Description
In 1983, when the fi rst edition of this textbook was published, 50 percent of the world’s population lived in nations the World Bank classifi ed as low income. By 2010 the number had dropped to 12 percent. Much of that change is the result of rapid economic growth in China and India. Today, both are middle- income economies. But economic growth and development has not been limited to these two Asian giants. “Africa Rising” was the cover story of a 2011 issue of Th e Economist, reflecting more than a decade of rapid growth in a region Th e Economist 10 years earlier referred to as “The Hopeless Continent.” Th roughout Africa, East and South Asia, Latin America, and elsewhere, dramatic improvements have been taking place in the education, health, and living standards of billions of people.
The study of the economics of development has had to keep pace with these historic changes. We have tried to keep pace as well. In this as in previous editions, we have incorporated new ideas and new data and provide fresh insights from the experiences of the nations that make up the developing world. While there is much that is new in this seventh edition, the distinguishing features of this text remain the same:
• It is based primarily on the real- world experiences of developing countries. It explores broad trends and patterns and uses numerous real- country examples and cases to illustrate major points, many of which are drawn from the authors’ own experiences.
• It draws heavily on the empirical work of economists who believe that attention to the data not only reveals what the development process entails but permits us to test our beliefs about how that process works.
• It relies on the theoretical tools of neoclassical economics to investigate and analyze these real- world experiences in the belief that these tools contribute substantially to our understanding of economic development.
• It highlights the diversity of development experience and recognizes that the lessons of theory and history can be applied only within certain institutional and national contexts.
As in previous editions, the seventh edition of Economics of Development is intended to be both accessible and comprehensive. Th e discussion is accessible to those students, whether undergraduates or those pursuing advanced degrees in international relations, public policy, and related fi elds, who have only an elementary background in economics. At the same time, the text provides a comprehensive introduction to all students, including those with signifi cant training in economics, who are taking their first course in development economics.