Abstract
Low-income countries are the focus of this study. They comprise the world’s poorest nations, more than two thirds of which are concentrated in Africa south of the Sahara. Most people in these countries are as poor today as their grandparents were at the time when development economics emerged as a new sub-discipline within the economic sciences, and when Western governments started to provide billions of dollars worth in development assistance to the developing world.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Since the 1960s, the proportion of people in sub-Saharan Africa who live in extreme poverty (defined by a consumption level of less than 1.25 US dollars per day at 2005 PPP) remained unchanged at a rate of more than 50% of the total population, while the absolute number of the extreme poor has even risen due to high population growth in the region (Chen and Ravallion 2008). For further poverty statistics and their underlying definitions, see Chap. 2.
- 2.
Throughout the analysis, economic activity refers to private efforts by individuals or groups which make productive use of their abilities and resources, and thereby exploit gains from specialisation and trade. This includes economic activities of households, micro-entrepreneurs, owners of small and medium-sized businesses or members of other corporate or cooperative bodies. Private economic activity can, for instance, include engagement in subsistence farming, manufacturing or long-distance trade. In the context of low-income countries, economic activity as defined here encompasses the largest part of their domestic private sector activity and represents areas with the greatest potential for employment creation and poverty alleviation.
- 3.
See Sect. 12.3.2 for references to these applications.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Altmann, M.P. (2011). Introduction. In: Contextual Development Economics. The European Heritage in Economics and the Social Sciences, vol 8. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7231-6_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7231-6_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-7230-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-7231-6
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsEconomics and Finance (R0)