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Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1992 A sociological study of development issues and problems in developing countries K. A. S. Wickrama Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the Economics Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, and the Sociology of Culture Commons Recommended Citation Wickrama, K. A. S., "A sociological study of development issues and problems in developing countries " (1992). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 10358. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/10358 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MICROFILMED 1992 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely afifect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Order Number 9234861 A sociological study of development issues and problems in developing countries Wickrama, K. A. S., Ph.D. Iowa State University, 1992 UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 A sociological study of development issues and problems in developing countries by K.Â.S. Wickrama A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major: Sociology Approved: Members of the Committee: Signature was redacted for privacy. In Charge of Ma]or Work Signature was redacted for privacy. Signature was redacted for privacy. Signature was redacted for privacy. for tne uraauare college Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 1992 Copyright K.A.S. Wickrama, 1992. All rights reserved. il TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS V GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 Development In Developing Countries 1 Organization of Research 5 Review of the Literature Contemporary Theories on Development in Developing Countries 15 PART I. EFFECTS OF EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL FACTORS ON ECONOMIC AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INTRODUCTION 23 Previous Research 23 Hypotheses 43 METHODOLOGY 46 Sources of Data 46 Measures 47 Analyses 53 RESULTS 55 Factors Affecting Economic Development 55 Differential Effects of Capital Penetration on Economic Development 57 Factors Affecting Human Development 61 Differential Effects of Economic Structure on 64 Human Development Factors Affecting Different Dimensions of 64 Human Development ill DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 69 Effects of External and Internal Factors on 69 Human Development How are Dllfferent Dimensions of Human Development Affected by External and Internal Factors? 75 REFERENCES 78 PART II. IMPORTANCE OF INTERVENING VARIABLES ON ECONOMIC AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES INTRODUCTION 84 Intervention of Variables 84 Hypotheses 92 METHODOLOGY 95 Measures 95 Analyses 97 RESULTS 101 Economic Development as an Interveniing Variable 101 Services and Subsidies as an Intervenng Variables 104 Fertility as an Intervening Variable 109 Interaction Effects of Level of Economic Development 113 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 117 REFERENCES 129 iv SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS 135 Policy Implications: Theory to Practice 135 Democratic Participation at National Level 137 Theoretical Implications 145 REFERENCES 147 APPENDIX. DATA FOR THE COUNTRIES USED IN THE ANALYSIS 150 V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Several individuals have helped me in the completion of this dissertation. First and foremost, I owe a deep debt of gratitude to my major professor, Dr. Patricia M. Keith, for her understanding and guidance. Her flexibility and the confidence placed in me have been an inspiration for this work. Sincere appreciation is extended to Dr. Fred Lorenz for his instruction on statistical and methodological issues. Great appreciation is also extended to Dr. Motoko Lee, Dr. Duane Shinn, Dr. John Tait and Dr. Stephen G. Sapp for their guidance and encouragement in this work. Special appreciation is extended to my friend Dr. Jay Beaman, who has been very helpful to me throughout this research. Last though not least, I thank my wife Prema and children, Bhagya and Thulitha, who have been most loving, and have provided constant ecouragement throughout my graduate studies at Iowa State University. 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION Development in Developing Countries Spencer, Saint-Simon, Comte, Weber, Durkheim and Parsons saw that the progress of societies, which implied development, is a result of a natural evolutionary process with discrete stages. Modernization theory, based on this 'natural evolutionary process', argues that underdevelopment of a society is a transitory stage. All societies, which are autonomous, are progressing along a linear path. The traditional backward social structure of less developed countries has no capacity to adopt modern institutional forms. Marx was not an exception to this thinking. He also believed that society progresses through definite sequential stages. He believed that capital accumulation in capitalist countries would have a negative effect on societal progress in the developing countries. Dependency theorists, extending the process of international capital accumulation, introduce the concepts of core and periphery in the world system to explain the continuing dependence and underdevelopment of developing countries. Wallerstein (1979) in his world system theory, argues that all these theories have reified parts of the totality into different unrealistic units and then compared those structures. Instead the totality of global structure has to 2 be examined. The totality is the world capitalist system which has a world scale division of labor. He argues that periphery countries have no possibility of development within this capitalist economy. However, the present uneven development in developing countries is not adequately explained by all of these theories. Wide-spread absolute poverty in developing countries, the diversity of economic and human development among the countries, the disparity between the level of economic development and the level of human development in a country and the complexity of development issues call for a more comprehensive and diverse theoretical analysis. The issues and problems related to third world development can be seen at various levels. There are different socio-economic theories for different levels. For example, whereas world system theorists consider global level structural variables, modernization, urban bias and evolutionary theorists consider country level variables to explain development. Meanwhile, organizational and social psychological theories are useful to analyse development problems at the lower levels. But present particularism in sociological theories blinds a large part of the reality in developing countries by being confined to specific ideologies. By limiting the factors affecting development to the global level, world-system theorists deny the country-specific indigeneous factors and 3 human potentials. On the other hand, natural evolutionary theories ignore the effects of both exogeneous factors and country-specific indigeneous factors on the development of any country. Both approaches do not recognize any initiative or participation by the people in development, despite positive empirical evidence from developing countries. Another aspect of development is the link between economic and human development. The evolutionary theories imply that the development of a country is the societal progress which is a natural outcome. Both evolutionary theories and world-system theory view economic development as synonymous with human development; that is human development is an automatic outcome of economic development. The empirical situation shows (Table 1) that there is great disparity between economic and human development in a country. If the focus of development is the people, development should be the total development of the people. The economic development of a country is only one dimension of total development. In this
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