Publication

This paper looks at how developing countries are classified, arguing that the existing system of classification focuses too much on income per capita and proposes an alternative approach that reconsiders the meaning of what development entails. In particular, the classification system it proposes takes into account economic development, human development, improvements in governance and environmental sustainability. The system also groups particular countries together in terms of their similarities and differences to each other in these areas so as to identify the key characteristics in development of each group. Finally, the authors use this system to examine how the developing world has changed since the 1990s.