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Political Economy of Development

Pamment, James LU (2014)
Abstract
Political economy is a key approach to studying international development and
social change. Research originating from a political economy approach will be
familiar to those of us who are aware of global concerns that emphasize big
numbers: how many millions of dollars of aid are distributed, how many people
earn less than a dollar a day, child mortality rates, whether economies in developing countries are growing or stagnating, and so on. Political economy is often expressed in these kinds of figures, but it is the way these figures are used that characterizes the research field. Data showing a decline in child mortality rates over the past 50 years, for example, enable us to analyze the relationship between the policies,... (More)
Political economy is a key approach to studying international development and
social change. Research originating from a political economy approach will be
familiar to those of us who are aware of global concerns that emphasize big
numbers: how many millions of dollars of aid are distributed, how many people
earn less than a dollar a day, child mortality rates, whether economies in developing countries are growing or stagnating, and so on. Political economy is often expressed in these kinds of figures, but it is the way these figures are used that characterizes the research field. Data showing a decline in child mortality rates over the past 50 years, for example, enable us to analyze the relationship between the policies, which were designed to impact upon this area (such as health care education, immunization programs, and distribution of contraceptives), and the effects of those policies. When bottom-line figures like these are published, they are used to assess how well development policies are working. At its core then, political economy is not just about economics or big numbers, but about whether appropriate decisions are being made. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Handbook on Development and Social Change
editor
Wilkins, Karin ; Tufte, Thomas and Obregon, Rafael
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
a9f09452-dd88-449f-86d8-78b9123a9fe6
date added to LUP
2016-05-04 14:52:00
date last changed
2018-11-21 21:23:23
@inbook{a9f09452-dd88-449f-86d8-78b9123a9fe6,
  abstract     = {{Political economy is a key approach to studying international development and<br/>social change. Research originating from a political economy approach will be<br/>familiar to those of us who are aware of global concerns that emphasize big<br/>numbers: how many millions of dollars of aid are distributed, how many people<br/>earn less than a dollar a day, child mortality rates, whether economies in developing countries are growing or stagnating, and so on. Political economy is often expressed in these kinds of figures, but it is the way these figures are used that characterizes the research field. Data showing a decline in child mortality rates over the past 50 years, for example, enable us to analyze the relationship between the policies, which were designed to impact upon this area (such as health care education, immunization programs, and distribution of contraceptives), and the effects of those policies. When bottom-line figures like these are published, they are used to assess how well development policies are working. At its core then, political  economy is not just about economics or big numbers, but about whether appropriate decisions are being made.}},
  author       = {{Pamment, James}},
  booktitle    = {{Handbook on Development and Social Change}},
  editor       = {{Wilkins, Karin and Tufte, Thomas and Obregon, Rafael}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  title        = {{Political Economy of Development}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}