Structural Transformation and Economic Development: Comparative Perspectives of Africa, Asia and Latin America

This book examines long-term structural changes and the broad impact on economic development in regional comparative perspectives. The book analyzes data across Africa, Asia and Latin America. It looks at key variables of productivity growth, industrialization, poverty, urbanization, and employment. This book is concerned with understanding structural change dynamics and how it affects job creation, living standards, and the efficiency of productive cities through manufacturing productivity growth that benefits majority of citizens.

With empirical evidence from a selected number of developing countries including China, India, Brazil, Nigeria and South Africa, the book attempts to present the considerable structural changes of these countries over the last few decades. It highlights that growth without the expected job creation is one of the distinct features of growth in emerging and developing countries. It suggests that countries may well record economic growth, whether through within sector productivity increase or through structural change, but this may not necessarily lead to employment, an important concern for long-term development.

Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka is currently Director of Regional Office for Africa, and previously Chief Scientific Advisor at UN-HABITAT. He is a professor in the fields of economic development, industrial policy and technology management. He has provided leadership in the fields of political economy and technology development, and continues to break new grounds uniting ideas in social sciences, engineering and technology policy.

Kaushalesh Lal is a development economist with emphasis on technical change. He earned his PhD from Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands. He has held faculty positions in various national and international institutions, namely, University of Delhi; Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi; and United Nations University-MERIT, The Netherlands. He has widely published research articles and books with renowned international publishers.