Early Development Economics Debates Revisited
Development economics in its early years created the image of a fierce fight between advocates of contrasting theories or approaches- "balanced growth" vs. "unbalanced growth" or "program loans" vs. "project loans...
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2007/12/8880119/early-development-economics-debates-revisited http://hdl.handle.net/10986/7565 |
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okr-10986-75652021-04-23T14:02:35Z Early Development Economics Debates Revisited Alacevich, Michele AGRICULTURAL SECTOR AGRICULTURE BENEFICIARY CAPITAL FORMATION CLASSICAL ECONOMISTS COMMODITIES CONTRIBUTIONS CREDITWORTHINESS DEBT DECISION MAKING DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES DISEQUILIBRIUM DISGUISED UNEMPLOYMENT DISMISSAL ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES ECONOMIC ADVISERS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT ECONOMIC POLICY ECONOMIC THEORIES ECONOMIC THOUGHT ECONOMIES OF SCALE ECONOMISTS ENTREPRENEURSHIP EXCHANGE RATES FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FINANCIAL RESOURCES FIRST LOANS FOREIGN CURRENCY FREE PRESS GROWTH THEORY HIGH EMPLOYMENT HOUSING INCREASING RETURNS INDUSTRIAL ECONOMY INDUSTRIALIZATION INTERNATIONAL BANK INVESTING INVESTMENT PROGRAM LABOR PRODUCTIVITY LABOUR LINE OF CREDIT LOAN MARKET SHARE NATIONAL ECONOMY POLITICAL ECONOMY POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS PRODUCTIVITY PUBLIC POLICIES PUBLIC SERVICES REORGANIZATION REPAYMENT SALARIES SELF-SUFFICIENCY SENIOR SOCIAL CONFLICT SOCIAL JUSTICE SOCIAL SECURITY SOCIOLOGISTS TOP MANAGEMENT TRANSPORT UNEMPLOYED UNEMPLOYED WORKERS UNEMPLOYMENT WAGES WATER SUPPLY WORTH Development economics in its early years created the image of a fierce fight between advocates of contrasting theories or approaches- "balanced growth" vs. "unbalanced growth" or "program loans" vs. "project loans." This view has the merit to highlight such conflicts in great detail; yet it fails to take into account the reality of development economics as it was practiced in the field. This paper reassesses these old conflicts by complementing the traditional focus on theoretical debates with an emphasis on the practice of development economics.A particularly interesting example is the debate between Albert Hirschman, one of the fathers of the "unbalanced growth" approach, and Lauchlin Currie, among the advocates of "balanced growth" on how to foster iron production in Colombia in the 1950s. An analysis of the positions held by these two economists shows that they were in fact much less antithetical than is usually held and, indeed, were in some fundamental aspects surprisingly similar. Debates among development economists during the 1950s thus must be explained-at least partially-as the natural dynamics of an emerging discipline that took shape when different groups tried to achieve supremacy-or at least legitimacy-through the creation of mutually delegitimizing systemic theories. 2012-06-08T19:03:17Z 2012-06-08T19:03:17Z 2007-12 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2007/12/8880119/early-development-economics-debates-revisited http://hdl.handle.net/10986/7565 English Policy Research Working Paper; No. 4441 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research |
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Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
AGRICULTURAL SECTOR AGRICULTURE BENEFICIARY CAPITAL FORMATION CLASSICAL ECONOMISTS COMMODITIES CONTRIBUTIONS CREDITWORTHINESS DEBT DECISION MAKING DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES DISEQUILIBRIUM DISGUISED UNEMPLOYMENT DISMISSAL ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES ECONOMIC ADVISERS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT ECONOMIC POLICY ECONOMIC THEORIES ECONOMIC THOUGHT ECONOMIES OF SCALE ECONOMISTS ENTREPRENEURSHIP EXCHANGE RATES FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FINANCIAL RESOURCES FIRST LOANS FOREIGN CURRENCY FREE PRESS GROWTH THEORY HIGH EMPLOYMENT HOUSING INCREASING RETURNS INDUSTRIAL ECONOMY INDUSTRIALIZATION INTERNATIONAL BANK INVESTING INVESTMENT PROGRAM LABOR PRODUCTIVITY LABOUR LINE OF CREDIT LOAN MARKET SHARE NATIONAL ECONOMY POLITICAL ECONOMY POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS PRODUCTIVITY PUBLIC POLICIES PUBLIC SERVICES REORGANIZATION REPAYMENT SALARIES SELF-SUFFICIENCY SENIOR SOCIAL CONFLICT SOCIAL JUSTICE SOCIAL SECURITY SOCIOLOGISTS TOP MANAGEMENT TRANSPORT UNEMPLOYED UNEMPLOYED WORKERS UNEMPLOYMENT WAGES WATER SUPPLY WORTH |
| spellingShingle |
AGRICULTURAL SECTOR AGRICULTURE BENEFICIARY CAPITAL FORMATION CLASSICAL ECONOMISTS COMMODITIES CONTRIBUTIONS CREDITWORTHINESS DEBT DECISION MAKING DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES DISEQUILIBRIUM DISGUISED UNEMPLOYMENT DISMISSAL ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES ECONOMIC ADVISERS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT ECONOMIC POLICY ECONOMIC THEORIES ECONOMIC THOUGHT ECONOMIES OF SCALE ECONOMISTS ENTREPRENEURSHIP EXCHANGE RATES FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FINANCIAL RESOURCES FIRST LOANS FOREIGN CURRENCY FREE PRESS GROWTH THEORY HIGH EMPLOYMENT HOUSING INCREASING RETURNS INDUSTRIAL ECONOMY INDUSTRIALIZATION INTERNATIONAL BANK INVESTING INVESTMENT PROGRAM LABOR PRODUCTIVITY LABOUR LINE OF CREDIT LOAN MARKET SHARE NATIONAL ECONOMY POLITICAL ECONOMY POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS PRODUCTIVITY PUBLIC POLICIES PUBLIC SERVICES REORGANIZATION REPAYMENT SALARIES SELF-SUFFICIENCY SENIOR SOCIAL CONFLICT SOCIAL JUSTICE SOCIAL SECURITY SOCIOLOGISTS TOP MANAGEMENT TRANSPORT UNEMPLOYED UNEMPLOYED WORKERS UNEMPLOYMENT WAGES WATER SUPPLY WORTH Alacevich, Michele Early Development Economics Debates Revisited |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper; No. 4441 |
| description |
Development economics in its early years
created the image of a fierce fight between advocates of
contrasting theories or approaches- "balanced
growth" vs. "unbalanced growth" or
"program loans" vs. "project loans."
This view has the merit to highlight such conflicts in great
detail; yet it fails to take into account the reality of
development economics as it was practiced in the field. This
paper reassesses these old conflicts by complementing the
traditional focus on theoretical debates with an emphasis on
the practice of development economics.A particularly
interesting example is the debate between Albert Hirschman,
one of the fathers of the "unbalanced growth"
approach, and Lauchlin Currie, among the advocates of
"balanced growth" on how to foster iron production
in Colombia in the 1950s. An analysis of the positions held
by these two economists shows that they were in fact much
less antithetical than is usually held and, indeed, were in
some fundamental aspects surprisingly similar. Debates among
development economists during the 1950s thus must be
explained-at least partially-as the natural dynamics of an
emerging discipline that took shape when different groups
tried to achieve supremacy-or at least legitimacy-through
the creation of mutually delegitimizing systemic theories. |
| format |
Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper |
| author |
Alacevich, Michele |
| author_facet |
Alacevich, Michele |
| author_sort |
Alacevich, Michele |
| title |
Early Development Economics Debates Revisited |
| title_short |
Early Development Economics Debates Revisited |
| title_full |
Early Development Economics Debates Revisited |
| title_fullStr |
Early Development Economics Debates Revisited |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Early Development Economics Debates Revisited |
| title_sort |
early development economics debates revisited |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2012 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2007/12/8880119/early-development-economics-debates-revisited http://hdl.handle.net/10986/7565 |
| _version_ |
1764402783116591104 |