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Contextual Development Economics

A Holistic Approach to the Understanding of Economic Activity in Low-Income Countries

  • Book
  • © 2011

Overview

Authors:
  1. Matthias P. Altmann

    1. Cologne, Germany

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  • Scrutinizes and advances development economics from a methodological standpoint
  • Sharpens the methods of development research in order to reach more policy-relevant and context-specific conclusions
  • Makes accessible to English-speaking scholars a body of literature previously tied to the German language

Part of the book series: The European Heritage in Economics and the Social Sciences (EHES, volume 8)

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Table of contents (14 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xix
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  2. Economic Characteristics of Low-Income Countries

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 9-12
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  3. Introduction

    1. Introduction

      • Matthias P. Altmann
      Pages 1-8

  4. Economic Characteristics of Low-Income Countries

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 9-12
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    2. Poverty

      • Matthias P. Altmann
      Pages 13-27

    3. Transaction Costs

      • Matthias P. Altmann
      Pages 29-41

    4. Private Governance

      • Matthias P. Altmann
      Pages 43-71

    5. Informal Economic Activity

      • Matthias P. Altmann
      Pages 73-90

  5. Development Economics: The Past 70 Years

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 91-92
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    2. The First Generation of Development Economists

      • Matthias P. Altmann
      Pages 93-116

    3. The Second Generation: Return to the Mainstream

      • Matthias P. Altmann
      Pages 117-133

    4. The Third Generation: Institutional Turn and the “New Development Economics”

      • Matthias P. Altmann
      Pages 135-148

    5. Conclusions from the Past and the Agenda for a New Generation of Development Economics

      • Matthias P. Altmann
      Pages 149-173

  6. In Search of an Analytical Framework for the Study of Low-Income Countries: The Style-Economic Approach

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 175-176
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    2. Emerging New Directions in Development Economics

      • Matthias P. Altmann
      Pages 177-194

    3. German Historical Economics as Development Economics

      • Matthias P. Altmann
      Pages 195-201

    4. From Stage Theories to the Concept of Economic Styles

      • Matthias P. Altmann
      Pages 203-224

    5. The Relevance of the Historical School for the Study of Low-Income Countries

      • Matthias P. Altmann
      Pages 225-247

    6. Conclusions

      • Matthias P. Altmann
      Pages 249-253

  7. Back Matter

    Pages 255-287
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Keywords

About this book

Poverty still persists in today’s low-income countries despite decades of international aid, and extensive research on the determinants of growth and development. The book argues that meeting this challenge requires a holistic understanding of the context-specific factors that influence economic behavior and structures in poor countries. Contextual Development Economics approaches this task by offering a methodology that allows analysing the dynamic interrelations between economic, cultural and historical determinants of economic life in low-income countries. The book starts with an empirical inquiry into the economic characteristics of low-income countries that create the context by which the specific forms of organising economic activity in these countries are determined. It then looks at how different generations of development economists sought to explain economic realities in low-income countries from the 1940s through today. The book finally synthesises the results from this empirical and methodological analysis with insights from an inquiry into contributions of the German Historical School, from which it borrows the concept of the economic style as a methodological alternative to the universal and hence often irrelevant models of mainstream development economics. This book offers a promising perspective for the future of development economics that will be of interest to researchers and development practitioners alike. It will also be relevant for academics and students with an interest in applications of the method and concepts of the Historical School to contemporary problems.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Cologne, Germany

    Matthias P. Altmann

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