criteria that the UN puts forward, and in order for a country to be excluded from the list, it is necessary to exceed the minimum threshold by two values.
Suggested criteria:
Economic vulnerability (instability of exports, agriculture, industry);
low income level (GDP per capita is calculated for the past 3 years. For inclusion in the list - less than 750 US dollars, for exclusion - more than 900 US dollars);
low level of development of human resources (the real standard of living is assessed in terms of health, nutrition, adult literacy, education).
In any case, the inclusion in the group of the least developed countries, although based on economic indicators, is subjective.
List of underdeveloped states
Over the past 40 years, only 3 countries have been able to leave this list. These are the Maldives, Botswana and Cape Verde.
The list of least developed countries is also referred to as the "fourth world". They are singled out from the countries of the "third world" to a greater extent due to the lack of any progress. Most often, states do not develop because of civil wars.
Most of the least developed countries are in Africa (33 countries), Asia is the second largest group (14 countries) and one country is in Latin America, Haiti.
Some of the more famous states include:
The least developed countries of Africa - Angola, Guinea, Madagascar, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia;
The least developed countries in Asia are Afghanistan, Nepal, Yemen.
A clear example of the difference between developed countries and countries of the "fourth world" can be the fact that 13% of the world's population is forced to survive on 1-2 dollars a day, while at the same time, a person in a developed country spends the same amount on a cup of tea.
The world community and underdeveloped states
Often developed and developing countries, in order to help the least developed countries, remove from them the obligation to pay duties and fulfill quotas when importing goods. The international community develops and adopts programs to support such states. A special role in such assistance is played by powers that have never owned colonies, but have behind them the experience of an underdeveloped country. These states can help in the necessary way, and not selectively and selectively, like countries with a long history of colonization, paying special attention to their former colonies and neighboring territories.
The last UN conference on the least developing countries was held in Istanbul. A program of development, support and control for the next 10 years was adopted there, it is fixed in the "Istanbul Declaration". Also, the Turkish Foreign Minister made a proposal to change the name of this group of countries. He suggested calling them "Developed Countries of the Future" or "Potentially Developing Countries". This proposal was accepted for consideration. There are opinions that the conference in Turkey can become a turning point in the development of world states, the fight against poverty and entering a new stage in the world economy.
Politics of developed countries
Politics of developed countries. Demographic policy in economically developed countries is carried out exclusively by ECONOMIC MEASURES and is aimed at stimulating the birth rate. The arsenal of economic measures includes monetary subsidies - monthly allowances for families with children, benefits for single parents, promotion of increasing the prestige of motherhood, paid parental leave.In some countries where the position of the Catholic Church is strong (for example, in Ireland, the USA, Poland), laws that provide for criminal liability for a woman who terminated a pregnancy and a doctor who performed an abortion have recently been discussed in parliaments on its demands. The attitude in Western countries to demographic problems is defined as egalitarian, including observance of the principles of democracy, social justice and human rights.
They presuppose the exclusion of repressive measures, the superiority of the individual decision. Most of the industrialized capitalist countries have a vague attitude towards low birth rates.
The policy to increase the birth rate was noted in France, Greece, Luxembourg. This does not mean that Western governments do not have demographic goals. Most likely, they do not express them explicitly. Germany is pursuing a policy of encouraging the birth rate. The German government in 1974 allowed the distribution of contraceptives and lifted restrictions on abortions in the first three months of pregnancy, but early next year the country's supreme court ruled unconstitutional permission for abortions "at will" and limited the right to them only for "medical indications" or other emergency circumstances.
In our time in Germany, a complex system of encouraging measures for demographic policy has been adopted, which is divided into three main groups: Family allowances and allowances; childbirth benefits; housing benefits. 4. Russian Politics Russia entered the 20th century with a record high birth rate. Even in 1915, when a significant proportion of men were drafted into the army, the country's population continued to grow.
In the near future, the generation born in 1980-1987 will enter its childbearing age. The last large generation capable of replacing their fathers and mothers. The state demographic policy of Russia should be aimed at stimulating the birth of a second and third child, because it still remains an acceptable value and is possible with the creation of appropriate material and living conditions.
Spending on demographic policy should take first place in the state budget. The volume of benefits and incentive payments for families with two or three children should reach a level at which such families will be financially more profitable than one-child families. The current situation in the field of demography in the Russian Federation is characterized by a number of negative trends. In Russia, there is a depopulation of the population, which is due to the low birth rate on the one hand (the parameters of which are almost 2 times less than those required to replace generations) and the high mortality rate of the population, especially in infancy and working age.
Among the dead at working age, men make up about 80%, which is 4 times higher than the mortality rate of women. The main causes of death are accidents, poisoning and injuries, diseases of the circulatory system and neoplasms. The state of health and the level of mortality of the population are reflected in the indicators of life expectancy of the population of the country.
The average life expectancy of the country's population was 65.9 years. The difference in life expectancy between men and women is 12 years. The purpose of the demographic policy in the medium term is to take measures to reduce the mortality rate of the population; creation of prerequisites for stabilization of birth rates. In this regard, the main tasks of the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of demographic policy are: the development of the main directions of action for the implementation of the demographic policy of the Russian Federation in the long term, including specific measures for the implementation of the Demographic Policy Concept, taking into account the prospects for the socio-economic development of the Russian Federation, the subjects of the Russian Federation, individual ethnic groups of the population and regional characteristics of demographic processes; development and implementation of a set of federal target programs for the protection of public health, including the prevention and treatment of arterial hypertension among the population of the Russian Federation; providing oncological assistance to the population of the Russian Federation; prevention and control of AIDS, etc. development of measures providing for attestation of workplaces in order to identify adverse factors on the health of workers, as well as the procedure for economic incentives for employers in improving working conditions and labor protection; development and implementation of measures to prevent crime, drunkenness and drug addiction.
Of great importance for obtaining the most complete and reliable information about the country's population in its various aspects, conducting a wide range of studies on the formation and adjustment of demographic policy will be the ongoing All-Russian population census, as well as the creation of the State Population Register of the Russian Federation.
In the field of creating conditions for the life of a family that makes it possible to raise several children, the main direction should be to ensure that the demographic aspect is taken into account in the development and implementation of state housing policy, including: maintaining the system of housing standards, ensuring a favorable regime for the system of housing standards for families with children; promoting the development of market forms of providing affordable housing that best meet the housing needs of families in the active phase of the reproductive cycle; taking into account the number of children in a family in need of better housing conditions when determining the amount of assistance from the state (gratuitous subsidies for the purchase of housing, assistance in paying off mortgage loans, etc.). The natural decline in the population of Russia amounted to 4.8 people per 10 thousand citizens. According to ITAR-TASS, such data was given today, speaking in the State Duma, by the Minister of Labor and Social Development of the Russian Federation Alexander Pochinok.
He said that last year the Russian population dropped to 145.6 million people.
A.Pochinok noted the generally unfavorable demographic trend in the country.
Moreover, the minister clarified, such forecasts were calculated taking into account the positive migration balance. If this factor is not taken into account, according to A. Pochinok, the population of Russia may reach 171 million people, as a result of which the country will drop from the seventh place in the world in terms of the number of its citizens to the fourteenth. Such a demographic situation, according to A. Pochinok, could lead to "a catastrophe" for Russia's pension system and a labor shortage in the country.
To prevent a demographic crisis, serious, consistent measures are needed, the minister said. The government has already developed a concept for the demographic development of the Russian Federation, which provides for the implementation of a number of social programs, in particular, to reduce the level of sudden death, protect working conditions, fight tuberculosis and drug addiction. A. Pochinok also noted that in order to increase the birth rate in the country, it is necessary to significantly improve the socio-economic standard of living of people. "In order for a family to give birth to children today, they need confidence in the future," the minister said. 5. Conclusion Difficulties in the socio-economic development of the Third World countries contributed to the growth of the priority of demographic policy, i.e. purposeful activity in the field of regulation of demographic processes.
This was facilitated by the position of the industrialized countries of the West, who believe that control over population growth is also a necessary condition for socio-economic development.
The joint communiqué of the heads of state and government of leading Western countries in Houston noted that sustainable development in a number of countries requires population growth to be in a reasonable balance with economic resources, and maintaining an inflated balance is a priority for countries that support economic development.
The significance of demographic policy is not the same for different subsystems and countries, depending on the level of their economic development and the stage of the demographic transition. In particular, one fifth of all countries, where 26% of the world's population lives, believe that population growth or natural increase has little impact on the development of the country and no special goals are required in this area.
Demographic policy, being part of socio-economic policy, is not always clearly manifested. With the greatest certainty, it is carried out when its direct goal is to influence demographic development. Demographic policy has an impact on two aspects of the reproductive behavior of the population - on the realization of the need for children and on the formation of the need for the individual and the family in such a number of children that would correspond to the interests of society.
This is achieved by economic, administrative-legal and socio-psychological measures. A characteristic feature of these measures is their long-term duration due to the fact that demographic processes are characterized by significant inertia, determined by the stability of demographic behavior standards. The peculiarity of the measures taken lies in their impact on the dynamics of demographic processes, mainly not directly, but indirectly, through human behavior.
Structure of developed countries
Developing countries are the countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America - former colonial, semi-colonial and dependent countries that became politically independent states after the collapse of the colonial system of capitalism. Composition and structure of developing countries: Capital surplus oil countries: Brunei, Qatar, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Saudi Arabia. NIS, including: city-states: Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore. Countries with a larger domestic market: South Korea, Brazil, Argentina, etc. Relatively developed small countries: Bahrain, Cyprus, Lebanon. Agricultural raw material exporters, including: oil exporters: Algeria, Iraq, Iran. Other agricultural raw material exporters: Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Morocco, Syria, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Philippines, Sri Lanka.Countries of endogenous development, including: large countries: Pakistan, India. Backward agricultural countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Bhutan, Mauritania, Nepal, Sudan, etc. Let us briefly consider the main characteristics of groups and subgroups: 1 Capital-surplus oil countries. The main characteristics of the group: high GDP growth rates in the 70s; significant active balance of payments; massive export of capital; the highest level of per capita income; high degree of dependence on external factors of development; one-sided diversified structure of GDP and exports. The main and impetuous factor in the rise of the countries of this group was oil. A sharp and repeated increase in oil prices on the world market in the early 1980s led to a significant influx of petrodollars into these countries, however, their economies were unable to absorb this inflow. In recent years, the situation on the oil market has deteriorated sharply, oil production has declined, which, combined with the fall in world prices, has sharply exacerbated the economic problems of these countries. As a result of the budget deficit, foreign assets are gradually being “sold”. The restructuring of the economy and the diversification of the sectoral structure are proceeding slowly. Newly industrialized countries (NIS). The main features of the group: the highest GDP growth rates; a relatively high level of GDP per capita; active involvement in the international division of labor; industrial specialization of export; export-oriented development strategy.
There are certain differences in the group between the countries included in it. Hong Kong, Singapore, and Macau (to a lesser extent), in addition to the export of industrial products, have important intermediary functions in the world capitalist economy (re-export, transit, financial transactions, tourism, etc.). The city-states do not have an agricultural sector, such a category as the internal market is practically inapplicable to them. The subgroup, which includes South Korea and Taiwan, has a relatively capacious domestic market, the existing agricultural sector is much less developed than the industrial one. The involvement of South Korea and Taiwan in the international division of labor is somewhat lower than that of city-states.
Relatively developed small countries. The following characteristics are common to this group: industrial specialization of exports; relatively high GDP per capita. At the same time, serious economic problems for Cyprus and Lebanon are generated by internal and external political instability. For this reason, Lebanon has practically lost its role as a financial, commercial, transit and tourist center of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Bahrain in its economic development is evolving from a capital-surplus oil exporter to an NIS group. Bahrain is gradually turning into a major trade and financial center of the Mediterranean-Middle East region. Bahrain has practically no agricultural sector and, accordingly, agricultural exports. Agricultural raw material exporters. The largest and most heterogeneous group. Factors determining the similarity of agrarian raw material exporters: Moderate GDP growth rates; relative balance of exports and imports; a higher share of the agricultural sector than in capital-abundant and newly industrialized countries; a significant role of mineral raw materials in exports. According to the commodity structure of exports, three countries are distinguished in the group: Algeria, Iraq and Iran, which form a subgroup of oil exporters.
These oil exporters are significantly different from the capital-abundant oil countries in a more diversified sectoral structure of the economy, a more capacious domestic market, the presence of an agricultural sector in the national economy, and smaller oil reserves. Among other agricultural raw material exporters there are many countries exporting oil: Indonesia, Tunisia, Egypt, Malaysia, Syria. In addition to oil, they export non-ferrous metal ores, natural rubber, timber, food and industrial products. Countries of endogenous development. The main factors of countries' similarity are: low per capita income; low share of exports in GDP; significant share of the agricultural sector; relatively weak involvement in the international division of labor.
The main difference between the subgroup of large countries is that the foundations of a perfect reproduction complex have already been created in them, the import-substituting stage of industrialization has almost been completed. The export structure of these countries (especially India) is quite diversified, and the share of manufactured goods in exports is growing. The countries of the subgroup have their own research and development base, they carry out nuclear and space programs. However, the growing industrial potential of large countries is under pressure from the backward and numerous agrarian periphery. As for the subgroup of backward agrarian states, the backwardness of their ecological structures, limited access to external resources, the narrowness of the export base, the underdevelopment of the domestic market, etc. does not allow these countries to achieve a change in their economic status in the future.
Newly developed countries
South KoreaArea: 98.5 thousand square meters km.
Population: 48,509,000
Capital: Seoul
Official name: Republic of Korea
State structure: Parliamentary republic
Legislature: Unicameral National Assembly
Head of State: President
Administrative structure: Unitary country (nine provinces and six cities of central subordination)
Common Religions: Buddhism, Confucianism, Christianity (Protestant) Member of the UN
Public holiday: Day of the Proclamation of the Republic (September 9), Day of the Foundation of the State (October 3)
EGP and natural resource potential. The state is located in East Asia, on the Korean Peninsula, washed by the waters of the Japan and Yellow Seas, it borders on the DPRK at the thirty-eighth parallel, and has maritime borders with China and Japan. It also maintains the closest ties with Western countries and the USA. The government of the country is trying to intensify foreign relations and economic cooperation with North Korea.
In the bowels of the country there are deposits of coal, iron and manganese ores, copper, lead, zinc, nickel, tin, tungsten, molybdenum, uranium, gold, silver, thorium, asbestos, graphite, mica, salt, kaolin, limestone, but its own mineral base is not enough for the development of the economy.
The population of the country is almost 99.8% of Koreans, there is a twenty-thousandth Chinese community, the official language is Korean. Population density 490 people. sq. km. The urban population is about 81%. Before the start of World War II, quite a lot of Koreans migrated to China, Japan and the USSR. About 3.3 million people returned to the country after 1945. About 2 million Koreans fled the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for the Republic of Korea. The largest cities are Seoul, Suwon, Daejeon, Gwangju, Busan, Ulsan, Daegu.
Seoul, the capital of the Republic, the largest transportation hub (Gimpo International Airport, Incheon Seaport), cultural, scientific, financial and economic center of the country, is one of the most densely populated cities in the world.
The city was first mentioned in the 1st century. AD, in the XIV century. was called Hanyang, the modern name, which means "capital", the city received in 1948 after it was declared the capital of South Korea.
Together with Incheon, the city's economy provides about 50% of the country's industrial production. There are enterprises of light, textile, automotive, radio-electronic, chemical, cement, paper, rubber, leather, and ceramic industries. Developed metallurgy, mechanical engineering. In 1974, the subway was built. The layout of the city in some parts is very dependent on the hilly terrain. A number of districts of the old city are built up with modern high-rise buildings.
Seoul is home to the Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Fine Arts, Seoul National University, Korea University, Hanyang and Seogang Universities, the National Museum, Traditional Dance Theatre, Drama and Opera theatres.
The country's economy ranks 12th in the world in terms of GDP. Developed science-intensive engineering, electronics. The country owes large-scale American, Japanese and Western European investments to the policy of economic openness to foreign investors (since 1979). Since the end of the 80s of the last century, their own Korean conglomerate companies - the world-famous concerns Samsung, LG and others began to compete with Western transnational companies. GNP per capita is about $18,000. Industry. Industry provides 25% of the country's GDP, it employs a quarter of the able-bodied population. Most of the enterprises are small, family contracts, a small number of firms are listed on the national stock exchange. About 20 large companies produce up to a third of all industrial products. The industrial production of the Republic of Korea has shifted from textiles to electronics, electrical goods, machinery, ships, oil products and steel.
The mining industry is busy with the development of graphite deposits, the extraction of kaolin, tungsten and low-quality coal, which is used in energy. The economy of the Republic of Korea, like the Japanese economy, is evidence that a country can be rich thanks to imported raw materials.
Agriculture makes up a small percentage of GDP, but fully provides the population with food and creates its leftovers for export. It employs one seventh of the working population. After the land reform of 1948, a significant part of large farms was restructured; at present, small family farms predominate here, which cultivate almost a fifth of the country's territory. Half of the land is irrigated. The government buys most of the crop at stable prices.
The main crop is Rice (gives 2/5 of the value of all industry products). In addition to rice, barley, wheat, soybeans, potatoes, vegetables, cotton, and tobacco are grown. Horticulture, cultivation of ginseng, fishing and seafood are developed, the industry fully meets the needs of the population, and surplus fish and seafood are exported). Pigs and cattle are bred on family farms.
Transport. The tonnage of the country's merchant fleet is more than 12 million deadweight tons. The main seaports are Busan, Ulsan, Icheon. In the middle of the country, rivers are also used for navigation. Rail transport is much less developed than road transport, the length of which is 7 and 60 thousand km. Seoul and Busan have international airports.
Foreign economic relations. The country's main foreign trade partners are the USA, Japan, and the countries of Southeast Asia. The country exports products of manufacturing industries - transport equipment, electrical engineering, cars, ships, chemicals, shoes, textiles, agricultural products. Imports oil and oil products, mineral fertilizers, engineering products, food.
Singapore
Area: 647.5 sq. km.
Population: 4,658,000
Capital: Singapore
Official name: Republic of Singapore
Legislature: Unicameral Parliament
Head of state: President (elected for a term of 6 years)
Administrative structure: Unitary Republic
Common Religions: Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism
UN member, ASEAN, member of the Commonwealth since 1965
Public holiday: Independence Day (August 29)
EGP and natural resource potential. Singapore is a state in Southeast Asia, on about. Singapore and 58 adjacent small islands, off the southern part of the Malay Peninsula. The largest wealth of the island is considered to be a convenient deep-water harbor in its southeastern part. From the north, the island of Singapore is separated from Malaysia by the Johor Strait, about 1 km wide, the banks of which are connected by a dam. It separates from Indonesia in the west of the Strait of Malacca. The relief of the island is flat, the shores are low-lying, swampy, and have a significant number of bays such as estuaries. In the southwest, clusters of coral reefs. The highest point of the island is the Bukittimah hump (177 m).
The climate is monsoonal equatorial with no distinct seasons. Temperatures throughout the year are constant from 26 to 280C. High humidity and rains are observed throughout the year, up to 2440 mm of precipitation per year. The monsoon season lasts from November to February. The islands have remnants of tropical rainforests, mangroves, resting towns of migratory birds. There are no mineral deposits in the country, even drinking water is supplied by the neighboring Malaysia, and oil and natural gas deposits have been discovered only on the shelf near the Malay Peninsula.
population. Almost the entire population of the country lives in its capital - the city of Singapore, besides it there are several other settlements on the island.
Natives of the predominantly southern provinces of China make up 77.4% of the country's population, 14.2% are Malays, 7.2% are Indians and 1.2% come from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Europe. Almost a third of the population professes Buddhism, the fifth - Confucianism is Christianity, Islam, Hinduism.
Singapore - One of the most densely populated countries in the world with a density of more than 4884 people. per sq. km. Singapore, the capital of the eponymous state of Singapore. Located on the low coastal area of the Kalang and Singapore rivers on the southern coast of the island of Singapore and the adjacent small islands of the Singapore Strait. With the Malay Peninsula is connected by rail and road.
The city began to be called Singapore since 1299 (translated from Sanskrit - "City of the Lion"). Due to its favorable location on the island of Singapore, the city has become a crossroads for merchants from India, China, Siam (Thailand) and the Indonesian states. During its history, the city was repeatedly sacked and destroyed by the Javanese and the Portuguese. From 1824, Singapore was recognized as the possession of England and served as its main naval and trading base for more than a century as the "eastern pearl of the British crown."
In 1959, Singapore became the capital of the "self-governing state" Singapore, and from December 1965 the capital of the independent Republic of Singapore.
Singapore consists of several districts that contrast with each other: the central or colonial and business districts, Chinatown.
Today Singapore is one of the largest commercial, industrial, financial and transport centers of Southeast Asia; one of the world's largest ports in terms of cargo turnover of more than 400 million tons per year; Changi International Airport operates here; the Singapore currency exchange is the fourth in the world after London, New York and Tokyo; the largest center of the electronics industry in Southeast Asia. Metalworking, electrical, shipbuilding and ship repair enterprises operate in the city. The city's oil refining industry processes more than 20 million tons of crude oil per year. Chemical, food, textile, light industry, primary processing of rubber and other agricultural raw materials are also developed. The city has about 135 large banks, one of the world's largest rubber exchange.
Singapore is a significant scientific and cultural center of Asia. At the University of Singapore, which was founded in 1949, the Center for Economic Research operates, there is also Nanyang University, the Polytechnic Institute, the Technical College, the Institute for the Study of Southeast Asia, the Institute of Architecture, scientific societies and associations in the city. The National Library, founded in 1884, has over 520,000 volumes.
The city has the National and Art Museums, Philatelic and Navy Museums, World War II Memorials, the National Theatre, the Victoria Concert Hall, the Drama Center, numerous theaters and cinemas, the Wayang Chinese Street Opera, a botanical garden with an orchid garden, a marine aquarium , a bird and reptile park and a zoo, numerous architectural monuments, Hindu, Confucian-Buddhist, Buddhist temples and Muslim mosques.
In the northeastern part, the so-called "city of the XXI century" is being built. A large oil refinery has been established on the islands of the new western port of Jurong. Singapore has several small islands, one of which, Sentosa Island, has become a resort area of the city.
Economy. The country is one of the largest commercial, industrial, financial and transport centers of Southeast Asia, the economy of which is based on traditional foreign trade operations (mainly re-export), as well as export industries operating on imported raw materials. Singapore is the largest investor in the economy of Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. In terms of investment, it is second only to Japan.
The government of the country took vigorous measures to stimulate economic development: it provided significant tax incentives to industrialists whose enterprises produced export products; incentives were introduced for investors in industrial production and exporters. In the 1990s, Singapore becomes one of the largest regional and international centers for trade, finance, marketing and the development of new technologies. In terms of computerization, it came in second place in Asia after Japan.
Industry. Industrial enterprises of the country work on imported raw materials. Products made from imported raw materials are often imported. The country has enterprises of metalworking, electrical, radio-electronic, optical-mechanical, aviation, steelmaking, shipbuilding and ship repair, oil refining, chemical, food, textile, and light industries. Singapore ranks second in the world (after the United States) in the production of mobile downhole equipment for the development of offshore oil fields, second (after Hong Kong) in handling sea containers, and third (after Houston and Rotterdam) in oil refining. The country has a highly developed military industry. There are enterprises of primary processing of tea, coffee, natural rubber.
Agriculture occupies an insignificant place in the total volume of production. Cultivate coconut palm, rubber hevea, spices, tobacco, pineapples, vegetables, fruits. Pig breeding, poultry farming, fishing and sea fishing are developing.
Transport. Singapore is one of the largest (second largest in terms of cargo turnover) ports in the world. The length of railways is 83 km, motorways are over 3 thousand km. Tonnage of the sea merchant fleet 6900000 reg. gross. Changi International Airport is one of the best in the world in terms of quality and efficiency of passenger service. It receives up to 36 million passengers a year, has more than 100 shops, 60 restaurants, a large swimming pool and several free cinemas, 200 Internet zones with free worldwide network and Asia's largest art gallery.
Foreign economic relations. The country exports office equipment, oil products, television and radio equipment. The country's economy receives significant funds through the sale of exotic fish and orchids. Main foreign trade partners: USA, Japan, Malaysia, etc.
The location at the crossroads of trade routes from European countries to the countries of the Far East contributed to the growth of Singapore and its transformation into the largest port of re-export trade in Southeast Asia. Today, re-export operations account for almost 30% of foreign trade. It is a global financial and investment center. A major center of international trade and industrial exhibitions.
Imports consist of food necessary for the country (up to 90% of the country's needs). A spare water pipeline was built from Indonesia. More than 8 million tourists visit the country every year, which brings significant income to the country.
Taiwan (not recognized as a state of Ukraine)
Area: 36.18 thousand square meters km.
Population: 22.7 million people
Capital: Taipei
Official name: Republic of Taiwan
Government: Republic
Legislature: National Assembly
Head of state: President (elected for 4 years)
Administrative structure: Unitary state
Common Religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism
Member of the UN
Public holiday: Taiwan Day (October 10)
EGP and natural resource potential. The territory of the country consists of the island of Taiwan, the Penghuledao archipelago (Pescadores Islands), the Kinmen Islands, the Matsu Islands, the Paracel Islands, the Pratas Islands and the Spratly Islands. More than half of the territory is occupied by mountains, there are active volcanoes, and earthquakes often occur. The flat territories of the islands are covered with tropical rainforests, the timber of which is an important natural resource of the country.
The climate is from subtropical to tropical monsoon with air temperatures from 15 to 280C. 1,500 - 5,000 mm of precipitation falls annually. During July to September there are typhoons. Of the mineral resources are oil, natural gas, coal, iron ore, salt, limestone, marble. The country's population is 98% Chinese, the indigenous population of the islands - Goashan is 1.5%. The most common and officially recognized religion is Buddhism, in addition, Taoism, Protestantism, Catholicism, and Islam are common.
Largest cities: Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung, Tainan. Taipei, the largest city on the island of Taiwan, the administrative center of the province of Taiwan, the capital of the country, the largest industrial and cultural center in which enterprises of metallurgy and engineering (Production of electronic calculators, tape recorders, televisions, computers), cement, chemical, woodworking, food industries operate. The Jilong Sea Outport, Taoyuan and Songshan International Airports have been built here. Taipei became the main city of Taiwan in 1956. Taipei-101, the tallest skyscraper (509 m, 101 floors), was erected here, which became the tallest building in the world. The lower floors of the skyscraper are reserved for restaurants and shops, and the upper floors for offices. It is in it that the fastest elevators in the world operate, with the help of which in just 39 seconds you can climb to the 88th floor with an observation deck.
Economy. Both Taiwan and the People's Republic of China put forward programs for unification into a single country, but significant disagreements between the two countries do not allow this to be done. Travel has resumed since the late 1980s, and cultural, scientific and personal ties between the citizens of the two parts of China are developing. Since the 1990s, economic and cultural contacts between Taiwan and mainland China have been actively developed. Taiwanese investment in China's economy is growing every year. Relations are regulated on both sides by non-governmental organizations.
Taiwan - Economically highly developed territory, is one of the so-called "newly industrialized countries". Since 1995, its GNP has allowed the country to enter the top twenty of the world's leading countries; for foreign exchange reserves, the country ranks second in the world after Japan.
The country's industry is characterized by high-tech products known throughout the world. Taiwan produces so many products and components for the global computer market, which is called the "Silicon Island". Developed manufacturing industries: radio-electronic, chemical, instrument and shipbuilding, textile, leather and footwear, clothing. Taiwan is the world's largest producer of camphor. The industrialization of cranes has significantly affected the state of its environment.
Agriculture. Only 30% of the territory is suitable for agricultural cultivation. The industry provides only 4% of GDP. Farmers harvest 2-3 crops per year. Rice, cereals, sugar cane, betel, coconuts, bamboo, sorghum, tea, yutu, tropical fruits and vegetables are grown. Developed fishing, pig breeding, poultry farming.
Transport. The length of railways is about 4 thousand km. Roads over 17 thousand km. The main ports are Kaohsiung, Jilong, Taichung, Hualien, Suao.
Foreign economic relations. In terms of total foreign trade, Taiwan ranks 14th in the world. The country's exports are textiles, information technology, electronic products, sugar, camphor, and metal products. They import weapons, metals, oil, etc. The main trading partners are the USA, China, and Japan.
Experience of developed countries
World experience has shown the active development of the following areas for retail trade: hypermarket chains, large trading enterprises such as shopping and entertainment centers (SEC), malls, convenience stores such as discounters and "pocket supermarkets" combined into retail chains. Today, these same areas are the most promising in Moscow and the Moscow suburbs.All over the world, hypermarket chains are economically sustainable formations, in demand and continue to develop. The construction of hypermarkets in the Moscow region is favored by the changed rhythm and lifestyle of Muscovites and residents of the region. We are already reaching the level where families can travel on weekends (including out of town) and make complex purchases, as well as use additional services (for example, such as a hairdresser, beauty salon, etc.), therefore, it should be considered as the most promising direction for the development of trade. In addition, the hypermarket is also becoming a place of rest, where visitors do not waste time, but spend it with pleasure. On its territory, you can place a cinema, restaurants, cafes, children's rooms, etc., which is already being done.
Active access to the regions is also due to another factor - the shortage and high rental value of land in Moscow. Rental prices for retail space ranged from $150 to $4,500 per sq. m. m per year, while the main part of the supply was space in the price range from 500 to 1000 dollars. At the same time, the increase in consumer demand and the tightening of requirements for trading enterprises by retail operators are already stimulating developers to improve the quality and efficiency of the concepts of objects under construction trade.
Today, in the West, a shopping type is actively developing - a mall. In Russian practice, some experts consider the mall as a synonym for a hypermarket, while others note a difference between them, which lies in the principle of trade: the basis of the mall, as a rule, is a number of large stores, called anchors. They are interconnected by covered galleries, in which there are many small shops (boutiques), restaurants, cafes, hairdressers, dry cleaners. The galleries are closed in a ring along which the buyer passes.
The mall is a huge shopping and cultural and entertainment center designed for visiting by a large number of people at the same time. In Russia, there are only projects for the construction of European malls. Today, only the Mega Mall located in Moscow is closest to it, which shows good economic results, which gives reason to make forecasts regarding the active development of this format of the trading enterprise of the future.
However, according to experts, it is premature to talk about the widespread construction of malls. In the very near future, shopping centers will be actively developed. Shopping centers offer the buyer a fairly large range of products, represented by different brands. Shopping centers cater to the middle class, who, although they do not leave the Moscow Ring Road once a week to spend half their salary, but at the same time do not have time to go shopping every day. The shopping center can be called a kind of compromise between a hypermarket and many separate small shops.
A shopping and entertainment center (SEC) is the same shopping center, only providing a wider range of services to the buyer. This is an opportunity to relax and do some shopping. The choice here is less than in a hypermarket or a mall, but they are located closer to residential areas. Often the owners of the mall resort to organizing concerts, performances or lotteries on the territory of the complex, they offer all visitors to join the game, which keeps customers and stimulates repeated visits to the trading enterprise.
Chain stores also will not lose in the future pace of development. They are likely to replace single stores, which will find it increasingly difficult to stay on the market on their own. The development of networks is evidenced not only by their growing number, but also by the opening by networks of their own production of goods as an important condition for creating a company name and shaping its image.
It is possible that single stores will cease to exist as a trading format altogether or will have little weight in the trade. In any case, if they are not forced out as a result of competition between chains and shopping centers, then they may be attracted by the franchising market. One way or another, there is no clear future for single stores. An exception may be a store at the factory, but it should rather be positioned as a boutique, because. in any case, the manufacturing enterprise will have financial means to support its company store.
An example is the Danone store, located two hundred meters from Red Square, which to this day perfectly fulfills its role: it contributes to strengthening the image of the Danone company, and also serves as a kind of advertisement for fresh dairy products.
The store annually sells up to 600 tons of Danone products, it is visited daily by 1,500 to 3,500 people, not only Muscovites, but also residents of other Russian cities who come to Moscow and specially visit this trading enterprise.
Chain stores do not pose a "danger" to branded stores, tk. psychologically, the buyer considers the products of the company store to be fresher and more complete in assortment, and at a price cheaper than in any retail trade enterprise, although this is not always the case.
A relatively new, but actively developing format in Russia is a discounter. In the West, it has long been ubiquitous and enjoys well-deserved favor with the local population. Discount stores have a number of common features, such as: the use of simpler equipment, some of the goods in the hall are offered directly in production or transport containers, the minimum number of personnel is used, and as a result of all this, distribution costs are reduced and prices are set lower.
The trade margin in discount stores is 16-18%, and for mass-market goods the margin is set at a minimum level of 12%, while for cosmetics - from 25% to 40%, which is higher than that of competitors. For a discounter, the zone of influence is defined as two bus stops (about 500 m). The sales area of a discounter in Russia averages about 1,500 sq. m. m, while in the West - only 400 - 800 square meters. m.
Germany can serve as an example of a wide distribution of discounters. Discounters - food, household goods, household and perfumery goods, shoes - are located one after another on the street, dominated by apartment-type houses. A feature of discounters in Germany is their division into cheap and more respectable (prestigious). But the prices of goods in the store and its appearance may not be related.
For example, Aldi, Schlecker, DR (drogerie merkt), Kaiser’s stores have a good finish, wide aisles between rows of equipment, and the equipment itself is new and of high quality. At the same time, for example, Aldi is a classic discounter with a minimum assortment matrix (800 - 900 positions).
There are no specialized discounters in Russia yet. There is no division into expensive and cheaper, most likely, such a division will occur in the future, when their number reaches the threshold limit of competition in their format. Russian discounters can still boast of a wider assortment of 800-1,400 positions in front of Western ones.
The discounter is not the only format that is gaining more and more popularity in Europe. Today, shops operating on the principle of a "pocket supermarket" are also promising, in which, unlike large trading enterprises, prices are much higher. Quite interesting is the success of this format, which originated in the United States, the trend of its distribution, which is gaining momentum every year.
The "secret" of this store is in the convenience of the location. It is located in close proximity to consumers' residences, in places where it is difficult to organize other trading enterprises or their maintenance will not be economically profitable. Their peculiarity is in a limited assortment and relatively high prices. However, similar shops in the US and Europe are very popular.
One example is "Klein Eiche" ("Little Country"), located in Brandenburg (Germany) and serving an area with a population of 2 thousand people.
"Klein Eiche" - SB chain store. Its area is 100 sq. m. Employees (two sellers and a cashier) strive to ensure that in a small area the buyer can get everything they need - from the daily newspaper to meat tenderloin, from fresh fruit to animal feed. Present all groups of goods on the territory of 100 sq. m is impossible, so in "Klein Eich" you can easily place an order for almost any product. That is, if today the product you need is not on sale, then by leaving the appropriate record, you can get it tomorrow or at the agreed time.
The organizers of a "convenient store" strive to ensure that all goods on the trading floor are clearly visible, and the assortment matrix is clearly thought out. Next to the "pocket supermarket" there is usually a parking lot for 10 - 15 cars and flower beds. The territory is equipped in such a way that shopping carts can bring purchases directly to the car.
The enterprise, as a rule, has an "extended" working day. The optimal mode of operation is from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. or around the clock. It is important to note that the service in such stores is built according to the "family" principle. Customers should feel that they are always happy to see them. Prices in the "convenience store" are set 5-8% above average, but this does not deter the European buyer.
World trade development trends show that Western business leaders achieve savings through a combination of such factors of technological processes as a decrease in the average annual cost of inventory, a rational number of employees, an increase in labor productivity, an increase in the “load” per 1 sq. m of retail space. The centralized model used in the West relies primarily on the advantages of Internet technology and allows you to consolidate orders to suppliers, quickly redistribute goods between stores depending on the level of demand. The work of Western networks is organized by regions. The regional group includes 50-60 stores, which are connected through one distribution center. The maximum possible number of functions is centralized. There is a unified marketing policy, a merchandising system, a training center, each workplace is standardized, all procedures are scheduled. At the same time, nowhere in the world the largest chains were created from scratch, by building or buying stores. Everywhere this happened through the voluntary association of already existing stores or the joining of wholesalers to this association.
Retail formats are developing all over the world according to a single logic, and the Russian retail market repeats the main stages in the development of markets in more developed countries. The evolution takes place against the backdrop of the inevitable displacement of traditional forms of trade by more modern ones.
First, there are food formats that provide high customer traffic and fast product turnover. At the first stages, formats are being developed that allow maintaining a high level of gross margin - supermarkets, soft discounters. The first supermarkets appeared in Russia in the mid-1990s: Seventh Continent, Perekrestok. Supermarkets have attracted consumers with quality branded goods and a quality of service never seen before by post-Soviet shoppers: 24-hour operation, modern design and a wide range of products. Low competition allowed supermarkets to maintain a fairly high level of prices, and low effective demand initially limited growth opportunities. With increased competition and the emergence of several supermarkets in one region, the management of companies faced the issue of optimizing activities, which led to the development of network business. Savings in this case are achieved through discounts for a large volume of purchases, cost minimization, and centralization of management.
Soft discounters are the next step in the evolution of retail formats after supermarkets. It was brought about by an increase in price sensitivity. In a soft discounter, prices are maintained at a constantly low level, the assortment is reduced to products that are sold most quickly, and services are minimized. The first representatives of this format in Russia were Kopeyka and Pyaterochka.
Following the soft discounters, hypermarkets began to actively develop, implementing the concept of "low prices and high quality in a large space." This has become a new stage in increasing the price aggressiveness and efficiency of the retail trade. The first format of hypermarkets in Moscow and St. Petersburg was presented by foreign players: Ramstore, Auchan. The answer to the success of hypermarkets was the emergence of hard discounters, which combined the lowest prices with proximity and ease of transportation. This is the global trend in the evolution of formats, however, in Russia, the hard discounter has not yet been developed, since this format makes very high demands on the internal organization of the company and the quality of the application of modern management technologies.
Simultaneously with hard discounters, cash&carry stores appear in many countries. This format is represented in Russia by the German company Metro, as well as the St. Petersburg-based Lenta. The format is based on a focus on small wholesale trade, on professional buyers - representatives of small and medium-sized businesses. The main clients of the Metro company are representatives of the restaurant and hotel business, the so-called HoReCa segment, small retail stores - traders who purchase goods in this network for subsequent resale, and representatives of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs who do not belong to the first two groups, but acquire related products.
However, the specificity of Russian cash&carry is that they also work with retail customers. Taking into account the assortment line and the size of the trading area, as well as the terminology adopted in modern Russian retail, Metro Cash & Carry can be conditionally attributed to the hypermarket format.
Simultaneously with hypermarkets, hard discounters and cash&carry centers in Russia, there was a development of a format offering a unique assortment in places most convenient for the buyer - convenience stores.
The next stage in the evolution of retail is the development of non-food formats, specialized formats, the so-called category killers - DYI, BTE, perfume and cosmetic chains, pharmaceutical markets, drogerie, etc. The format of large network department stores (department stores) is entering the market, with the development of market infrastructure, distance selling is becoming more active.
The format evolution cycle in Russia is faster than in Western and Eastern Europe. This is explained by the fact that the world has accumulated extensive know-how in retail, there are many examples of successful retail practice, which is actively used by leading Russian players. In addition, the entry of the largest global players into the market also contributes to the active development of retail technologies in Russia.
Features of developed countries
Industrialized countries are states that are members of the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). These include Australia, Great Britain, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Spain, Iceland, Italy, USA, Finland, etc. There are 24 states in total. Developed countries have the following main features: - A high level of such an economic indicator as GDP per capita per year.Basically, its value should be in the range of 15-30 thousand dollars. Developed countries have such an annual GDP per capita that it is five times higher than the world average. - Diversified economic structure. It is necessary to consider the fact that today the volume of the service sector is able to provide production of more than 60% of GDP. - Structure of a society of a social orientation. For states of this type, the main feature is the presence of a small gap in income levels between the poorest and the richest, as well as a powerful middle class with fairly high living standards. The Role of Developed Countries in the World Economy Developed countries play an important role in the world economy. Basically, their share in the total gross product is over 54%, and in world exports - over 70%. Among the states of this level for the national economy, those that are part of the seven (Canada, USA, Germany, Great Britain, France, Japan and Italy) are of particular importance. The listed developed countries provide about 51% of all exports and 47% of the total gross domestic product in the world. The United States has been dominating among them over the past decades. The role of the United States in the world economy.
Thus, the American economy quite steadily occupied the first positions in terms of the degree of competitiveness. However, recently such economic leadership in this state has significantly weakened. This fact is primarily manifested in a decrease from 30% to 20% of the share of the United States in the total GDP of states with a non-socialist economic orientation.
The main reason for this weakening of America's position in the economy of the whole world is the fact that such developed countries as Japan and the states of Western Europe began to develop actively. And it was American aid that served as the impetus for this. According to the US Marshall Plan, certain financial resources were allocated to restore the destroyed economy as a result of military operations.
Thanks to these measures, profound structural changes were carried out in the economy, completely new industries were created. At this stage, both Japanese and Western European economies have achieved a high level of international competitiveness (Japanese and German automotive industries can serve as an example). However, we must not forget that, despite some weakening of the influence of the United States on the world economy, the role of this state has always remained the leading one.
Group of developed countries
The group of developed (industrialized countries, industrial) includes states with a high level of socio-economic development, the predominant predominance of a market economy. GDP per capita PPP is at least $12,000 PPP.The number of developed countries and territories, according to the International Monetary Fund, includes the United States, all countries of Western Europe, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Israel. The UN joins them with the Republic of South Africa. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development adds Turkey and Mexico to their number, although these are most likely developing countries, but they are included in this number on a territorial basis.
Thus, about 30 countries and territories are included in the number of developed countries. Perhaps, after the official accession to the European Union of Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Estonia, these countries will also be included in the number of developed countries.
There is an opinion that Russia will also join the group of developed countries in the near future. But to do this, it needs to go a long way to transform its economy into a market one, to increase its GDP at least to the pre-reform level.
Developed countries are the main group of countries in the world economy. In this group of countries, the "seven" with the largest GDP (USA, Japan, Germany, France, Great Britain, Canada) are singled out. More than 44% of world GDP is accounted for by these countries, including the USA - 21, Japan - 7, Germany - 5%. Most developed countries are members of integration associations, of which the most powerful are the European Union (EU) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
A group of independent countries of the modern world, characterized by a high level of economic and social development, high values of macroeconomic indicators (primarily GDP per capita). Almost all of these countries have already entered the period ... Geographic Encyclopedia
Countries that ensure the development of the economy based on the accumulation of a large amount of technically advanced fixed capital and the availability of a highly skilled workforce. Industrialized countries countries with high per capita income ... ... Financial vocabulary
- (LDC) the official term used within the UN. These states have a very low standard of living, the economy is very weak, people and resources are exposed to the elements. The least developed countries are highlighted in blue Inclusion in the group ... ... Wikipedia
- (industrial countries) Countries in whose GDP and exports a large share is occupied by industrial production. The list of countries that can be considered industrialized is constantly changing. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) uses this... ... Economic dictionary
According to the UN classification of countries: low-income; with long-term barriers to economic growth; with an insufficient level of development of human resources; and with serious shortcomings in the structure of the economy. See also: Metrics for… … Financial vocabulary
- (least developed countries) The poorest countries in the world. At the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in 1971, countries with very low ... ... Economic dictionary
LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES (LDCs)- States that meet the criteria adopted by the UN General Assembly. The number of LDCs is changing. In 1984 there were 36 of them with a total population of 300 million people, in 1995 there were 47 (more than 2/3 were African countries, the rest of Asia, Oceania and the Caribbean ... Legal Encyclopedia
INDUSTRIALLY DEVELOPED COUNTRIES- countries that ensure the development of the economy on the basis of the accumulated large volume of technically advanced capital and the availability of a highly skilled workforce. These include the USA, Canada, Japan, most Western European countries… Legal Encyclopedia
- (LDC) according to the criteria adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, those states whose gross national product (GNP) per capita does not exceed 100 US dollars (in 1970 prices), the share of manufacturing in GNP is not more than ... ... Law Dictionary
LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES USERS OF THE PREFERENCE SCHEME- the least developed countries listed in Appendix 4 to the order of the State Customs Committee of April 26, 1996 No. 258. In respect of goods imported into the customs territory of the Russian Federation and originating from these countries, customs duties are not applied. List of least developed… Encyclopedia of Russian and International Taxation
Books
- Countries of the world. Encyclopedia, . There are a huge number of countries on our planet: republics, kingdoms, principalities, commonwealths, and so on. Big and small, developed and not very developed, aggressive, neutral and friendly - all…
- Developed countries: centers and peripheries. Experience of regional economic policy, Khasbulatov Omar Ruslanovich. The author of the monograph explores the theoretical and practical issues of regional economic policy in the developed countries of the world - the EU, the USA, Canada and a number of others. The process of evolution of this…
