High Bandwidth Development Policy

Much of development policy has been based on the search for a short to do list that would get countries moving while growth theory has been based on the aggregate production function, where products disappear from the analysis. In this paper I depart from this framework and conceive of development as a process characterized by the co-evolution of capabilities and products that are dependent on a large set of rather specific public inputs. These capabilities are not just personal characteristics of individuals but are emergent social properties. This approach explains some of the patterns of the development process but requires a rather different understanding of what a development strategy would consist in. Instead of a short list of policy actions, the paper emphasizes the policy processes that lead to the determination of the large and evolving set of public inputs with which governments affect the productive potential of their countries. Paper prepared for the Brookings Development Conference. May 29-3