The causes of economic growth : interdisciplinary perspectives / Rick Szostak.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Szostak, Rick, 1959-

Contributor:

Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Economic development.

Economic policy.

Physical Description:

xiii, 373 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Berlin : Springer, [2009]

Summary:

What are the causes of economic growth? As billions of people still live in poverty, this is perhaps the most important question in human science. It is also a very complex one, as rates of economic growth are influenced by a multitude of economic as well as political, geographical and sociological factors.

This book advances a nuanced understanding of the process of economic growth by synthesizing the insights of several social science disciplines. Different theories and methods employed by economists and other social scientists to study the causes of economic growth are analyzed and it is shown how and why those insights should be integrated by applying best-practice techniques of interdisciplinary analysis. Scholars and practitioners are thus provided with a wide array of potential strategies for encouraging growth as well as guidance on how these strategies may interact.

Contents:

1 Interdisciplinarity and Economic Growth 1

1.1 Applying Interdisciplinary Analysis to the Study of Growth 1

1.2 Authorship 5

1.3 The Relationship Between Interdisciplinarity and Disciplines 7

1.4 A Starting Assumption 9

1.5 A Critical Insight Regarding the Complexity of the Growth Process 9

1.6 Motivation (Is Growth Good?) 10

1.7 The Integrative Process 15

1.8 Plan of Book 19

1.9 The Nature of the Guiding Question 21

1.10 Defining Economic Growth 23

1.11 Defining `Causes' 26

2 The Key Phenomena that Potentially Cause Growth 27

2.1 The Causal Link Approach 27

2.2 Causal Links Within and Beyond Disciplines 29

2.3 Classifying Human Science Phenomena 30

2.4 The Sources of Economic Growth 36

2.4.1 The Nature of Economic Growth 36

2.4.2 Emergent Properties 43

2.4.3 Links to Other Phenomena 45

2.5 The Importance of Precise Definitions of Phenomena 51

3 The Most Relevant Theories and Methods 53

3.1 Theories 54

3.1.1 Classifying Theory Types 54

3.1.2 Theory Types and Economic Growth 57

3.1.3 Theories of Economic Growth 59

3.2 Methods 82

3.2.1 Strengths and Weaknesses of the Dozen Scholarly Methods 83

3.2.2 Triangulation Across Methods, Maintaining Standards 85

3.2.3 The Rule Critique 88

3.2.4 Mathematical Models 89

3.2.5 Statistical Analysis 91

3.2.6 Case Studies 94

4 Relevant Disciplines and Disciplinary Perspectives 99

4.1 Which Disciplines Should be Engaged? 99

4.2 The Nature of Disciplinary Perspective 100

4.3 Does Disciplinary Perspective Really Matter? 102

4.4 Disciplinary Perspectives of Relevant Disciplines 103

4.4.1 Economics 103

4.4.2 Economic History 111

4.4.3 History 113

4.4.4 Business History 114

4.4.5 Cultural Studies 115

4.4.6 Development Studies 116

4.4.7 Political Science 116

4.4.8 Sociology 122

4.4.9 Geography 125

4.4.10 Anthropology 126

4.4.11 Marxian Approaches 130

4.4.12 Science and Technology Studies 131

4.4.13 Psychology 132

4.4.14 Philosophy 134

4.4.15 The Other Humanities 134

5 An Interdisciplinary Literature Survey 135

5.1 The Literature Survey Performed, with Advice for its Extension 135

5.2 A Tangential Diatribe 139

6 The Causes of Economic Growth: Investment, Trade, Technology, Geography 141

6.1 A First Lesson from Economic History 142

6.2 Investment 144

6.2.1 Encouraging Useful Investment 148

6.2.2 The Capital Goods Sector 150

6.2.3 Foreign Investment 150

6.2.4 Foreign Aid 151

6.2.5 Microfinance 152

6.2.6 Psychology and Investment 153

6.3 Openness to Trade 153

6.3.1 The Empirical Literature 153

6.3.2 An Alternative to Comparative Advantage 156

6.3.3 Trade and Institutions 158

6.3.4 Trade and Resources 159

6.3.5 Costs and Benefits of Openness 159

6.4 Technology 162

6.4.1 Interdisciplinarity and Technology 162

6.4.2 Technology as a Cause of Growth 162

6.4.3 The Course of Technological Innovation (Endogeneity) 163

6.4.4 Clustering, General Purpose Technologies 167

6.4.5 Research and Growth 169

6.4.6 Product Versus Process Innovation 170

6.4.7 Technology Transmission 171

6.4.8 Links to Technological Innovation 174

6.4.9 Technology and Social Structure 185

6.5 Geography 186

6.5.1 Climate and Location 186

6.5.2 Resources 187

6.5.3 Country Size 188

6.5.4 Regional Clusters 189

6.5.5 Environment 190

7 The Causes of Economic Growth: Institutions 191

7.1 Institutions and Growth 191

7.1.1 Institutions and Investment 195

7.1.2 Institutions and Infrastructure 196

7.2 Which Functions? 198

7.2.1 Ownership (Property Rights) 198

7.2.2 Exchange 199

7.2.3 Finance 199

7.2.4 Production 200

7.3 Which Institutions? 200

7.3.1 Property Rights 202

7.3.2 Financial Institutions 204

7.3.3 Labor Markets and Work Effort 204

7.4 Institutional Change 207

7.4.1 Economics Approaches 207

7.4.2 Economic History 209

7.4.3 Sociological Institutionalism 214

7.4.4 An Insight from Anthropology 217

7.4.5 Institutions and Psychology 217

7.4.6 Politics and Institutions 218

7.4.7 Business History 223

7.4.8 Integrating These Approaches 224

7.4.9 Democracy 229

8 The Causes of Economic Growth: Cultural and Social Determinants 233

8.1 Culture 233

8.1.1 Culture and Institutions 233

8.1.2 The Nature of Culture 235

8.1.3 Cultural Change 236

8.1.4 Culture and Growth 238

8.1.5 Which Values? 243

8.1.6 Culture as Economic Asset 249

8.1.7 Cultural Capital 249

8.1.8 Cultural Influences on Politics 249

8.2 Entrepreneurship 250

8.3 Social Capital 254

8.3.1 Effects of Social Capital 255

8.3.2 Sources of Social Capital 256

8.3.3 Limitations to Empirical Analysis 257

8.3.4 Scholarly Biases Favoring Social Capital 258

8.4 Community Development 258

8.5 Population 259

8.6 Health 261

8.7 Social Structure 261

8.7.1 Inequality 263

8.7.2 Ethnic Divisions 264

8.7.3 Gender 266

8.7.4 Family Structure 266

9 Causal Arguments Under-studied in the Literature 267

9.1 Sectoral Interactions 268

9.1.1 Technology and Sectoral Interactions 271

9.1.2 Catching the Wave 272

9.1.3 Firms 273

9.2 Networks 276

9.2.1 Networks and Technological Innovation 276

9.2.2 Investment in Physical Capital 278

9.2.3 Investment in Human Capital 279

9.2.4 Institutional Change 279

9.2.5 Trade 281

9.2.6 Other Links 281

9.2.7 Advantages and Challenges of Network Analysis 282

10 Emergent Properties of the System of Causal Links 285

10.1 Aggregate Growth Dynamics: Is There a Poverty Trap? 285

10.1.1 Convergence 289

10.1.2 Common Ground Between Optimists and Pessimists 291

10.1.3 The Poor are Different 292

10.2 Macroeconomics and Growth 292

10.2.1 The Medium Term 293

10.2.2 Long Waves 294

10.2.3 Implications of Growth Theory for Fluctuations 296

10.2.4 Implications of Macroeconomic Theory for Growth 300

11 Integrating Diverse Views of the Role of Government 305

11.1 The Role of Government 305

11.1.1 The Washington Consensus 307

11.1.2 Property Rights 309

11.1.3 Public Ownership 309

11.1.4 Public Spending and Taxes, Federalism 311

11.1.5 Public Goods 312

11.1.6 Government Intent 320

11.2 The Developmental State 323

11.2.1 The Idea of the Developmental State 324

11.2.2 The Essence of the Developmental State 326

11.2.3 Sources of the Developmental State 328

11.2.4 Summing Up 329

12 Reflections on the Results of Integration 331

12.1 Reflect on One's Own Biases 331

12.2 Reflect on Steps Omitted 334

12.3 Reflect on the Weaknesses of the Theories and Methods Used in One's Comprehensive Vision 334

13 Possible Tests of the Results of Integration 335

13.1 Empirical Tests 335

13.2 A Holistic Test in Application 336

14 Concluding Remarks 339

14.1 Insights into Economic Growth 340

14.2 The Value of the Process for our Understanding of Growth 344.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

ISBN:

9783540922810

3540922814

OCLC:

297148192

Publisher Number:

99934989346