19th International CODATA Conference
Category: Economic Development

Evaluation of economic, social and political gaps in world development

Alexey V. Tikunov (avtikunov@rambler.ru)
Faculty of Geography, M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia


The gap in social-economic development of different countries, their groups and  macroregions of the world reaches today such rate, that all competitors perceive it as fundamental threat for global stability. The world considers sustainable development in such conditions as the strategy, that will allow to shorten the rate of that gap and to reduce the level of tension in interstate relations. Nevertheless public opinion about the measures of such development is not worked out until now. Revising the possibilities of participation of geography, with the arsenal of its approaches and facilities, in development of specified problem, the analysis of available theorist-methodical experience of estimations of development, as well as searching for and approbation of some original acceptance of such estimation are the primary tasks in this sphere. How can geographers estimate the level of development, how can we explain this term, what has been already done and what problems remain - these questions are put in the work as a key subject. It is obvious that this questions are put not for the first time and that its width and difficulty do not allow to reckon for quick, simple success. That’s why when we try to estimate development with the usage of quantitative measures and that is the main subject of the work it is not so easy, because at fact that is the attempt some qualitative changes evaluate using quantitative measures. In this particular work the level of development is evaluated with the assistance of complex integrated indexes. Among them there are some well-known one used by such organizations as UN, World Bank and so on, as well as some new indicators of development evaluating different components of development – economic, social, politic, ecological, for the long period of more than fifty years.