The Power and Pitfalls of Experiments in Development Economics: Some Non‐random Reflections

2010 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 515-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher B. Barrett ◽  
Michael R. Carter
Keyword(s):  
Development Economics ◽  
Random Reflections

Essentials of Development Economics, Third Edition

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Travis J. Lybbert ◽  
J. Edward Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Development Economics

Book Reviews

2004 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 387-397
Author(s):  
Mihály Laki ◽  
Beáta Huszka
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Development Economics ◽  
International Economics ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Transitional Economies ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Medium Enterprises ◽  
Economics Research

R. J. McIntyre and B. Dallago (eds): Small and Medium Enterprises in Transitional Economies. Palgrave Macmillan in association with the United Nations University / World Institute for Development Economics Research, 2003, 259 pp. (Reviewed by Mihály Laki); S. S. Bhalla: Imagine There's No Country. Poverty, Inequality, and Growth in the Era of Globalisation. Washington, D.C.: Institute for International Economics, 2002, 248 pp. (Reviewed by Beáta Huszka)

A Tale of Two Hands' (Presidential Address)

1986 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 225-245
Author(s):  
Syed Nawab Haider Naqvi
Keyword(s):  
Development Economics ◽  
World View ◽  
Presidential Address

This may not be the "worst of times" for the discipline of development economics, but this is also not the "best of times" for it. The discipline, rocked by a kind of schizophrenia that its votaries appear to be suffering from, is undergoing a painful, though not necessarily a Kafkaesque, metamorphosis. The consensus of the decades of the Fifties and Sixties about the nature and legitimacy of the discipline and about its 'world-view' has been seriously strained - indeed, according to some 'observers', already broken down. While the defenders of the faith [27; 36; 48] refuse to surrender, some of its erstwhile votaries [11] wish to force on the discipline a Carthaginian peace. And the dissenters [3; 24] have subjected its predictions and prescriptions to the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune."

In Pursuit of a New Paradigm (Presidential Address)

1991 ◽  
Vol 30 (4I) ◽  
pp. 337-365
Author(s):  
Syed Nawab Haider Naqvi
Keyword(s):  
Development Economics ◽  
Publishing Industry ◽  
Time Series Data ◽  
Presidential Address ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Full Length ◽  
Good News ◽  
Series Data ◽  
Economic Knowledge ◽  
The Subject

After 40 years of its birth, development economics has come to be widely accepted - without universal acclaim. In sharp contrast to some pessimistic evaluations of the subject, the academic community has granted it the right to a separate existence. But the recognition has not come easy. From the first full-length evaluation of the discipline by Chenery (1965), in which he looks at it as a variation on the classical theme of comparative advantage, to Stem's (1989) sympathetic review of the contributions that the discipline has made to the state of economic knowledge, development economics has experienced many a vicissitude - both the laurels of glory and the "arrows of outrageous fortune". But, finally, it has become an industry in its own right, of which not only social profitability but also 'private' profitability appears to be strictly positive: the publishing industry continues to patronize it and publish full-length books on the subject. Four decades of development experience, the production of massive cross-country and time-series data about a large number of development variables, the construction of large macro-economic models and fast-running computers, and the application of mathematical methods, have all combined to lay the foundations of a theoretically rigorous and policy-relevant development paradigm, which is gradually replacing the old one. All this is good news for development economists, who can now afford not only bread but also some butter for their daily parsnips .

The Importance of Being Defunct (Presidential Address)

1985 ◽  
Vol 24 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 211-234
Author(s):  
Syed Nawab Haider Naqvi
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Development Economics ◽  
Developing World ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Presidential Address ◽  
Great Expectations ◽  
Founding Fathers

For development economists these arc the days of great expectations. Development economics as a discipline, born only three decades ago, has come to stay, notwithstanding the threats to its existence issued openly by such friends as Schultz [63], Bauer [2], Little [44], and Lal [39]. New theoretical constructs have been devised and novel empirical studies done to comprehend better the forces of change in developing countries. While of late there may not have been great festivity in the realm of ideas, the force of circumstances has widened the problem canvas of development economics and has opened up new vistas for economists to explore- much beyond the expectations of its founding fathers. Also notwithstanding the great diversity in the experience of individual countries, development economists may legitimately draw some comfort from the thought that their ideas have changed the developing world for the better.

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