Is the 'Developing World' Changing? A Dynamic and Multidimensional Taxonomy of Developing Countries

Sergio Tezanos Vázquez*, Andy Sumner

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Existing classifications of developing countries have been based on - or dominated by - income per capita. Even those deemed to be 'alternatives' to the income classification include income per capita as a main component. This article proposes an alternative approach to classifying countries based on cluster analysis that allows us to identify the key development characteristics of each cluster of countries. We build five clusters of developing countries and consider changes over time since the late 1990s. We find that there is neither a simple 'linear representation of development levels' (from low- to high-development countries) nor a 'linear dynamic of development' (as if groups were 'immutable' and countries were just trying to accommodate themselves to the 'established' groups), which implies that the dominant international classification needs review. Instead our multidimensional and dynamic taxonomy offers a more nuanced understanding of the diversity of challenges of developing countries and their evolution over time.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)847-874
Number of pages28
JournalEuropean Journal of Development Research
Volume28
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2016

Keywords

  • cluster analysis
  • developing countries
  • development classifications
  • development studies
  • income per capita classification

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