Question 1

The fundamental goal of the U.N.'s Millennium Development program is to:

Accepted Answer

The U.N.'s Millennium Development program is primarily focused on reducing global poverty, as stated in their official mission statement. While protecting the environment, supporting sustainable development, increasing food production, and reducing pollution are important goals, reducing poverty is the overall priority of the program.

Question 2

World-system theory, if applied to the modern world, would argue that:

Accepted Answer

World-system theory posits that the world is an interconnected global system, with different regions occupying different positions within the system. This suggests that virtually all of the world is part of the system, regardless of their different positions as core, semi-peripheral, or peripheral regions.

Question 3

_____________ is based on the idea that the price of a good or service in one country should equal the price of that same good or service in another country when it is converted to a common currency.

Accepted Answer

PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) is based on the concept of equalizing the purchasing power of different currencies in terms of a common basket of goods and services. According to this concept, the exchange rate between two currencies should equal the ratio of the price levels of a basket of goods and services in two countries. This ensures that the same basket of goods and services should cost the same in both countries, when converted to a common currency.

Question 4

The Gini coefficient for income inequality in Brazil is 59.3. This means that:

Accepted Answer

The answer of The Gini coefficient for income inequality in...

Question 5

________________ became the cornerstone of the neoliberal development model during the 1980s and 1990s, and they influenced the policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

Accepted Answer

Structural adjustment programs (SAPs) became the cornerstone of the neoliberal development model during the 1980s and 1990s. They were imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank as conditions for loans and debt relief. SAPs aimed to promote economic growth and development by reducing state intervention in the economy, privatizing state-owned enterprises, and liberalizing trade and investment. However, SAPs also led to social and environmental consequences, such as job losses, income inequality, and environmental degradation.

Question 6

Purchasing power parity is used to study development because it reduces the effect of differences in currency values and the impact of changing exchange rates.

Accepted Answer

Purchasing power parity (PPP) takes into consideration the relative cost of living and inflation rates between countries to determine the value of goods and services. This reflects the actual purchasing power of a country's currency rather than just the exchange rate. As a result, PPP helps to compare the standard of living between countries and understand different levels of development.

Question 7

Economic reforms associated with structural adjustment programs typically include:

Accepted Answer

Economic reforms associated with structural adjustment programs typically aim to reduce government intervention and regulation of the economy in order to create an environment that is more market-oriented and attractive to foreign investment. This often involves reducing subsidies for state-owned enterprises, freeing up trade and investment regulations, and reducing the public sector.

Question 8

The terms First World and Third World have fallen out of use because they reinforce the negative stereotype that less developed countries are backward.

Accepted Answer

The terms First World and Third World are no longer used in political discourse due to their negative connotations and their association with a now outdated Cold War-era terminology that divided countries into the capitalist and communist camps. Additionally, these terms reinforced negative stereotypes about less developed countries, portraying them as being inferior and backward compared to the countries of the First World. Today, terms such as developing countries, emerging markets, and global South are used instead to describe nations with less developed economies.

Question 9

The poverty line used in the United States has been adopted by the World Bank to measure extreme poverty worldwide.

Accepted Answer

The World Bank uses a different poverty line to measure extreme poverty worldwide, typically defined as living on less than $1.90 a day, which is not the same as the poverty line used in the United States.

Question 10

Most geographers no longer use sociodemographic and environmental measures of development because:

Accepted Answer

While economic measures are important, socio demographic and environmental measures can provide valuable insights into development challenges such as inequalities, health issues, and environmental sustainability. Safe drinking water may not be a challenge in some regions, but access to other basic needs such as sanitation and electricity are still major developmental issues. Additionally, sustainable development remains a U.N. goal, making socio demographic and environmental measures relevant in measuring progress towards this goal.

Question 11

Development is influenced by dependency because:

Accepted Answer

Dependency theory argues that the lack of economic resources and power in dependent states hinders their development, as they are often reliant on dominant states for essential resources and investment. The other options are not as directly related to the concept of dependency theory.

Question 12

All of the following are examples of policy-related factors affecting income distribution except for ____________.

Accepted Answer

Slavery is not a policy-related factor affecting income distribution in modern societies. While slavery has historically been used as a means of controlling labor and income distribution, it is not an accepted or legal practice in most countries today. The other options (taxation, labor laws, international trade, and immigration policies) are all examples of policy-related factors that can impact income distribution in modern societies.

Question 13

The human development index score of .965 for a country indicates that most citizens struggle with daily life.

Accepted Answer

The human development index score of .965 is a very high score, indicating that the citizens of the country have a high standard of living, access to education, and a long life expectancy. Therefore, it is false that most citizens struggle with daily life in such a country.

Question 14

Rostow's classical model of development called for:

Accepted Answer

Rostow's model advocated for investment in manufacturing to enable countries to move from a traditional agricultural economy to a modern industrialized economy.

Answer: D 
 Rostow recognized that development needs varied across countries and that different countries needed different approaches to development. He advocated for multiple approaches to development within a country, depending on the specific needs of regions and economic sectors.

Question 15

The trickle-down theory of development argues that global trade will widen the gap between the rich and the poor.

Accepted Answer

The trickle-down theory of development posits that benefits for the wealthy will "trickle down" to everyone else, suggesting that economic growth, primarily through free trade and capital accumulation, will ultimately benefit all segments of society, including the poor. It does not argue that global trade will widen the gap between the rich and the poor, but rather suggests the opposite.

Question 16

The international division of labor describes the assignment of different tasks of production to different regions of the world.

Accepted Answer

The international division of labor refers to the segmentation of the production process across different countries and specializations. It involves the allocation of different tasks to different regions, based on their comparative advantages, in order to optimize efficiency and reduce production costs.

Question 17

Structural adjustment programs have the advantage of being locally developed and locally administered development programs.

Accepted Answer

Structural adjustment programs are actually developed and administered by international organizations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, rather than being locally developed and administered.

Question 18

The United Nations has established an extreme poverty level that is $2 per person per day.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The United Nations has established an extreme...

Question 19

Dependency theory is based on Rostow's Stages of Development.

Accepted Answer

Dependency theory is a critique and alternative to Rostow's stages of development, which is part of modernization theory. Dependency theory argues that developing countries are not able to progress due to their economic and political dependence on more developed countries.

Question 20

Income inequality is associated with a lower incidence of poverty, which in turn, can deter investment and development.

Accepted Answer

This statement is incorrect. Income inequality can actually exacerbate poverty and hinder investment and development as it creates an unequal distribution of resources and opportunities.

Quiz 9: Geographies of Development.