The Process of Economic Development

The fourth edition of The Process of Economic Development offers a thorough and up-to-date treatment of development economics. This landmark text will continue to be an invaluable resource for students, teachers and researchers in the fields of development economics and development studies.

The new edition has been revised and updated throughout, reflecting the most recent developments in research and incorporating the latest empirical data, as well as key theoretical advances. The period since the publication of the third edition of The Process of Economic Development has been a time of immense change in the developing world. The period has seen huge economic growth in China, economic restructuring in India and the continuing impact of environmental issues such as climate change. The fourth edition reflects these developments, as well as including numerous case studies and new material on the following:

• transnational corporations and labor in export processing zones
• industrial policy and structural change
• gender inequality, income distribution and development
• progress towards the Millennium Development Goals
• technology and national innovation systems
• aid and the least developed nations
• the post debt crisis era and debt relief for Africa.

Cypher’s comprehensive account remains the development economics text par excellence, as it takes a much more practical, hands-on view of the issues facing developing countries than other, overly mathematical texts. This book is unique in its scope and in the detailed attention it gives to the historical contexts that have influenced progress toward development. It is accessibly written both for students of economics and for those with an interest in the many aspects of development studies.

James M. Cypher is Research Professor at the Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas, Mexico and Emeritus Professor of Economics at California State University, Fresno, USA.