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This book examines the origins, rationale, and outcomes of India's economic reforms in the context of changes in the economy, polity, and society. Looking at India's development experience across time, the book provides a comprehensive review of policies and performance of the economy since independence; a comparative analysis of the Indian experience with that of China as well as low-income countries; and an understanding of the recent global financial crisis vis-à-vis its implications for growth, sustainability, and the necessity of further reforms. Emphasizing the intrinsic goal of India's development — eradication of mass poverty — this book highlights future challenges and suggests appropriate policies.

This text is the second of two volumes. Two and a half billion people are affected directly on a day-to-day basis by the allocation and use of local resources. Yet ‘official’ development economics has concentrated on headline international issues and only recently begun to take account of the dependence of poor countries on their natural resources; the link between acute poverty and environmental degradation; and the problems associated with the management of local common property such as soil and soil cover, water, forests and their products, animals, and fisheries. The chapters cover emerging development issues, ranging from foundational matters to case studies. They address both analytic and empirical issues on the role of environmental resources in the development process, presenting explanations of existing situations and policies for the future.

This text is the first of two volumes. Two and a half billion people are affected directly on a day-to-day basis by the allocation and use of local resources. Yet ‘official’ development economics has concentrated on headline international issues and only recently begun to take account of the dependence of poor countries on their natural resources, the link between acute poverty and environmental degradation, and the problems associated with the management of local common property such as soil and soil cover, water, forests and their products, animals, and fisheries. The chapters cover emerging development issues, ranging from foundational matters to case studies. They address both analytic and empirical issues on the role of environmental resources in the development process, presenting explanations of existing situations and policies for the future.

Development Microeconomics looks at a broad spectrum of topics in development economics, combining the strength of conventional developmental thought with the insights of contemporary mainstream economics. This book intends to provide illustrations of microeconomic analyses of economic development by utilizing simple, theoretical, micro models of some of the key economic issues in poor countries. In particular, it draws upon the breakthrough in economic theory that has taken the form of an explicit treatment of information, including information in the sense of human capital and technical knowledge. Much of the analysis in this book applies the theory of asymmetric information and in the process helps explain why perfect competition models are inadequate when dealing with developing economies. Several of the chapters thus explore issues of information‐based market failures and fragmentation, incomplete and imperfect markets, dynamic externalities, multiple equilibria, and self‐reinforcing mechanisms that cause dysfunctional institutions to persist. The authors stress the necessity of balance when looking at some of the classic developmental questions—the importance of both the individual as economic agent and of cultural norms in socio‐economic interactions, the dual relationship between equity and efficiency, the importance of market rivalry, and the potential for information‐based market breakdown and coordination failure. There is also a focus on the rural and the agrarian, with chapters on rural land and labour markets, and on rural credit and insurance institutions. There are also chapters on household economics, demography, and on migration in which behavioral assumptions play a central role. Other issues studied include the environment, trade, the dual economy, intersectoral complementarities, and institutional economics.

Presenting a new view of German history in the late 19th century, the author argues that many of the problems of Imperial Germany were temporary ones produced by the strain of rapid industrialization. Drawing on the tools of development economics he argues that Germany passed through a labour surplus phase as described by the Lewis Model. This period came to an end around 1900, creating more favourable conditions for political reform and social reconciliation. But Germany's progress to full political and economic maturity was derailed at the outbreak of war in 1914. The author bases his argument on an analysis of the economic and demographic forces driving migration in 19th-century Germany. High rural-urban migration led to the rapid expansion of German cities. The main factors driving this were social and economic change in the countryside and the process of the demographic transition. The release of surplus labour onto urban labour markets held back wage increases and led to an increase in inequality. The German economy behaved in a way which seemed to bear out the predictions of Karl Marx, and this contributed to the appeal of Marxist ideas and the rise of the social democratic vote. However, this was a temporary phase. The labour surplus period was largely over by 1900. The rise in inequality which had begun in the 1820s came to an end, and inequality began to fall. Contrary to received wisdom, Germany was not on the brink of a general socio-economic crisis in 1914; instead it was moving away from one. However, the political system failed to take advantage of this opportunity, and Germany's dependence on imported food and raw materials led to a strategic crisis which combined disastrously with internal political problems.

The book has a comprehensive coverage of issues relating to the role of ecological constraints in limiting the availability of natural resources and eco-services for economic development and resulting often in environmental degradation. It explains how the interactive relationship between the human economy and the natural environment as determined by the laws of entropy and material balances sets these ecological limits and also shows how the development of technology, policies and institutions can relax these constraints creating space for development ensuring equitable sharing of its benefit both within and across generations. Methodologically the book emphasizes the importance of integration of the concerned ecological factors into primarily economic models of development and points out how the framework and the methodological approach of neoclassical economics are amenable to appropriate modifications required for addressing such issues. It articulates the theoretical concept of sustainable economic development and elaborates its implications in the applied context of development of sustainable macroeconomic and resource accounting. Regarding the issues of concrete developmental challenges the book analyses in details the interactive dynamics of population, economic growth, distribution and use of the whole range of major natural resources – land and soil, water, forests, bio-diversity, energy, non-energy material resources, eco-capacity of waste absorption including the related problem of climate change - with special reference to the Indian situation. The comprehensive coverage of issues, the rich data base and information and the perspectives of its discussions make the book unique for understanding the prospect of sustainable or green economic development of India.

W. Arthur Lewis was one of the foremost intellectuals, economists, and political activists of the twentieth century. This book, the first intellectual biography of Lewis, traces Lewis's life from its beginnings on the small island of St. Lucia to Lewis's arrival at Princeton University in the early 1960s. A chronicle of Lewis's unfailing efforts to promote racial justice and decolonization, it provides a history of development economics as seen through the life of one of its most important founders. If there were a record for the number of “firsts” achieved by one man during his lifetime, Lewis would be a contender. He was the first black professor in a British university and also at Princeton University and the first person of African descent to win a Nobel Prize in a field other than literature or peace. His writings, which included his book The Theory of Economic Growth, were among the first to describe the field of development economics. Quickly gaining the attention of the leadership of colonized territories, he helped develop blueprints for the changing relationship between the former colonies and their former rulers. He made significant contributions to Ghana's quest for economic growth and the West Indies' desire to create a first-class institution of higher learning serving all of the Anglophone territories in the Caribbean. This book, based on Lewis's personal papers, provides a new view of this renowned economist and his impact on economic growth in the twentieth century. It will intrigue not only students of development economics but also anyone interested in colonialism and decolonization, and justice for the poor in third-world countries.