Controlled Open Economies: A Neoclassical Approach to Structuralism - Softcover

Bevan, David; Collier, Paul; Gunning, Jan Willem

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0198287836 ISBN 13: 9780198287834

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1994

Synopsis

This book develops macroeconomic theory for small open economies characterized by the sort of controls which make much of existing neoclassical economics inapplicable to developing countries. It distinguishes between sustainable combinations of policies and incompatible control regimes. The authors analyze the changes needed to maintain compatibility and the consequences of failing to do so. They also consider optimal investments in response to a temporary shock. The second half of the book contains an analysis of two temporary trade shocks in Africa, in both compatible and incompatible control regimes, demonstrating the applicability of the theory. It shows that in a compatible regime, the regime and the fiscal response to changes in revenue may make the reaction to a shock grossly inefficient. Under incompatibility, an economy exposed to a negative shock may go into steep decline, while responses to conventional policies may be reversed.

About this title

About the Author

David Bevan is at St John's College, Oxford. Paul Collier is Professor of Economics, University of Oxford, and Director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies. Jan Willem Gunning is Professor of Economics, Free University, Amsterdam.

Review

"This book is a valuable contribution to development economics and...to the economic theory of socialist decline and transition from socialism."--Journal of Development Economics

"An important study of the impact of state action on the rural poor."--Economic Journal

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0198287836
• ISBN 13: 9780198287834
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 384