Within the last fifty years, most developing countries have made health and educational advances that took nearly two centuries in the industrialized countries. This book presents retrospective studies of ten developing countries that managed to exceed the scope and pace of social achievement of other developing countries, with many of their social indicators now being comparable with those of industrialized countries. This book attempts to learn the lesson of their success.

Half the ten countries studied have combined rapid economic growth with social achievement, and are now considered to have high-performing economies. Significantly, the high-growth economies achieved social progress very early in the development process, when national incomes were still low. Others grew more slowly and experienced interrupted growth. However, they demonstrate that it is possible to achieve a high level of social development even without a thriving economy, if the government sets the right priorities.

All ten countries achieved sustained improvement in child survival and educational levels despite low incomes, precisely because the investment required for the provision of basic services is low in cost but high in effectiveness. The cases chosen represent all the developing regions, and offer a variety of routes to high educational status, decreased child mortality, and low fertility. The book provides valuable guidance to policy-makers in developing countries in every region seeking to replicate these successful social experiments.