1. Case study There is a general recognition of the centrality of knowledge to development. For example, the UN Development Programme's Human Development Index (HDI) penerates indicators for monitoring long-term, national progress in human development, based on three fundamental dimensions namely 'access to knowledge', 'long and healthy life\" and 'standard of living'. Indeed, access to knowledge receives equal importance as the other two dimensions, namely 'long and healthy life' and *standard of living' (Gaye, 2011). In 2018, UNDP reported on HDI Dimension Maximum Minimum Ghana Kenya Equatorial Congo value value Guinea Life expectancy 85 20.0 63 67.3 57.9 65.1 [SDG 3] Mean years of schooling 15 0 7.1 6.5 5.5 6.3 [SDG 4.3] Expected years of schooling 18 0 11.6 12.1 9.3 11.4 [SDG 4.6] GNI per capita ($) 75,000 100 4,096 2,808 19,513 5,694 [SDG 8.5] GDP (8 billion) 47.33 74.94 12.49 37.24 GDP per capita ($) 1.641.49 1,507.81 9.850.01 457.85 Source: UNDP (2018) In the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the importance of knowledge is also recognized as can be seen from this quote which emphasizes the need to develop knowledge socleties: \"The spread of information and communications technology and global inter-connectedness has great potential to accelerate human progress, to bridge the digital divide and to develop knowledge societies, as does scientific and technological innovation across areas as diverse as medicine and energy.\" (UN, 2015:9) Despite this recognition, there is the possibility that current way knowledge is included in the SDGs, and within the paradigm of sustainable development more generally, might place too much emphasis on Western approaches, concepts and researchers. Criticisms of approaches to knowledge within the SDGs focus on the model of knowledge transfer, the lack of reference to local knowledge and the failure to recognize that development needs to be based on developing countries' experiences and realities (Leach, 2013). Ramalingam (2015), for instance argues that the overriding mentality of the SDGs is still that developing countries are vessels to be filled with knowledge and ideas. It, therefore, appears that there might be too much focus on Western approaches, while local knowledge is largely ignored. As Escobar has noted 'Development has relied exclusively on one knowledge system, namely the modem Western one. The dominance of this knowledge system has dictated the marginalization of non-western knowledge systems' (1995:13). UNESCO focuses on local knowledge as the basis of development capacities at the local level: \"All societies possess a rich range of knowledge and make use, in their daily lives, of various levels and types of knowledge that they produce and pass on using a wide variety of means, practices and tools. They are a base on which the capacities necessary for their development can sooner or later be built " (UNESCO, 2005: 188). Sustainable development, thus, needs to be based on respect for local knowledge and should be built on local knowledge and local realities because the ultimate task of high quality development policy remains to search for mechanisms to initiate self-reinforcing processes of endogenous change. Required: a. ldentify the country which has the lowest educational index. b. Which country, do you consider has the highest level of economic growth? Justify your answer. c. Compute and interpret the HDI for each of the countries, d. Using the HDI, which country do you consider has the lowest level of economic development? e. Given the table above, which other measure of economic development can you propose? Will this newly proposed measure lead to similar conclusions in \"d\2. Use the graph of Solow Model of economic growth. a, Derive and draw the basic model of Solow Model: Properly label the horizontal and vertical lines (axis); Derive the total production/output curve, the savings line, the required investment/depreciation line, and the equilibrium point, Use the Solow Model graph to explain and illustrate the followings (for this question, you do not have to have a long verbal explanation. An illustration with graphs and a short-answer will be sufficient): i. Why do some countries have a high level of national income and others have a low equilibrium level of national income, and they stay there? il. Why doesn't a once-and-for-all injection of capital from outside of the economy help economy maintain a high level of national income in the long-run? Hint: After World War 11, Japan made one-time war 2 repatriations for some Asian countries, such as Korea, Indonesia, Philippines, and so forth. Show why this repatriation ifself, either in money or capital, does not help those economies in the long-run? 3. East Aslan Miracles List the common features of the East Asian countries that have recorded a high economic growth: Briefly list the unique features of Value, Human Captial, Social Capital, and Government Roles. No long-explanation is necessary, and a short answer (item by item) is enough. Present pros-and-cons of export-oriented economic growth. 1) Why is the export drive paolicy better than import substitution? 2) What is the major problem of the export drive policy in the East Asia? What do you think is the relationship between the (Asian) Value and Economic Growth (there is no definite answer; express your view and readings). 4. The National Development Planning Commission Ghana is calling for research proposals for its conference to be held on 20 November 2024 at La Palm Hotel, La, Accra, on the topic 'Boosting Economic Growth and Development by Closing Gaps in Ghana'. This call aims to support research proposals that contribute to the measurement of technology, education/knowledge, income, and gender gaps associated with economic opportunities, especially in sectors that are typically neglected, and propose ways of closing those gaps in Ghana. The call further aims to fund studies that try to understand how closing gender gaps can boost productivity, growth, and development in Ghana. Requirement: Choose a topic related to the theme above and develop a 5 10 page proposal for the upcoming conference