Development Success

Historical Accounts from More Advanced Countries

Edited by Augustin K. Fosu

WIDER Studies in Development Economics

Detailed country accounts of time-tested strategies for long-term growth, development, and success
Highlights commonalities of strategies across country groups
Contributions from leading experts

Development Success

Historical Accounts from More Advanced Countries

Edited by Augustin K. Fosu

WIDER Studies in Development Economics

Description

What lessons can be learnt from 'developed' countries that might be useful for developing and emerging economies? With an emphasis on long-term growth and development, this book provides historical accounts of the development strategies of a select set of advanced countries. Each case study typically presents the country's 'successes' and the root causes of those successes. Organized into three parts, it covers The Nordics (Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark), Other Industrially Advanced Countries (Japan, Ireland, and Switzerland), and Transition Economies (Czech, Hungary, and Poland). Although the book stresses that development strategies are, by and large, country and context-specific, the historical accounts are full of recurrent themes, which should provide useful lessons for developing countries and emerging economies.

Development Success

Historical Accounts from More Advanced Countries

Edited by Augustin K. Fosu

WIDER Studies in Development Economics

Foreword
Introduction
1:Development Success: Historical Accounts from the More Advanced Countries, Augustin Kwasi Fosu
Part I: The Nordics: Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark
2:The Finnish Developmental State and its Growth Regime, Markus Jäntti and Juhana Vartiainen
3:Can Norway Be a Role Model for Natural Resource Abundant Countries?, Ådne Cappelen and Lars Mjøset
4:The Swedish Model, Ari Kokko
5:The Danish Model and the Globalizing Learning Economy: Lessons for Developing Countries, Bengt-Åke Lundvall
6:The Nordic Development Models: The Riddle is Still There, But We May Be a Little Wiser, Juhana Vartiainen
Part II: Other Advanced Industrialized Countries: Japan, Ireland, Switzerland
7:Japan's Model of Economic Development: Relevant and Non-relevant Elements for Developing Economies, Fukunari Kimura
8:Committing to Economic Openness in Ireland: The Importance of Domestic Institutional Capabilities, Paul Teague and Denise Currie
9:Switzerland's Rise to a Wealthy Nation: Competition and Contestability as Key Success Factors, Beatrice Weder and Rolf Weder
10:Country Role Models: Japan, Ireland, and Switzerland, Ronald Findlay
Part III: Transition Economies: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland
11:The Czech Transition: The Importance of Microeconomic Fundamentals, Jan Svejnar and Milica Uvalic
12:Hungary: The Janus-faced Success Story of Transition, László Csaba
13:A Two-Thirds Rate of Success: Polish Transformation and Economic Development, 1989- 2008, Grzegorz Kolodko
14:Lessons from Transition Economies: Putting the Success Stories of the Post-communist World into a Broader Perspective, Vladimir Popov

Development Success

Historical Accounts from More Advanced Countries

Edited by Augustin K. Fosu

WIDER Studies in Development Economics

Author Information

Edited by Augustin K. Fosu, Deputy Director, UNU-WIDER

Augustin K. Fosu is also Visiting Scholar at the University of Ghana-Legon and honorary Research Associate at Oxford University (CSAE) and the University of Manchester (BWPI). Previous positions include: Director (Economic and Social Policy Division) and Senior Policy Advisor /Chief Economist at the UN Economic Commission for Africa and Director of Research at the African Economic Research Consortium. He holds a PhD in economics from Northwestern University. Professor Fosu is co-editor of the Journal of African Economies (Oxford) and serves on the editorial boards of many other journals, including: African Development Review, Journal of Development Studies, Oxford Development Studies, World Bank Economic Review, and World Development.

Contributors:

Ådne Cappelen, Research Department of Statistics Norway
László Csaba, Central European University
Denise Currie, University of Ulster
Ronald Findlay, Columbia University
Augustin Kwasi Fosu, UNU-WIDER
Markus Jäntti, Stockholm University
Fukunari Kimura, Keio University
Ari Kokko, Copenhagen Business School
Grzegorz Kolodko, Kozminski University
Bengt-Åke Lundvall, Aalborg University
Lars Mjøset, University of Oslo
Vladimir Popov, UN-DESA
Jan Svejnar, Columbia University
Paul Teague, Queen's University Belfast
Milica Uvalic, University of Perugia
Rolf Weder, University of Basel
Beatrice Weder di Mauro, Johannes-Gutenberg-University Mainz
Juhana Vartiainen, National Institute of Economic Research (Konjunkturinstitutet) Sweden

Development Success

Historical Accounts from More Advanced Countries

Edited by Augustin K. Fosu

WIDER Studies in Development Economics

Reviews and Awards

"As the importance of getting institutions right to promote development is acknowledged there is a rising need for sophisticated, contextual, historical narratives of how the now prosperous countries managed to do it. This book fills that need, fleshing out not just the Nordic model (with its commonalities and differences) but also compares countries like Switzerland and Ireland. A useful step away from the dogma of a single canonical model of development to the diversity and richness of paths countries have followed." - Lant Pritchett, Professor of the Practice of International Development at Harvard Kennedy School

"A fascinating account of some lesser known success stories." - Paul Collier, Professor in Economics and Public Policy, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford

"By drawing together the lessons from successful and diverse historical development experiences of some advanced countries, while insisting on the inherent country specificity of development, this book will be of most practical help to all those seeking effective development strategies for poorer countries in today's world." - François Bourguignon, Director, Paris School of Economics, Former Chief Economist in the World Bank