Albert O. Hirschman and the Rise and Decline of Development Economics
Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology
ISBN: 978-1-78560-962-6, eISBN: 978-1-78560-961-9
Publication date: 30 September 2016
Abstract
This paper discusses the role of Albert O. Hirschman as a founder of development economics in the postwar years. Although Hirschman maintained a strong interest in development matters throughout his entire professional career, his major contributions to development economics took place between the mid-1950s and the late 1960s. The paper examines Hirschman’s innovative contributions to the new discipline. When, in the 1950s, development economics gravitated around the concept of “balanced growth,” Hirschman opened new vistas with a theory of “unbalanced growth.” In the early 1960s, Hirschman focused on reformist political approaches to development, against the opposed extremisms of reaction and revolution. Finally, in the late 1960s, Hirschman opened new perspectives on the importance of detailed analysis of development projects, against the theoretical drift of early development economics.
The discussion of Hirschman’s development career is also an opportunity to observe the gap between theoretical debates and development policies. Whereas development economists often clashed on theoretical issues, their views were remarkably closer on practical questions.
As a pioneer of development economics, Hirschman sought to establish it as a discipline theoretically distinct from mainstream economics. By the 1980s, this project had collapsed, and the development question was reabsorbed by the economic mainstream. This article, however, argues that current development debates remain deeply indebted to Hirschman’s contribution. His reformist vision, rejection of one-size-fits-all solutions, his insistence on the ineluctable role of uncertainty, and his search for country-specific, incremental, and evolutionary policies make his approach central to current development discourse.
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Acknowledgements
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to Marina Bianchi, Maurizio Franzini, and my co-panelists in the memorial roundtable on “Albert Hirschman and the Social Sciences,” Columbia University, New York, December 10, 2013: Jeremy Adelman, Victoria de Grazia, Ira Katznelson, and Nadia Urbinati, for their valuable comments and insights on a previous version of this paper. A slightly modified version of this paper will appear in the Elgar Handbook of Alternative Theories of Economic Development, edited by Jayati Ghosh, Rainer Kattel & Erik Reinert, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, forthcoming in 2016
Citation
Alacevich, M. (2016), "Albert O. Hirschman and the Rise and Decline of Development Economics", Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology (Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology, Vol. 34B), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 13-39. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0743-41542016000034B001
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Michele Alacevich