Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- 1 Development, transition and divergence
- 2 The search for a fundamental and changeable cause of prosperity
- 3 Aspirations and social thought of modernisation
- 4 Development strategy, viability and performance
- 5 Viability and strategies of transition
- 6 Development strategy, development and transition performances: empirical analysis
- 7 Why are east Asian economies so special? Are there any general lessons to be learnt from east Asian development and transition experiences?
- 8 Towards a right development and transition strategy
- Appendix 1 Development strategy and economic institutions in developing countries
- Appendix 2 Data description
- References
- Index
2 - The search for a fundamental and changeable cause of prosperity
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- 1 Development, transition and divergence
- 2 The search for a fundamental and changeable cause of prosperity
- 3 Aspirations and social thought of modernisation
- 4 Development strategy, viability and performance
- 5 Viability and strategies of transition
- 6 Development strategy, development and transition performances: empirical analysis
- 7 Why are east Asian economies so special? Are there any general lessons to be learnt from east Asian development and transition experiences?
- 8 Towards a right development and transition strategy
- Appendix 1 Development strategy and economic institutions in developing countries
- Appendix 2 Data description
- References
- Index
Summary
But, soon or late, it is ideas, not vested interests, which are dangerous for good or evil.
John Maynard Keynes (1935)The dominant social thought shapes the institutionalized order of society … and the malfunctioning of established institutions in turn alters social thought.
Theodore W. Schultz (1977)How to develop a country is a subject that Adam Smith analysed in The Wealth of Nations, the publication of which in 1776 marked the birth of modern economics. The very diverse performances in economic development among various developing countries and in the transition of various socialist countries have recently revived economists' interest in economic development.
Recent studies have tried many ways to identify the determinants of economic growth in a country and have proposed various theories to explain why a country becomes wealthy and what actions a government in a poor country can take to improve its economic performance. Looking at the issue from an accounting perspective, the differences in per capita income between countries can be explained by the differences in their physical capital, human capital and productivity. From this point of view, the way for a country to become rich is to invest in physical and human capital and to adopt new and better technologies. Such differences are just the proximate causes of the income differences between countries, however, as the accumulation of physical and human capital and productivity growth are themselves endogenous (Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson, 2005; Lewis, 1955; Rodrik, 2003).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Economic Development and TransitionThought, Strategy, and Viability, pp. 8 - 19Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009