What Is the Meaning of the Word “Development”?

Running Head: DEVELOPMENT 1
DEVELOPMENT 5

Development

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Introduction
The word development means causing something to grow bigger or become more advanced (McKinnon, 2010). In addition, it means creating something within a certain period. Currently, the word is mostly used economics and in business related activities to show increase in value of something. Mostly, it is used to show how various elements of economy such as gross domestic product, the per capita income, the value of currency among other economic elements have developed within time. In addition, the word is used in the political world to show how different economies have grown. This leads to the classification of the nations or the world economies in both developed and developing nations to show the level at which various elements of economic growth have increased in value within the past decades (McKinnon, 2010). Development has different meanings in commercial economies and subsistence economies.
The meaning of development differs from one form of economy to another. Development means differently in both commercial economies and subsistence economies. A commercial economy is a type of economy that is tied on the exchange of good, services as well as labor activities defined clearly in monetary value. This form of economy does not include activities like housework, family caring and other domestic duties done at unpaid basis. In such economies like the United States, United Kingdom and China, majority of the activities are done on payment basis (Smith, 2009). In addition, a high number of commercial activities characterize the economies. In addition, the economies try to keep a reduced number of domestic activities. In such economies, development is viewed as the increased of such economic measures like the gross national income, the GDP, the per capita income among other factors. This type of economy is differentiated from a sharing or a gift economy whereby the exchanges are not assigned a monetary value. In commercial economies, economic development is the process as well as policies through which a country improves the economic, political, and social welfare of its people. The term has continued to be used for a long. Other terms used to describe development include industrialization, westernization, and modernization. United States is among the commercial economies. In this nation, people depend on exchange of goods, services and labor for their survival. The United States is an industrialized nation and depends on industries for their income (Emery & Pierce, 2005). Most of the people are employed in industries and therefore the industries and factories in the United States are the main source of income. This is the same case with the United Kingdom. Most of the people in the UK depend on industries and factories for their daily income. Development in these economies is determined by the development of industries and factories and the rate of employment. In addition, development in commercial economies is determined by such factors like the level of employment among other factors.
On the other hand, subsistence economies are non-monetary economies that depend on natural resources for provision of basic needs through such methods like hunting and gathering, as well as subsistence agriculture (Natcher, 2009). According to Kuokkanen (2011), these economies are characterized by increase of domestic activities like family caring, housework, family caring and other domestic duties done at unpaid basis. In these economies, development is measured by the happiness of the family and the increase of the natural resources since they provide the basic needs. In addition, such activities like industrialization do not account to development in these economies. In these economies, economic surplus is small and is only used for trading basic goods and services. In addition, there is no industrialization in these types of economies. Alaska is a good example of a subsistence economy. The nation mostly depends on agriculture and most of the agricultural produce is only used for subsistence. In addition, there is little surplus for commercial purposes (Mahapatra, Albers & Robinson, 2005).
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is clear that development has a wider meaning. In addition, its meaning differs from one form of economy to another. In the commercial economies, development means the increase of commercial activities like industrialization and commercial agriculture. On the other hand, in the subsistence economies, development is described by the increased of such subsistence activities like natural resources from which the society gets the basic needs.

References
Emery, M. R., & Pierce, A. R. (2005). Interrupting the telos: locating subsistence in contemporary US forests. Environment and Planning A, 37(6), 981-993.
Kuokkanen, R. (2011). Indigenous economies, theories of subsistence, and women: Exploring the social economy model for Indigenous governance. The American Indian Quarterly, 35(2), 215-240.
Mahapatra, A. K., Albers, H. J., & Robinson, E. J. (2005). The impact of NTFP sales on rural households’ cash income in India’s dry deciduous forest. Environmental Management, 35(3), 258-265.
McKinnon, R. I. (2010). Money and capital in economic development. Brookings Institution Press.
Natcher, D. C. (2009). Subsistence and the social economy of Canada’s Aboriginal North. Northern Review, (30), 83-98.
Smith, B. D. (2009). Resource resilience, human niche construction, and the long-term sustainability of pre-Columbian subsistence economies in the Mississippi River valley corridor. Journal of Ethnobiology, 29(2), 167-183.