Deindustrialization Distribution And Development

The term rust belt has rarely been associated with developing countries. In fact, it is commonly used to discuss deindustrialization in advanced nations, particularly the US. However, this book argues that such a belt is now threatening the middle-income developing world, spreading across Brazil and other countries in Latin America, running down across South Africa, and then upwards to Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines in South East Asia. Deindustrialization, Distribution, and Development: Structural Change in the Global South explores the emergent processes of stalled industrialization and the spectre of deindustrialization in these developing countries. Building upon the author's previous work on economic development, structural change, and income inequality, this book examines the causes and consequences of these new issues, focusing on inequality both between and within countries since the Cold War. Providing a comparative, in-depth analysis of the varieties of contemporary structural change in the Global South and challenging many long-standing myths, this work explains why late development remains a crucial concept in understanding contemporary development and explores what deindustrialization means for the future of global development.

The term rust belt has rarely been associated with developing countries. In fact, it is commonly used to discuss deindustrialization in advanced nations, particularly the US. However, this book argues that such a belt is now threatening the middle-income developing world, spreading across Brazil and other countries in Latin America, running down across South Africa, and then upwards to Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines in South East Asia. Deindustrialization, Distribution, and Development: Structural Change in the Global South explores the emergent processes of stalled industrialization and the spectre of deindustrialization in these developing countries. Building upon the author's previous work on economic development, structural change, and income inequality, this book examines the causes and consequences of these new issues, focusing on inequality both between and within countries since the Cold War. Providing a comparative, in-depth analysis of the varieties of contemporary structural change in the Global South and challenging many long-standing myths, this work explains why late development remains a crucial concept in understanding contemporary development and explores what deindustrialization means for the future of global development.

Since the Second World War, surprisingly few developing countries have experienced a truly sustained episode of economic and social convergence towards the structural characteristics of the advanced nations. East Asia has exceeded most regions in its achievement of convergence, and much has been written on comparative industrialization and development in North East Asia. Less discussed is South East Asia and the surprising and inclusive transformation several of its countries has undergone. Development and Distribution focuses on South East Asia and, more specifically, on Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. These three nations have all undergone a major transformation - in a way never anticipated - from being poor, agrarian countries to middle-income countries with developed industrial and manufacturing bases. How did Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand achieve such a transformation, and how did they achieve the transformation with a form of economic growth that was driven by structural transformation, but that was 'inclusive'? Given that historically it has been thought that structural transformation tends to push up inequality, whilst inclusive growth necessitates static or even falling inequality, this last point is particularly salient to developing countries. Understanding how the transformation was possible in a relatively small space of time, the extent to which it was inclusive, and the caveats and prospects for South East Asia is thus an area of enquiry significant to all developing countries as they seek economic and social transformation.

Most of the world's people live in "developing" economies, as do most of the world's poor. The predominant means of economic development is economic growth. In this book Gary Fields asks to what extent and in what circumstances economic growth improves the material standard of living of a country's people. Most development economists agree that economic growth raises the incomes of people in all parts of the income distribution and lowers the poverty rate. At the same time, some groups lose out because of changes accompanying economic growth. Fields examines these beliefs, asking what variables should be measured to determine whether progress is being made and what policies and circumstances cause some countries to do better than others. He also shows how the same data can be interpreted to reach different, even conflicting, conclusions. Using both theoretical and empirical approaches, Fields defines and examines inequality, poverty, income mobility, and economic well-being. Finally, he considers various policies for broad-based growth. Copublished with the Russell Sage Foundation.

Originally published in 1989. This major book deals with deindustrialization and regional economic transformation in five regions of the USA: the industrial Midwest, the South, California, New England, and the New York metropolitan region. Four perspective studies then connect these diverse experiences to intra-metropolitan spatial adjustments, growth prospects for industry and services, and evolving regional theory and policy. An overview chapter sums up the main themes, common denominators and differences and some puzzles and unresolved issues. All concerned with the industrial and regional evolution of the USA – geographers, economists, planners, policy-makers, will find this authoritative survey useful.

Why are some people poor? Why does absolute poverty persist despite substantial economic growth? What types of late economic development or 'catch-up' capitalism are associated with different poverty outcomes? Global Poverty addresses these apparently simple questions and the extent to which the answers may be shifting. One might expect global poverty to be focused in the world's poorest countries, usually defined as low-income countries, or least developed countries, or 'fragile states'. However, most of the world's absolute poor by monetary or multi-dimensional poverty - up to a billion people - live in growing and largely stable middle-income countries. At the same time, poverty has not fallen as much as the substantial economic growth would warrant. As a consequence, and as domestic resources have grown, much of global poverty has become less about a lack of domestic resources and more about questions of national inequality, social policy and welfare regimes, and patterns of economic development pursued.

This paper maintains that deindustrialization is primarily a feature of successful economic development and that North-South trade has very little to do with it.