The decade of the 1980s represented a notable deviation from the widespread and significant development advances of the previous 30 years. This was reflected in an extensive re-examination of the theoretical and empirical bases of development economics.This major new book - written by a group of distinguished economists - provides the new directions needed for confronting the continuing challenge of development. Lance Taylor, Joseph Stiglitz and Amitava Dutt focus primarily on recent theoretical developments and highlight significant advances in several areas especially in new structuralist and new neoclassical approaches. Ajit Singh, Keith Griffin and Kenneth Jameson present a refreshing perspective on the recent experience of developing countries and the prospects of development in coming decades.

The main thesis of the book is that the 1980s represented a clear break in the development processes, but the 1990s and beyond hold the possibility of a viable re-direction of development and development economics.