IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/une/wpaper/32.html

The Scorecard on Development: 25 Years of Diminished Progress

Author

Listed:
  • Mark Weisbrot
  • Dean Baker
  • David Rosnick

Abstract

This paper examines data on economic growth and various social indicators and compares the past 25 years (1980-2005) with the prior two decades (1960-1980). The paper finds that the past 25 years in low- and middle-income countries have seen a sharp slowdown in the rate of economic growth, as well as a decline in the rate of progress on major social indicators including life expectancy and infant and child mortality. The authors conclude that economists and policy-makers should devote more effort to determining the causes of the economic and development failure of the last quarter-century.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Weisbrot & Dean Baker & David Rosnick, 2006. "The Scorecard on Development: 25 Years of Diminished Progress," Working Papers 32, United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs.
    • Handle: RePEc:une:wpaper:32
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.un.org/esa/desa/papers/2006/wp32_2006.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lobel, Orly, 2006. "Sustainable capitalism or ethical transnationalism: Offshore production and economic development," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 56-62, February.
    2. Dollar, David & Kraay, Aart, 2002. "Growth Is Good for the Poor," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 195-225, September.
    3. Valerie Cerra & Sweta Chaman Saxena, 2008. "Growth Dynamics: The Myth of Economic Recovery," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(1), pages 439-457, March.
    4. Gérard Duménil & Dominique Lévy, 1993. "The Economics Of The Profit Rate," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 153.
    5. Dani Rodrik & Arvind Subramanian, 2005. "From "Hindu Growth" to Productivity Surge: The Mystery of the Indian Growth Transition," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 52(2), pages 193-228, September.
    6. Eswar S. Prasad & Kenneth Rogoff & Shang-Jin Wei & M. Ayhan Kose, 2007. "Financial Globalization, Growth and Volatility in Developing Countries," NBER Chapters, in: Globalization and Poverty, pages 457-516, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Eliasson, Gunnar, 1984. "Micro heterogeneity of firms and the stability of industrial growth," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 5(3-4), pages 249-274.
    8. repec:wbk:wbpubs:12426 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Andrea Bassanini & Stefano Scarpetta & Ignazio Visco, 2000. "Knowledge technology and economic growth: recent evidence from OECD countries," Working Paper Research 06, National Bank of Belgium.
    10. repec:wbk:wbpubs:12425 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Boyer, Robert, 2000. "The French welfare : an institutional and historical analysis in European perspective," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Couverture Orange) 0007, CEPREMAP.
    12. A. B. Atkinson, 1999. "The Economic Consequences of Rolling Back the Welfare State," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262011719, December.
    13. Amable, Bruno, 2003. "The Diversity of Modern Capitalism," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199261147.
    14. Levis, Julien, 2006. "Adoption of corporate social responsibility codes by multinational companies," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 50-55, February.
    15. Hollis Chenery† & T.N. Srinivasan (ed.), 1988. "Handbook of Development Economics," Handbook of Development Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    16. repec:wbk:wbpubs:13890 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. David Dollar & Aart Kraay, 2004. "Trade, Growth, and Poverty," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(493), pages 22-49, February.
    18. Fujiki, Hiroshi & Nakada, Sachiko-Kuroda & Tachibanaki, Toshiaki, 2001. "Structural Issues in the Japanese Labor Market: An Era of Variety, Equity, and Efficiency or an Era of Bipolarization?," Monetary and Economic Studies, Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, Bank of Japan, vol. 19(S1), pages 177-208, February.
    19. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bukvić, Rajko, 2015. "Неоклассическая Экономическая Парадигма И Экономическая Реальность [Neoclassical Economic Paradigm and Economic Reality]," MPRA Paper 105693, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2015.
    2. Mark Weisbrot & Rebecca Ray, 2011. "The Scorecard on Development, 1960-2010: Closing the Gap?," CEPR Reports and Issue Briefs 2011-09, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).
    3. Porras, Laila, 2015. "Croissance, inégalités et pauvreté au sein des pays émergents : le cas des BRICS," Revue de la Régulation - Capitalisme, institutions, pouvoirs, Association Recherche et Régulation, vol. 18.
    4. Bukvić, Rajko & Petrović, Dragan, 2022. "Индустрија 4.0 И Србија [Industry 4.0 and Serbia]," MPRA Paper 118863, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Flynn, Matthew B., 2021. "Global capitalism as a societal determinant of health: A conceptual framework," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    6. Bukvić, Rajko & Pavlović, Radica, 2014. "Неокласична Економска Теорија И Проблеми Економског Развоја [Neoclassical economic theory and the problems of economic development]," MPRA Paper 70092, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 08 Apr 2014.
    7. Petrović, Dragan & Bukvić, Rajko, 2018. "Metal and machine industry in Serbia," MPRA Paper 92438, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Petrović, Dragan & Bukvić, Rajko, 2018. "Contemporary Trends in the Development of Industry in the World and Serbia," MPRA Paper 87793, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2018.
    9. Bukvić, Rajko & Pavlović, Radica & Zakharov, Vladimir, 2014. "Неоклассическая Экономика И Другой Канон [Neoclassical Economics and Other Canon]," MPRA Paper 120975, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2014.
    10. Ricardo Restrepo Echavarría & Fernando Oliván López, 2025. "The Citizens’ Revolution in Ecuador: A comparative history of political ideas, processes, and outcomes," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-22, December.
    11. Jomo Kwame Sundaram & Rudiger von Arnim, 2008. "Economic liberalization and constraints to development in sub-Saharan africa," Working Papers 67, United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs.
    12. Bateman, Milford, 2013. "The age of microfinance: Destroying Latin American economies from the bottom up," Working Papers 39, Austrian Foundation for Development Research (ÖFSE).
    13. Robert E. Prasch, 2010. "Bankers Gone Wild: The Crash of 2008," Chapters, in: Steven Kates (ed.), Macroeconomic Theory and its Failings, chapter 11, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    14. Bukvić, Rajko, 2015. "Неоклассическая Экономическая Теория И Экономическая Действительность [Neoclassical Economic Theory and Economic Reality]," MPRA Paper 70769, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2015.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Robert Boyer, 2006. "Employment and decent work in the era of flexicurity," PSE Working Papers halshs-00590452, HAL.
    2. Robert Boyer, 2006. "Employment and decent work in the era of flexicurity," Working Papers halshs-00590452, HAL.
    3. Boyer, Robert, 2000. "The French welfare : an institutional and historical analysis in European perspective," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Couverture Orange) 0007, CEPREMAP.
    4. Ouedraogo, Benoît & Ouedraogo, Idrissa & Sawadogo, Hamidou, 2025. "Effects of trade openness on income inequality in sub-Saharan Africa: direct effects and transmission channels," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    5. Philippe Aghion & Robin Burgess & Stephen J. Redding & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2008. "The Unequal Effects of Liberalization: Evidence from Dismantling the License Raj in India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(4), pages 1397-1412, September.
    6. Akhand Akhtar Hossain, 2009. "Central Banking and Monetary Policy in the Asia-Pacific," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12777.
    7. Qazi Hye & Wee-Yeap Lau & Marie-Aimée Tourres, 2014. "Does economic liberalization promote economic growth in Pakistan? An empirical analysis," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 48(4), pages 2097-2119, July.
    8. Emma Aisbett, 2007. "Why are the Critics So Convinced that Globalization is Bad for the Poor?," NBER Chapters, in: Globalization and Poverty, pages 33-86, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Sumbal Fatima & Bateer Chen & Muhammad Ramzan & Qamar Abbas, 2020. "The Nexus Between Trade Openness and GDP Growth: Analyzing the Role of Human Capital Accumulation," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, November.
    10. Marcel R Kohler & Janet O Bruce Brand, 2002. "Trade Policy And Labour Standards : General Perspectives And Imlications For South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 70(5), pages 932-954, June.
    11. Andrea Asoni, 2008. "Protection Of Property Rights And Growth As Political Equilibria," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(5), pages 953-987, December.
    12. Bourguignon, Francois, 2005. "The Effect of Economic Growth on Social Structures," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 27, pages 1701-1747, Elsevier.
    13. Orsetta Causa & Alain de Serres & Nicolas Ruiz, 2015. "Can pro-growth policies lift all boats?: An analysis based on household disposable income," OECD Journal: Economic Studies, OECD Publishing, vol. 2015(1), pages 227-268.
    14. Ma, Chang, 2020. "Financial stability, growth and macroprudential policy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    15. Miet Maertens & Liesbeth Colen & Johan F. M. Swinnen, 2011. "Globalisation and poverty in Senegal: a worst case scenario?," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 38(1), pages 31-54, March.
    16. Arindam Banik & Pradip K. Bhaumik, 2018. "The Effects of Exogenous Technological Change on Wage Inequality in Rural India," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 19(6), pages 1515-1537, December.
    17. Lawn, Philip & Clarke, Matthew, 2010. "The end of economic growth? A contracting threshold hypothesis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(11), pages 2213-2223, September.
    18. Onafowora, Olugbenga A. & Owoye, Oluwole, 2024. "Trade openness, governance quality, and economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    19. Séraphin Brice Minkoe Bikoula & Adalbert Abraham Ghislain Melingui Bate & Ali Haruna, 2025. "The Effect Of Economic Complexity On Inclusive Growth In Developing Countries," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 70(247), pages 45-93, October –.
    20. Gaurav Datt & Martin Ravallion & Rinku Murgai, 2020. "Poverty and Growth in India over Six Decades," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(1), pages 4-27, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:une:wpaper:32. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Aimee Gao (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/desunus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.