World Development Report 1979

Structural transformation is particularly important for middle income countries. In dealing with the appropriate policies to be associated with structural changes, this report analyzes the processes of industrialization, urbanization, and the sectoral deployment of labor. The challenges identified, analyzed, and presented for consideration are: (i) creation of job opportunities for an additional half billion people that will join the labor force in the developing countries by 2000; (ii) accommodation of an additional one billion people in the same time perspective in the urban areas of the developing countries in socially acceptable and economically productive conditions; (iii) creation of an international trade environment that is supportive of the development efforts; and (iv) significant steps to the elimination of absolute poverty.

Rising densities of human settlements, migration and transport to reduce distances to market, and specialization and trade facilitated by fewer international divisions are central to economic development. The transformations along these three dimensions density, distance, and division are most noticeable in North America, Western Europe, and Japan, but countries in Asia and Eastern Europe are changing in ways similar in scope and speed. 'World Development Report 2009: Reshaping Economic Geography' concludes that these spatial transformations are essential, and should be encouraged. The conclusion is not without controversy. Slum-dwellers now number a billion, but the rush to cities continues. Globalization is believed to benefit many, but not the billion people living in lagging areas of developing nations. High poverty and mortality persist among the world's 'bottom billion', while others grow wealthier and live longer lives. Concern for these three billion often comes with the prescription that growth must be made spatially balanced. The WDR has a different message: economic growth is seldom balanced, and efforts to spread it out prematurely will jeopardize progress. The Report: documents how production becomes more concentrated spatially as economies grow. proposes economic integration as the principle for promoting successful spatial transformations. revisits the debates on urbanization, territorial development, and regional integration and shows how today's developers can reshape economic geography.

Abstract: Developing countries start the decade facing two major challenges: to continue the social and economic progress of the past 30 years in an international climate that looks less helpful; and to tackle the plight of the 800 million people living in absolute poverty, who have benefitted too little from past progress. This report examines some of the difficulties and prospects in both areas. One of its central themes is the importance of people in development. The first part of the report addresses the expected sluggish world economic growth as oil-importing countries reduce their current account deficits and adapt to higher energy costs. Domestic policies of developing countries will be crucial, and the fate of poor people in these countries will be decided largely by domestic opportunities and policies. The second part of the report describes the role of human development programs (in education, health, nutrition, and fertility reduction) and their related effects on productivity and population growth.

Long-term needs and sustained effort are underlying themes in this year's report. As with most of its predecessors, it is divided into two parts. The first looks at economic performance, past and prospective. The second part is this year devoted to population - the causes and consequences of rapid population growth, its link to development, why it has slowed down in some developing countries. The two parts mirror each other: economic policy and performance in the next decade will matter for population growth in the developing countries for several decades beyond. Population policy and change in the rest of this century will set the terms for the whole of development strategy in the next. In both cases, policy changes will not yield immediate benefits, but delay will reduce the room for maneuver that policy makers will have in years to come.

This first report deals with some of the major development issues confronting the developing countries and explores the relationship of the major trends in the international economy to them. It is designed to help clarify some of the linkages between the international economy and domestic strategies in the developing countries against the background of growing interdependence and increasing complexity in the world economy. It assesses the prospects for progress in accelerating growth and alleviating poverty, and identifies some of the major policy issues which will affect these prospects.

This paper reviews the speech delivered by Mr. Robert S. McNamara, President of the World Bank in Geneva in an address to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations on July 23, 1979. In McNamara’s opinion, the “massive disparities” of living standards in the world are likely to continue. For his address, Mr. McNamara drew on projections and analyses from the World Development Report, 1979, of the World Bank. Mr. McNamara also emphasized the interdependence of the developed and developing countries.