DRI Working Paper No. 71
By Debraj Ray

Uneven Growth: A Framework for Research in Development Economics
The textbook paradigm of economy-wide development rests on the premise of “balanced growth”: that is, on the presumption that all sectors will grow in unison over time as a country gets richer. This view has served us reasonably well in several circumstances, particularly those pertaining to macroeconomic models of long-term growth. An implicit view that growth is balanced across sectors, or something close to it, also underlies the notion of “trickle-down,” a stance that has strongly influenced development policy. Of course, we would all agree that balanced growth is an abstraction . .