Main Currents in Cumulative Causation

This book is the first comprehensive study of the theory of circular and cumulative causation. This theory is concerned with the general dynamics of growth and development in advanced industrial economies and developing nations. A detailed analysis of the theory's core concepts, including increasing returns, external economies, complementarity in production and consumption and technological change, is provided. The book traces the origins of the theory through Adam Smith and Alfred Marshall. A chapter-length presentation is provided on each of the key contributors to the concept's theoretical and applied development. These include Professor Allyn Young, who provided the first complete formulation of the theory, and the development economists Paul Rosenstein-Rodan, Albert Hirschman and Gunnar Myrdal. Over a quarter of the book assesses the post-1966 work of Nicolas Kaldor, whose 'growth laws' and other work made one of the greatest contributions to the theory. A major theme of the book is that the key contributors to this theory constitute a distinct and coherent school of economic thought, whose analytical foundation is the theory of cumulative causation. The book concludes with a critical assessment of endogenous growth theory and certain studies of development in North Asia.