Frontier Issues in Economic Development (7th Edition)

Author: (USA) Mel, (USA) Rauch, translated by Huang Renwei et al.
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-07-01
Features: "This book is fantastic; it concisely explains such a wealth of topics. We are very pleased to use it as the main textbook for this course." "This book has always been a compendium of classic and new theories!" This is a classic work, with a total of 7 editions published since 1964. Most of the essays in this book are written by renowned economists, including four Nobel laureates in Economics. They are: 1. Amartya Sen: An Indian economist, winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economics. He served as the President of Trinity College, University of Cambridge, in 1998. He has been an economic advisor to former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. 2. Arthur Lewis: Winner of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Economics. He served as the President of the American Economic Association in 1982. His works have been translated into Chinese, including The Theory of Economic Growth (Shanghai People's Publishing House, 1995). 3. Gunnar Myrdal: A Swedish economist, winner of the 1974 Nobel Prize in Economics, and the late. He was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. 4. Joseph Stiglitz: Winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics. He has served as the Chairman of the Economic Advisory Board of former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Chief Economist of the World Bank, and Senior Vice President. The goal of this book is to inspire readers with a deeper passion for development economics. To achieve this, the authors deviate from the conventional approach of textbook writing by selecting the most insightful parts from the vast field of development economics and weaving them together with the fundamental concepts of the discipline. This approach not only captures several interconnected themes in development economics but also allows for various perspectives to examine these issues. Professor Mel has served as the editor-in-chief of Frontiers of Development Economics for the first six editions over the past 35 years. He has now chosen Professor Rauch to optimize the seventh edition and will continue to oversee future revisions. In the seventh edition, Professor Rauch has devoted significant effort, and the book reflects his initial vision of increasing the proportion of quantitative analysis in development economics and emphasizing the challenges of formulating development policies in the present and future. In summary, this book may spark readers' fresh attention and thoughtful reflection on the interplay among national development experiences, the evolution of development economists' perspectives, and the formulation of development policies. While maintaining the style of previous editions, the seventh edition introduces several changes compared to the sixth: it adds new chapters on "Income Distribution" and "Development and the Environment," while reinforcing other chapters. Most of the selections and notes are entirely new. The selections now include references to classic statements from renowned professional journals, and the book heavily employs statistical analysis, supplemented by an appendix titled "How to Interpret Regression Tables" to help readers better understand the content of each chapter. This book can serve as a basic textbook for both teachers and students, as well as supplementary material. For pedagogical purposes, the authors have designed the content to allow readers to choose chapters and reading order freely. If used as a textbook, readers can follow the organizational structure and content guide provided at the beginning of each chapter to read in sequence. Each chapter of the book includes materials in the following formats: Overview, Selections, Notes, Comments, and Boxes. This is a distinctive textbook. First, the authors have carefully selected the most insightful and thought-provoking readings from a wealth of materials, arranged them in a logical order based on the structure of the topics, and thereby covered almost all the theories and practices essential for understanding development issues and policies. Second, to adapt to the changes in development economics and address new challenges faced by developing countries, the seventh edition has been comprehensively revised, offering many fresh perspectives that are rarely found in general textbooks. Finally, the book summarizes the successes and failures of recent economic development in developing countries, with a particular focus on analyzing China's achievements and challenges since the economic reforms of 1978. "A stone from another mountain can polish jade." It is believed that this new edition of Frontiers of Development Economics will not only help us learn and master the new theories of modern economic development but also enable us to more effectively draw upon, reference, select, and utilize them, thereby enabling more practical reflection on our own development issues. Mr. Wang Daohan has reviewed the translated manuscript of this book and has gladly written the preface for it. This book is an excellent reference for students in the field of development economics, serving as a compendium of classic and new theories. It concisely explains an extremely rich array of topics. As a comprehensive and engaging reference book, students can take what they need based on their interests.