Typology of countries: economically developed countries and developing countries

Modern states are usually divided into developed and developing ones. The former are traditionally regarded as leaders of the world economy, the latter - as those that, perhaps, will someday pretend to the corresponding status. But what are the criteria for dividing states into developed and developing countries? Due to what is possible to reduce the lag of some countries from others?

Principles of economic classification of countries

So, modern economists singled out developed countries and developing countries. Based on which criteria is this classification allowed? Such a scheme was put into circulation by the UN Economic and Social Council. The main criterion proposed by the experts of this organization is the degree to which the national economy of a given country is in accordance with market criteria and financial indicators: GDP per capita, the level of technology of industries, the quality of social institutions, etc. There is the IMF methodology, according to which the classification in question Countries ("developed and developing") is not used, instead, it is practiced to classify states as advanced and those that do not fall into this category.

There are spheres whose characteristics do not allow giving any state leadership. For example, many demographic problems of developed and developing countries coincide. Similarly, the situation is also with climate resources, ecology - not always in developed countries, the situation in these areas is better than in developing ones.

The developed countries

Now the developed countries include the states of Western Europe, the USA, Canada, Israel, Asian countries - Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. These states have a per capita GDP of at least $ 30,000, a stable economy, and a high level of development of social institutions. The leading countries in the economic and political terms are the countries of the "Big Seven" - the USA, Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Japan. G7 states account for about 50% of world GDP.

Specifics of developed economies

Developed countries and developing countries differ, above all, macroeconomic indicators. Why do states of the first type manage to be leaders? According to one popular version, GDP indicators in developed countries are higher than in developing countries, due to two main reasons: the availability of capital (which can be invested in various industries and thereby promote economic growth), as well as openness of the market (due to which one or another The economic segment has the necessary consumer demand).

The actual structure of the economies of developed countries, as some researchers note, does not necessarily imply diversification. For example, Norway's GDP structure shows a strong dependence on oil exports. However, the excessive accent in the development of the economy in the relevant sector in Norway is not a problem due to the persistence of the sales markets, and also because of the country's very large reserves.

The role of transnational corporations

A significant difference between developed and developing countries is that transnational corporations play a leading role in the states of the first type . Actually, in many respects it is their activity that determines the openness of foreign markets for countries of the corresponding category. Developing States do not always have this resource. Another difference between developed and developing countries is the importance of the role of small and medium-sized enterprises. Small companies are, firstly, a reduction in the social burden on the state (citizens employ themselves by opening a business and also employ others), and secondly, it is an additional resource for collecting taxes.

Significance of social institutions

Developed countries and developing countries also differ at the level of social institutions - law, public administration, education. In the states of the first type, as a rule, an effective system of legislation is effectively introduced, combining the necessary bureaucratic mechanisms and the freedom of businesses from unnecessary formalities. In the system of public administration, much attention is paid to the introduction of democratic institutions - and the emphasis is on the development of relevant initiatives at the local, local level, and not on the national level. The most important condition for maintaining the status of a developed state is a competitive education system. Its presence predetermines the formation of the best personnel who will be able to take direct part in modernizing the economy and maintaining its highly developed status.

The role of the state in developed economies

Above we noted that developed countries and developing countries differ in that in the first - a large percentage of private businesses. At the same time, in most countries of the respective type, government institutions that carry out the necessary economic regulation play an extremely important role. The main goal of such activities of the authorities is the formation of optimal conditions for commodity-money communications of businesses both within the state and with its trading partners. The government can regulate the economy through its own participation in economic processes through state enterprises or implement certain legislative initiatives.

Liberalization of developed economies

The most important sign of the economic system of a developed state is openness to external markets. This shows a liberal approach to the organization of the economic system in most countries of the corresponding type. However, the country should be ready for active communications in foreign markets, especially in terms of competitiveness of goods produced by national enterprises.

In this sense, the impact of globalization on developed and developing countries can be dissimilar. States of the first type, as a rule, are adapted to the competitive conditions of the global market, and therefore can feel comfortable enough in conditions when the economy must constantly improve in order to offer better products and services. Developing countries, due to a possible deficit of capital and, as a result, the level of manufacturability of production, are not always able to withstand competition in foreign markets.

Developing countries

Experts identify about 100 states, which can be attributed to the corresponding category. There are a large number of criteria by which a country can be defined as developing. Note that this term may suggest additional grounds for classification. For example, among developing countries, countries with economies in transition are singled out - those in which the economic system has long developed according to the principles of socialism. Russia belongs to such states. It is difficult to classify according to the criterion China. The fact is that in the PRC - the communist state - the elements of both a market economy and a command-administrative one are side by side.

One of the criteria for classifying a country as a developing country is the same level of GDP per capita. However, not all economists consider it to be correct. The fact is that in some Middle Eastern countries - for example, in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain - GDP per capita is even greater than in the most developed European states. However, these countries, however, are classified as developing. Therefore, many experts prefer other criteria that make it possible to distinguish between economically developed and developing countries.

Among the common grounds is the level of development of social institutions. This factor, economists believe, can predetermine the stability, in turn, of the economic system of the state. That is, for example, with an ineffective political governance of the country and a low quality of legislative regulation, the country's high GDP may well fall due to the influence of certain factors (it would be quite possible to counteract this in case of building strong social institutions).

Some economists believe that the economic system of the state should, albeit not be diversified, but nevertheless - it is highly desirable - to be based at least on several leading industries. For example, in the economy of some Middle Eastern countries the oil sector still plays a crucial role, which gives rise to the researchers not to classify them as developed.

Criteria for classifying Russia as a developing country

Based on what criteria does the RF include the RF? In this case, it can be said that our country is inadequate in terms of GDP per capita. Now it is about 24 thousand dollars - at purchasing power parity. You need at least 30 thousand to match the status of a developed country on this criterion.

As for social institutions, the approaches to assessing their Russian variant vary widely. There are researchers who believe that the state and legal systems of the Russian Federation need to be modernized as soon as possible. Other experts believe that the Russian scheme of legislative regulation of the economy is optimal for the state - taking into account its historical and cultural characteristics. That is, simple copying of samples of legal systems of developed countries may be ineffective.

From the point of view of the role of small and medium-sized enterprises in the economy, Russia's indicators are objectively also less outstanding than those that characterize many developed and developing countries of the world. Perhaps this is due to a long period in the USSR, when private business was banned. During the years of the construction of a free market in the Russian Federation, there is simply not yet formed a large class of entrepreneurs.

Regarding Russia's access to world markets - recent political events indicate that such can be artificially limited to Western states. As a result, Russia faces the challenge of forming new markets for itself. Than our state, apparently, is engaged in, concluding all new contracts with the BRICS countries, developing cooperation with the Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan in the framework of the EEA.

Russia has a number of unique technologies - especially this can be observed on the example of the military sphere. Many of the relevant solutions have very few analogs in the West - for example, this applies to aircraft of the 5th generation. By this criterion of the RF to the category of developing states is, of course, difficult to attribute. In Russia, many other samples of high-tech products are produced - for example, Elbrus processors, which are not inferior in any respect to the chips from Intel and AMD.

As for the level of economic diversification, as we noted above, even in many developed countries this criterion is not observed. Therefore, the known dependence of the Russian Federation on oil exports is probably not the main factor that our country does not yet belong to developed countries.

However, as many economists note, further growth of the national economy of the Russian Federation due to the corresponding sector will no longer be possible, first, because oil prices are unpredictable, and secondly, it will be difficult to significantly increase the volume of its production to Russia. It is necessary, therefore, to develop additional branches of the economy.

The search for new markets is relevant for all

It should be noted, however, that recently, free access to markets is a common problem for developed and developing countries. Whatever the potential of this or that segment, sooner or later it is exhausted. Even the most developed states have to look for new markets. A certain advantage can have those that have a developed industrial sector. In industrialized and developing countries with a significant share of manufacturing enterprises in GDP, as a rule, there are always business players capable of offering a competitive product to the world market. Thus, the availability of an appropriate resource is a criterion that is important for the development of countries of both types in question, if we talk about solving such a problem as the search for new markets.

So, in accordance with the classification of modern economists, there are developed, developing, transitional countries. In some cases, the border between them is not easy to find - for example, if we are talking about states with a large GDP, but not sufficiently perfect, by Western criteria, social institutions. In a number of cases, the economy of developed and developing countries can, in general, be comparable in terms of the availability of certain unique technologies in the latter.

However, the reality of the modern world economic system is such that there is a significant difference in the level of economic development of many states. In most cases, it is possible to single out the reasons for the backwardness of the state in various economic aspects. Overcoming them will be a key condition for increasing the dynamics of the country's economic growth and possible inclusion in the elite category of developed.