Analytical Development Economics: The Less Developed Economy Revisited

by Kaushik Basu

Virtually all industrialized nations have annual per capita incomes greater than $15,000; meanwhile, over three billion people, more than half the worlds population, live in countries with per capita incomes of less than $700. Development economics studies the economies of such countries and the problems they face, including poverty, chronic underemployment, low wages, rampant inflation, and oppressive international debt. In the past two decades, the international debt crisis, the rise of endogenous growth theory, and the tremendous success of some Asian economies have generated renewed interest in development economics, and the field has grown and changed dramatically. Although Analytical Development Economics deals with theoretical development economics, it is closely grounded in reality. The author draws on a wide range of evidence, including some gathered by himself in the village of Nawadih in the state of Bihar, India, where—in huts and fields, and in front of the village tea stall—he talked with landlords, tenants, moneylenders, and landless laborers. The author presents theoretical results in such a way that those doing empirical work can go out and test the theories. The book is a revision of Basu's The Less Developed A Critique of Contemporary Theory (Blackwell, 1984). The new edition, which has several new chapters and sections, incorporates recent theoretical advances in its comprehensive, up-to-date treatment of the subject. It is intended primarily as a textbook for a one-semester graduate course, but will also be of interest to researchers in economic development and to policymakers.

Genres: Economics, Nonfiction

388 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1997

About the author

Kaushik Basu (born 9 January 1952) is an Indian economist who is currently the Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India and is also the C. Marks Professor of International Studies and Professor of Economics and, till recently, he was Chairman of the Department of Economics and Director, Center for Analytic Economics at Cornell University.


He is Editor of Social Choice and Welfare, Associate Editor of Japanese Economic Review and is on the Board of Editors of the World Bank Economic Review. In 2008, the Government of India awarded him the Padma Bhushan, one of the country's highest civil honors.

Reviews

[Akhlaqur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice book of development economics