ComparingEconomicSystems

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This growing interest may reflect a combination of objective as well as societal factors.

A first one probably lies with the increasingly visibility of some of the adverse consequences of economic activity on the environment (e.g. climatic change). A second factor is the end of the “catching up” period, the so-called “30 glorieuses”, where GDP growth was substantial. The period of lower and less regular economic growth that followed was accompanied by higher perceived economic insecurity, in the form of greater exposure to unemployment, poverty and bad work conditions.Changes in goals necessarily go along with changes in indicators.

From a perspective of economic welfare, the main limits can be identified to this concept:

• the exclusion of many household activities that are productive in an economic sense

•the problems concerning the measurement of non market output and its aggregation with market production.

Selected performance survey: GDP and other indicators

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

The GDP is a basic measure of a country's overall economic performance. It is the market value of all final goods and services made within the borders of a country in a year.

1.Product approach– GDP = Gross Value Added + Taxes on products - Subsidies on products

Sales of goods - purchase of intermediate goods to produce the goods sold2.Expenditure method

– GDP = Consumption + Investment + Government Spending + (Exports-Imports).

3.Income method– GDP = Rents + interests + profits + statistical adjustments + wages

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• Gross national income (GNI) comprises the value of all products and services generated within a country in one year (i.e., its gross domestic product), together with its net income received from other countries (notably interest and dividends).

• The GNI consists of: the personal consumption expenditures, the gross private investment, the government consumption expenditures, the net income from assets abroad (net income receipts), and the gross exports of goods and services, after deducting two components: the gross imports of goods and services, and the indirect business taxes. The GNI is similar to the gross national product (GNP), except that in measuring the GNP one does not deduct the indirect business

Gross National Income

Country Name 2010

Luxembourg 108.921

Norway 84.840

Switzerland 66.934

Denmark 55.988

Sweden 48.832

United States 47.184

Netherlands 47.159

Canada 46.148

Ireland 45.497

Austria 44.863

Finland 44.522

Singapore 43.867

Japan 43.137

Belgium 42.969

Germany 40.509

Iceland 39.679

France 39.460United Kingdom 36.100

Italy 33.917

Spain 30.542

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Country Name 2010

Guinea-Bissau 580

Burkina Faso 536

Rwanda 530

Tanzania 527

Nepal 524

Togo 523

Uganda 509

Gambia, The 467Central African Republic 457

Guinea 452

Madagascar 421

Mozambique 410

Eritrea 403

Ethiopia 358

Niger 358

Malawi 343

Sierra Leone 325

Liberia 247

Congo, Dem. Rep. 199

Burundi 192

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GDP per capita (US$)

Source: World Bank, 2011

GDP is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products.

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GDP growth (2000-2010)

Source: World Bank, 2011

Country Name 2000-2010

Equatorial Guinea 17,8

Azerbaijan 14,9

Turkmenistan 13,6

Qatar 13,5

Myanmar 13,0Macao SAR, China 12,4

Afghanistan 10,7

Angola 10,5

Tuvalu 10,4

China 10,3

Sierra Leone 9,2

Kazakhstan 8,4

Bhutan 8,4

Tajikistan 8,4

Ethiopia 8,3

Cambodia 8,0

Chad 8,0

Armenia 8,0

Rwanda 7,6

India 7,4

Belarus 7,4

Mozambique 7,3

Vietnam 7,2

Kuwait 7,0

Uganda 7,0

United States; Guinea-Bissau 1,9

Malta 1,8

Dominica 1,8

Gabon 1,8

High income 1,8

Switzerland 1,8

Marshall Islands 1,8

Austria 1,7

Norway 1,7

Grenada 1,7

Kiribati 1,7

Greenland 1,7

United Kingdom 1,7

St. Kitts and Nevis 1,7Belgium, Netherlands

1,6

Channel Islands 1,5

Tonga 1,5Brunei Darussalam; France

1,4

Jamaica; Guyana 1,2

Central African Republic 1,1

Germany 1,1

St. Lucia 1,1

Japan; Portugal; Denmark 1,0

Fiji 0,8

Iraq 0,7

Cote d'Ivoire 0,7

Italy; Palau 0,6Aruba; Micronesia, Fed. Sts.; Bahamas, The

0,5

Haiti 0,2

Barbados 0,1

Eritrea -0,3

West Bank and Gaza -2,0

Zimbabwe -4,2

GNI vs GDP

GNP is a concept that goes hand in hand with GNI, GDP, and NNI. In contrast to the GNI, the GNP does not account for the balance of cross-country income, such as interest and dividends. In contrast to the GDP, the GNP account for the values of products and services based on citizenship of the owners rather than the territory of the activity

Net national income (NNI) is an economics term used in national income accounting. It can be defined as the net national product (NNP) minus indirec taxes. Net national income encompasses the income of households, businesses, and the government. It can be expressed as:NNI = Consumption + Investment + Government spending + (Net eXports) + net foreign factor income - indirect taxes - depreciation

GNI vs GNP

For example, the profits of a US-owned company operating in the UK will only count towards US GNI and UK GDP. If a country becomes heavily indebted, and pays large amounts of interest to service this debt, this will be reflected in a decreased GNI but not a decreased GDP. If a country sells off its resources to entities outside their country this will also be reflected over time in decreased GNI, but not decreased GDP. Therefore, the GDP appears more attractive for countries with increasing national debt and decreasing assets.

Country Name 2010

Luxembourg 63.950

Norway 57.100

Singapore 55.380

Switzerland 48.960Hong Kong SAR, China 47.130

United States 47.120

Netherlands 42.610

Denmark 40.290

Sweden 39.660

Austria 39.390

Germany 38.140

Belgium 37.800

Finland 37.180

United Kingdom 36.590

Japan 34.780

France 34.440

Ireland 32.520

Spain 31.640

Italy 31.130

Korea, Rep. 29.010

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Country Name 2010

Chad 1.210

Nepal 1.200

Guinea-Bissau 1.180

Rwanda 1.150

Haiti 1.110

Comoros 1.080

Ethiopia 1.030

Guinea 1.020

Mali 1.020

Madagascar 950

Mozambique 920

Togo 890

Malawi 850

Sierra Leone 820Central African Republic 780

Niger 720

Eritrea 540

Burundi 400

Liberia 340

Congo, Dem. Rep. 320

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GNI per capita (US$)

Source: World Bank, 2011

PPP GNI is gross national income (GNI) converted to international dollars using purchasing power parity rates.

Gini coefficient, 2013

The Gini coefficient is a measure of the inequality of a distribution, a value of 0 expressing total equality and a value of 1 maximal inequality.

Source: CIA Factbook 2013 (from World Bank data)

Income share held by lowest 20%, 2010

Source: World Bank, 2011

Income share held by highest 20%, 2010

Source: World Bank, 2011

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic used to rank countries by level of "human development" and separate "very high human development", "high human development", "medium human development", and "low human development" countries. The Human Development Index (HDI) is a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education and standards of living for countries worldwide. It is a standard means of measuring well-being, especially child welfare. It is used to distinguish whether the country is a developed, a developing or an under-developed country, and also to measure the impact of economic policies on quality of life. There are also HDI for states, cities, villages, etc. by local organizations or companies.

Human Development Index (HDI)

Human Development Index (HDI) value, 2011

Source: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 2011

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sHuman Development Index (HDI) trends: 1980 - 2011

Source: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 2011

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sHuman Development Index (HDI) trends: 1980 - 2011

Source: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 2011

Since 2004, the report ranks the world's nations according to the Global Competitiveness Index.

The report states that it is based on the latest theoretical and empirical research. It is made up of over 110 variables, of which two thirds come from the Executive Opinion Survey, and one third comes from publicly available sources such as the United Nations.

The variables are organized into twelve pillars, with each pillar representing an area considered as an important determinant of competitiveness.

Global Competitiveness Index

The Global Competitiveness Index 2011-2012 rankings © 2011 World Economic Forum | www.weforum.org/gcr

 GCI 2011-2012

GCI 2010-2011  

Country/Economy Rank Score Rank Change

Switzerland 1 5,74 1 0

Singapore 2 5,63 3 1

Sweden 3 5,61 2 -1

Finland 4 5,47 7 3

United States 5 5,43 4 -1

Germany 6 5,41 5 -1

Netherlands 7 5,41 8 1

Denmark 8 5,40 9 1

Japan 9 5,40 6 -3

United Kingdom 10 5,39 12 2

Hong Kong SAR 11 5,36 11 0

Canada 12 5,33 10 -2

Taiwan, China 13 5,26 13 0

Qatar 14 5,24 17 3

Belgium 15 5,20 19 4

Norway 16 5,18 14 -2

Saudi Arabia 17 5,17 21 4

France 18 5,14 15 -3

Austria 19 5,14 18 -1

Australia 20 5,11 16 -4

Malaysia 21 5,08 26 5

Israel 22 5,07 24 2

Luxembourg 23 5,03 20 -3

Korea, Rep. 24 5,02 22 -2

New Zealand 25 4,93 23 -2

China 26 4,90 27 1

United Arab Emirates 27 4,89 25 -2

Brunei Darussalam 28 4,78 28 0

Ireland 29 4,77 29 0

Iceland 30 4,75 31 1

Zambia 113 3,67 115 2

Ghana 114 3,65 114 0

Nicaragua 115 3,61 112 -3

Cameroon 116 3,61 111 -5

Malawi 117 3,58 125 8

Pakistan 118 3,58 123 5

Cape Verde 119 3,58 117 -2

Tanzania 120 3,56 113 -7

Uganda 121 3,56 118 -3

Paraguay 122 3,53 120 -2

Belize 123 3,52 n/a n/a

Venezuela 124 3,51 122 -2

Nepal 125 3,47 130 5

Kyrgyz Republic 126 3,45 121 -5

Nigeria 127 3,45 127 0

Mali 128 3,39 132 4

Côte d'Ivoire 129 3,37 129 0

Madagascar 130 3,36 124 -6

Timor-Leste 131 3,35 133 2

Zimbabwe 132 3,33 136 4

Mozambique 133 3,31 131 -2

Swaziland 134 3,30 126 -8

Lesotho 135 3,26 128 -7

Burkina Faso 136 3,25 134 -2

Mauritania 137 3,20 135 -2

Yemen 138 3,06 n/a n/a

Angola 139 2,96 138 -1

Burundi 140 2,95 137 -3

Haiti 141 2,90 n/a n/a

Chad 142 2,87 139 -3

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Big Mac Index

Source: The Economist, 2011

Environmental Performance Index (EPI)

The 2010 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranks 163 countries on 25 performance indicators tracked across ten policy categories covering both environmental public health and ecosystem vitality. These indicators provide a gauge at a national government scale of how close countries are to established environmental policy goals

Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2012, selected countries

Source: Yale/CIESIN, 2013, 2012 Environmental Performance Index

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