Kazakhstan and Pakistan: Abstract
Globalization provides opportunities for developing countries to progress economically and increase human development. This paper defines the difference between economic development and human development and shows that Pakistan is at the low end of human development, while Kazakhstan is at an average level, considered a middle-income country. Human development goes beyond measures of GDP, literacy rates, and life expectancy. Factors such as education, gender equality, welfare, and human rights are also very important.
Introduction: In this paper, we discuss the economic, social, and human development of Kazakhstan and Pakistan in the era of globalization. For the purpose of this discussion, we treat economic, social, and human development as essential, in contrast to economic growth of the respective countries. The distinction between growth and development is important since we are focusing on the impact of globalization and development on each country’s society. Economic growth refers to the increasing ability of a nation to produce more goods and services. Economic development implies that individuals of that nation will be better off due to changes in economic and social structures that will reduce or eliminate poverty.
Economic development can be measured in a number of different ways, including the Human Development Index, the Gender Empowerment Measure, the Human Poverty Index, and the Human Freedom Index. All of these measures were developed by the United Nations Development Program. Globalization can have both negative and positive effects on a nation. It can impact levels of economic growth, unemployment, and a country’s quality of life. While theoretically, having an increasing national output means greater material welfare and a rise in living standards, it does not equate to having higher levels of well-being for individuals in that nation. Economic growth can, in fact, have negative impacts on a nation, including environmental degradation and the loss of traditional cultural values.
It may also mean that there is greater inequality between different classes in society, meaning that the gap between the rich and the poor may grow. For these reasons, economic development measurements are also used. Economic growth as a measure fails to account for other important social and economic factors, such as the size of the black market, domestic work which is not given a financial value, the level of damage to the environment, and inequalities in income distribution. Various indicators have been developed to compensate for the limitations of economic growth measurements.
Rather than simply measuring a country’s economic living standards, development indicators measure the welfare of individuals within that country. The main development indicator used is the Human Development Index (HDI), devised by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to measure a nation’s economic achievements in combining economic growth with social welfare. The HDI takes into account three major factors: life expectancy at birth, levels of educational attainment, and the ratio of people in primary, secondary, and tertiary education.
Gross Domestic Product per capita is seen as a measurement of the ability of people to access goods and services. The HDI is essentially a score between 0 and 1. A score of 0 would mean no human development has taken place, and a score of 1 is the maximum amount of human development. In 2001, Kazakhstan and Pakistan were ranked as number 76 and 144, respectively.
Kazakhstan’s index was 0.765, which is above the world average of 0.722 and can be considered a middle-income country with medium human development. The regional index for East Asia and the Pacific coincides with the world average of 0.722. Pakistan, on the other hand, is ranked much lower at 144 with an index of 0.
499. This indicates that the country is far below the world average and even lower than the average low-income country with an index value of 0.561. It is also in the category of low human development and does not even come close to the above-mentioned regional average. Globalization can impact a nation in a variety of ways.
A positive effect of globalization for many nations is that it allows them to achieve higher levels of economic growth. With higher levels of trade, world output will increase, which should result in higher levels of economic growth and increased standards of living. Globalization has also affected unemployment rates by creating millions of jobs worldwide.
