Shifting Patterns of Economic Growth and Rethinking Development
This paper provides an historical overview of both the evolution of the economic performance of the developing world and the evolution of economic thought on development policy. The 20th century was broadly characterized by divergence between high-...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/04/16233468/shifting-patterns-economic-growth-rethinking-development http://hdl.handle.net/10986/6043 |
| Summary: | This paper provides an historical
overview of both the evolution of the economic performance
of the developing world and the evolution of economic
thought on development policy. The 20th century was broadly
characterized by divergence between high-income countries
and the developing world, with only a limited number (less
than 10 percent of the economies in the world) managing to
progress out of lower or middle-income status to high-income
status. The last decade witnessed a sharp reversal from a
pattern of divergence to convergence --particularly for a
set of large middle-income countries. The latter phenomenon
was also driven by increasing economic ties among developing
countries, and on the intellectual scale, increased
knowledge generation and sharing among the developing
countries. Re-thinking development policy implies
confronting these realities: 20th century economic
divergence, the experience of the handful of success
stories, and the recent rise of the multi-polar growth
world. The paper provides descriptive data and a literature
survey to document these trends. The paper also provides a
brief survey of the role of multilateral institutions -- in
particular, the World Bank -- in this changing context and
offers suggestions on how they can adapt their strategies to
improve development outcomes. |
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