The Economics of Chance: Policy Prescriptions as Laundry Lists
The Economics of Chance: Policy Prescriptions as Laundry Lists
This chapter discusses the foundations of the most popular policy prescriptions that are offered to developing countries as blueprints for prosperity. It starts by sketching the historical intellectual background that determined economic policies in colonial times. It then reviews the various waves of development thinking that have dominated research and policy making since World War II. It also highlights some issues with the analytics of growth and the random search for binding constraints in developing countries. The chapter concludes with a review of the disappointing results of the lengthy policy prescriptions that developing countries typically receive and adopt. It emphasizes how new approaches should be complemented by more precise policy frameworks to guide government and private sector actions and encourage the process of industrial upgrading and structural change, which is at the core of all successful development strategies.
Keywords: blueprints, colonial times, World War II, policy prescription, policy framework, private sector, industrial upgrading, development, developing countries, prosperity
Princeton Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.