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Economic Development: Overview By the problem of economic development I mean simply the problem of accounting for the observed pattern, across countries and across time, in levels and rates of growth of per capita income. This may seem too narrow a definition, and perhaps it is, but thinking about income patterns will necessarily involve us in thinking about many other aspects of societies too, so I would suggest that we withhold judgement on the scope of this definition until we have a clearer idea of where it leads us. —R. E. Lucas [1988] [W]e should never lose sight of the ultimate purpose of the exercise, to treat men and women as ends, to improve the human condition, to enlarge people’s choices. . . . [A] unity of interests would exist if there were rigid links between economic production (as measured by income per head) and human development (reflected by human indicators such as life expectancy or literacy, or achievements such as self-respect, not easily measured). Bu...

Economic Development: Overview By the problem of economic development I mean simply the problem of accounting for the observed pattern, across countries and across time, in levels and rates of growth of per capita income. This may seem too narrow a definition, and perhaps it is, but thinking about income patterns will necessarily involve us in thinking about many other aspects of societies too, so I would suggest that we withhold judgement on the scope of this definition until we have a clearer idea of where it leads us. —R. E. Lucas [1988] [W]e should never lose sight of the ultimate purpose of the exercise, to treat men and women as ends, to improve the human condition, to enlarge people’s choices. . . . [A] unity of interests would exist if there were rigid links between economic production (as measured by income per head) and human development (reflected by human indicators such as life expectancy or literacy, or achievements such as self-respect, not easily measured). Bu...

This book provides an introduction to development economics, a subject that studies the economic transformation of developing countries. My objective is to make a large literature accessible, in a unified way, to a student or interested individual who has some training in basic economic theory. It is only fair to say that I am not fully satisfied with the final product: in attempting to provide a wellstructured treatment of the subject, I have had to sacrifice comprehensiveness. Nevertheless, I do believe that the book goes quite far in attaining the original objective, within the limitations created by an enormous and unwieldy literature and the constraints imposed by my own knowledge and understanding. The primary target for this book is the senior undergraduate or masters level student with training in introductory or intermediate economic theory. I also recommend this book as background or supplementary reading for a doctoral course in development economics, along with th...