In the work of Lewis (2005) he is of the view that when there are increases in the private income of the people which is a direct results of economic growth additional resources are generated which is used to improve social services including healthcare, safe drinking water etc. “By generating additional resources for social services, unequal income distribution will be limited as such social services are distributed equally across each community; benefiting each individual (Deardorff, 2009). Anand (2000) thus summarizes the relationship between human development and economic developments are at three different levels. First and foremost he sees the first level to include an increase in average income leading to improved in health and nutrition, known as Capability Expansion through Economic Growth (O'Sullivan, Arthur et al, 2003). Second, it is believed that social outcomes can only be improved by reducing income poverty known as Capability Expansion through Poverty Reduction( O'Sullivan, Arthur et al, 2003). Thirdly, known as Capability Expansion through Social Services, defines the improvement of social outcomes with essential services such as education, health care, and clean drinking water (Hla Myint et al, 2009).
In the midst of the discussions above, other researchers have focused on what is considered to be growth models or the things that elucidate growth. In that regard four schools of thought have emerged while Conteras (2003) and his disciples are advocates of economic growth that hinges on production. Others such as Lewis (2005) have also emphasized on savings function as a focal point of ensuring growth. In the third category, O'Sullivan, Arthur et al (2003) have also asserted that the best way for achieving growth is the labour supply function while others have also suggested that increases the exploration function is a panacea for economic growth. Hla Myint et al (2009) classify economic growth of the model of Jiaozuo community to belong to the fourth. By exploratory model of economic growth, he mean was referring to the ability of a community or a people to explore and discover new or recycle old resources which can be developed in such way that it is economically significant or relevant to the lives of the people. Hla Myint et al (2009) asserts that when a community sit on large oil deposit yet lacks knowledge of it and resorts to hunting of game for livelihood, any attempt that is aimed at discovering the hidden oil and developing structure and mechanisms to ensure that they are useful to the community is a form of an exploratory model of economic development. In the same way it is his view that when a community is able to develop an alternative use for a commodity which was usually worthless to the extent that it impacts significantly on its economic wellbeing then it is an exploratory model of economic growth.
In the study of exploratory model of economic growth in West African Cameroun (2005) was of the view that it is one of the most difficult model or modes of economic development since it comes at a usually great cost. He say that such a venture must come from years of serious researches and trail to find out how useful a particular option may be in boosting the economic activity in the area.
In such instances it is not only the direct form of increases in income that is used as a measure of assessing its wealth but the extent to which its impact affects other economic indicators such as the extent to which to which the exploration can create jobs and protect the environment to a larger extent. In studies related to Switzerland, Lewis (2005) sought to bring to the fore the stimulant of economic growth by exploration. According to him there are a number of factors that makes individuals look out for the ways to make economic progress. The first of this which he talks about is directly linked with the case of Jiaozuo. According to him when a community is faced with an obvious challenge of having to find an alternative to economic development due to the fact that its resources which has been depended upon is facing extinction there is an obvious inner motivation to commence the discovery of other sources to boost economic development. For example in some parts of the world people had hitherto depended on charcoal burning as their foremost economic activity and by which employment is created for the large majority of its people. In an age where deforestation is seen as a social canker such a community has no option than to explore other opportunities by which it can survive other than charcoal burning. A typical example of this is the people of the Gambia whose major export commodity and major source livelihood was the mining of coal. According to Conteras (2003) coal mining in Gambia lasted for a period of fifty years and after the expiration of the time there was intense hardship for the citizens. It is this situation that began the political instability in the small West African State that saw the ousting of the then president Sir Dauda Jawara who was seen to lack the requisite ability to lead to the exploration of other areas. In the aftermath most of the people who lost their jobs working in the mines took to the cultivation of groundnut, making them one of the world’s leading producers of ground nut.
According to the studies of O'Sullivan et al (2003) another major factor in directing exploratory economic growth is the advent of conditions that are natural but have debilitating impact on the community. In parts of Ghana and Ivory Coast their dependence on Cocoa as the leading source of income, employment and development has persisted for more than a century. In 1981 the two countries faced their worst economic conditions when drought and the Swollen Shoot disease lead to the virtually negative productions in the Cocoa sector. According to the latter these situation compelled a number of persons to leave the Cocoa growing industry creating a heap of unemployment conditions that affected the economic wellbeing of the people significantly. It was in such a situation that people saw the need to develop permanent irrigation dam to overcome some of these difficult and unpredictable natural occurrences.
Other researchers on the issues of economic development and the extent to which it contributes significantly to the level of development have focused on what they consider as areas that provides quick opportunity for development while others have also examined what a particular form of investment should be able to deliver in order to advance economic gains. According to Hla Myint et al (2009) the major emphasis is the ability to create employment and provide income to its people. There is reasonable evidence to suggest that tourism has contributed profusely to the creation of employment and generation of income as well as others which are discussed in subsequent sections of the study. |