Publications
- The New Development Economics: We Shall Experiment, but How Shall We Learn?
- Download: PDF 226.49 KB
- by Rodrik, Dani
- Development economics has long been split between macro-development economists—who focus on economic growth, international trade, and fiscal/macro policies—and microdevelopment economists—who study microfinance, education, health, and other social programs. Even though the central question that animates both sets of economists ostensibly is
how to achieve sustainable improvements in living standards in poor countries, the concerns and
methods of these two camps have at times diverged so much that they seem at opposite extremes
of the economics discipline.
I shall argue in this paper that there are some good reasons to be optimistic about the reunification
of the field, as these sharp distinctions are eroding in some key respects. But there
are also some reasons for pessimism, related to divergence in empirical methods. This paper
covers both the good and the bad news.
- Publication Type: WCFIA Working Paper
- Published Date: May 21, 2008
- Field of Interest: International Economics
- Rodrik, Dani. "The New Development Economics: We Shall Experiment, but How Shall We Learn?" Working Paper 2008-0142, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University, May 2008.
