Societal framework for economic development

Abstract

The problems of economic development have generally been analyzed in the existing literature in terms of an extension of accepted economic theory developed in the West to the special case of developing countries. The underlying assumptions of the approach based on capital formation as the key variable are derived from the well-established classical doctrine. This paper-is being circulated at the request of the author He has contributed it in order to explore the validity of certain thoughts and observations through discussions with his professional colleagues in the framework of work of the committee. He wishes to stress that the ideas put forward in the paper are preliminary and may need substantial refinements in the light of further research. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and not necessarily those of the United Nations Secretariat or the organization with which he is associated.