Social Capability and Long-Term Economic Growth [Paperback]

What accounts for the varying long term growth patterns across developing countries? Why were some economies able to achieve sustained and rapid growth in the past three decades, while others failed? In Social Capability and Long-Term Economic Growth, an impressive panel of economists come together to develop a theory of long-term growth, focusing on the dynamic relationship between the social capability to manage scarce resources and long-term growth. Various theoretical issues concerning social capability are explored, and in-depth case-studies of the development experiences of Asian, Latin American, and socialist economies are presented with significant empirical findings. The authors argue that a nation's social capability to efficiently manage human resources is a crucial ingredient for sustaining growth. This study is a serious response to the important question of how a poor developing country can transform itself into a developed one, and its findings offer valuable insight to the development of a long-term growth theory and to economic development policies.Preface - Notes on the Contributors - PART 1: INTRODUCTION; D.H.Perkins & B.H.Koo - PART 2: THEORETICAL ISSUES ON SOCIAL CAPABILITY - Returns to Scale, Information, and Economic Growth; K.J.Arrow - The Elements of Social Capability; M.Abramovitz - Social Absorption Capability and Innovation; J.E.Stiglitz - Social Absorption Capability, National Innovation Systems and Economic Development; C.J.Dahlman & R.Nelson - Social Absorption Capability and Economic Development; L.Hurwicz - Long-run Growth and Public Policy; V.Tanzi - PART 3: SOCIAL CAPABILITY: COMPARATIVE INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE - Decentralized Information Processing and Hierarchical Monitoring: The Case of Japan; M.Aoki - Sociocultural Factors in the Industrialization of Korea; B.H.Koo - The Puzzles of Fairly Fast Growth and Rapid Collapse Under Socialism; S.Gomulka - The Transition from Central Planning: East Asia's Experience; D.H.Perkinl&