A Network View of Economic Development

Citation:

Hausmann, R. & Hidalgo, C.A., 2008. A Network View of Economic Development. Developing Alternatives , 12 (1) , pp. 5-10. Copy at http://www.tinyurl.com/22gqxhkp

Abstract:

Does the type of product a country exports matter for subsequent economic performance? To take an example from the 19th-century economist David Ricardo, does it matter if Britain specializes in cloth and Portugal in wine for the subsequent development of either country? The seminal texts of development economics held that it does matter, suggesting that industrialization creates externalities that lead to accelerated growth (Rosenstein-Rodan 1943; Hirschman 1958; Matsuyama 1992). Yet, lacking formal models, mainstream economic theory has made little of these ideas. Instead, current dominant theories use two approaches to explain countries’ patterns of specialization.

Publisher's Version

Last updated on 09/17/2021