A Strategy for Development

My purpose today is to outline a strategy for development and to draw some of the implications for the development research agenda. Our title deliberately echoes Albert Hirschman's Strategy of Economic Development and his emphasis on processes rather than prices and quantities. By leaving out “Economic” in the title, I of course do not pretend to be broader or more catholic than Hirschman. But development research has unfolded in many directions since Hirschman's pioneering 1958 book. And today the adjective “economic” might be given an interpretation too narrow for the strategy I will outline. It is a strategy that draws heavily on Schumpeter’s majestic vision of the dynamics of a market economy. In addition to Hirschman and Schumpeter, I must also mention Amartya Sen, who has been central to the broadening of perspective on the meaning of “development” and “poverty reduction.” The title of his book Development as Freedom embodies the key idea of development as the enhancement of individuals’ abilities to shape their own lives. This directs us towards ex ante freedoms and capabilities rather than ex post outcomes. The direct and indirect influences of Hirschman's, Schumpeter's, and Sen's understanding of the processes and objectives of development will be clear in the strategy I will outline here.