My Journey Through the History of Development Economics
Abstract: This paper is essentially autobiographical and describes Erik Thorbecke’s journey through the history of development economics between the 1950s and the present. The paper consists of five parts. First, an introduction reviews briefly his professional career as a development economist and his research interactions with major contributors to the discipline. The next four parts review critically his contributions to research on and training in, respectively, (i) the pattern of world trade, integration and globalization, (ii) economic structure, interdependence, and quantitative development analysis, (iii) income distribution, inequality and poverty analysis, and (iv) the ongoing process of African development.
Contents
- Introduction
1.1 Brief review of influential experiences and collaborations
1.2 References: Section 1 - Patterns of World Trade, Integration and Globalization
2.1 References: Section 2 - Economic Structure, Interdependence, and Quantitative Development Analysis
3.1 Quantitative economic policy and economic structure
3.2 Early development theory: dualism, dual-dual framework, employment creation, and
basic needs doctrine
3.3 Social accounting matrix, structural path analysis, and computable general
equilibrium models
3.4 Regional science
3.5 References: Section 3 - Income Distribution, Inequality, and Poverty Analysis
4.1 Income distribution and inequality
4.2 Poverty
4.3 References: Section 4 - African Development
5.1 Socioeconomic development performance: 1960 to the present
5.2 Contributions to the development doctrine influenced by the initial African
conditions
5.3 My personal journey through the history of African development
5.4 References: Section 5
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Erik Thorbecke 