AbstractThis study examines the relationship between social well-being and economic development in Third World countries, thus, involving human resources, economic, social, and technological factors. An attempt is made to answer the following question: What factors contribute to the formation of social well-being and economic development? The patterns of development theory are used to help answer this question. Secondary data were collected from various sources. The sample involved 103 countries from the Third World. The study used hierarchical regression and recursive path analysis as statistical methods. Results suggest that more than 66, 64, and 67 percent of the variance in social well-being, economic development, and development index, respectively, is explained by total population, population growth rate, percent of urban population, total exports, health indicators, and energy consumption per capita. This study suggests that there is more support for patterns of development analysis of structural change. Findings in this research demonstrate that social well-being in Third World countries is responsive to changes in the structure of population policy, technique of international trade, investment in social infrastructure, and improvements in energy efficiency.
