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Economists have recently emphasized the role which institutional change plays in the process of economic growth and development. Focusing on the behavior of the state, effective constraints on the ruling elite are seen as a necessary precursor to successful economic growth. However, it is argued in this paper that causality runs the other way. Rapid growth (even with dictatorial regimes) leads to political development and institutional structures which provide a foundation for successful long‐term growth. It will be further argued that the greatest potential for stimulating political development comes as the result of rapid agricultural growth. The institutional constraints arising out of political development create an environment within which the ruling elite become developmental rather than predatory. The cases of English and Japanese industrialization will be used to illustrate these ideas. The relevance of the analyses for today's developing countries is discussed and illustrated with reference to the African experience.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact that slow growth in staple food productivity can have on the process of structural change and, more importantly, on the development of labor intensive industry.

A theory of a semi-open economy is developed to analyze the role of staple food productivity on structural change. A case study is used to illustrate the workings of the model.

Slow growth in food staple productivity will mean that even when labor is physically abundant, it will not be economically cheap. Thus it will be extremely difficult to promote the expansion of labor intensive manufacturing. The key to rapid structural change is rapid growth in food staple productivity.

Investment in raising agricultural productivity is critical in the development of labor intensive manufacturing.

Rapid growth can occur without leading to structural change. The bulk of the population remains locked in the rural sector.

The food sector is shown to be largely non-tradable. As a result solving the food problem domestically is crucial for structural change and economic development. Labor intensive manufacturing needs relatively cheap labor. For labor to be cheap, agricultural productivity (food staples) must rise rapidly.

The purpose of the paper is to determine why premature deindustrialization is occurring in many developing countries.

A theoretical structure for explaining premature deindustrialization is utilized. Then the comparative experiences of a number of developing countries are used to illustrate the operation of the theory.

The results indicate that increasing inequality among a number of developing countries has reduced the domestic market for labor intensive manufactured goods, resulting in stagnation in manufacturing. Also, the increasing inequality in developed countries has reduced international demand for labor intensive manufacturing. Thus developing countries have fewer opportunities to export labor intensive manufacturing.

Data on inequality is limited and it is very difficult to determine causality. However, intuition indicates that causality is most likely bi-directional.

Strategies of economic development must concern themselves with the effects that increasing inequality will likely have on the development of labor intensive manufacturing.

Social programs that bolster the purchasing power of poor families are likely to be important (social safety net). Broad-based agricultural growth will provide a basis for labor intensive manufacturing.

The originality stems from the linking of deindustrialization with rising inequality.

This paper reviews the theoretical case for industrial policy (coordination) provided by theories of multiple equilibria. It is argued that for most less developed countries the case for industrial policy (government coordination) is best made with respect to agriculture. Those states that have succeeded in terms of government policy promoting economic development, began with the agricultural sector.

This paper argues that one must be careful in drawing lessons from the development experience of East and Southeast Asia. The economic strategy followed by these countries was not one of free trade, or even simulated free trade. Instead, in these countries key conditions were created which provided hospitable environments for investment coordination. It was the ensuing boom in investment which generated rapid economic development. The current economic problems of this region are not the result of corrupt states or crony capitalism, none of which are new to the region, but the result of an inability to engage in economic restructuring

The purpose of this paper is to seek to empirically analyze whether the impact of Islam on relative gender performance varies by regions of the non‐Arabic world's economy. In addition, if in some regions Islam is found to have a negative impact on relative gender performance, an attempt is made to determine what aspect of Islamic practice (not doctrine) might account for this impact.

The empirical estimations are carried out in a cross‐country framework.

The results indicate that the impact of Islam varies by region, for the most part being associated with a worsening in relative gender performance. However, once it accounts for differences in birth rates, the negative impact of Islam on gender inequality disappears for all regions.

Fewer variations in the data limit the estimation procedures one can use for the purpose of the analysis.

Contrary to the consensus in the literature, the paper finds that it is not Islam that worsens gender inequality but rather the high fertility rates generally found among followers of Islam.

The paper is unique in its focusing exclusively on non‐Arab countries.

This article provides a detailed investigation of how Lewis revisited classical and Marxian concepts such as productive/unproductive labor, economic surplus, subsistence wages, reserve army, and capital accumulation in his investigation of economic development. The Lewis 1954 development model is compared to other models advanced at the time by Harrod, Domar, Swan, Kaldor, Solow, von Neumann, Nurkse, Rosenstein-Rodan, Myint, and others. Lewis applied the notion of economic duality to open and closed economies.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze those conditions which determine whether the state will be developmental or predatory.

A theoretical model is developed to analyze those factors influencing state policy towards agriculture. Then the historical experiences of China, Japan, and Sub‐Saharan Africa are used to illustrate the workings of the model.

A necessary condition for growth promoting (poverty reducing) policy reforms, with respect to agriculture, is that a technological backlog must exist in agriculture.

International organizations can play an important role in helping to create the necessary condition for effective reform. Significant investment in regional agricultural research institutions must be made so as to create a technological backlog in agriculture.

Investment in agricultural research has been declining. Thus, the availability of new technology has lessened. This poses an obstacle to rapid growth and poverty reduction. This paper seeks to refocus the attention of policy makers on agriculture.

This paper develops a theory to explain how and when states in developing countries are likely to become developmental. The ideas are illustrated by the experiences of parts of Asia and Sub‐Saharan Africa. These results will be useful to domestic policy makers in developing countries as well as the policy makers in international organizations.

The Asian crisis, which exploded in Thailand in July 1997 initially, spilled to the other ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, and Philippines) and later it spreads to Korea and even crossing the continent to Russia and Brazil. The chronological pattern seems to indicate the contagious behaviour of the crisis. However, the sequential economic down‐turns that occurred in the Asia Pacific do look like a contagion effect. The idea that currency speculators contributed to the depth of the crisis is agreeable but to conclude that they are the roots of the problem would be misleading. This paper argued that the roots of the problems lie in current account deficit and loss of competitiveness, and moral hazard and over‐investment This paper also argued that the currency crisis is a symptom and not the cause of the Asian crisis.

This study aims to undertake the evaluation and examination of the productivity change of the Egyptian banking sector. Using a novel data set covering 14 banks operating in the Egyptian market from 1997 to 2013. We use a nonparametric approach (based on data envelopment analysis (DEA)) to investigate the productivity change in the Egyptian banking sector. Input-oriented Malmquist indices of productivity change are estimated with DEA to measure total factor productivity (TFP) change. The TFP changes are decomposed into the product of technological change and technical efficiency change (catch-up). In the second stage, we study potential determinants of productivity change using a regression model. We find that the Egyptian banking sector as a whole shows a productivity regress of 0.9% per year, mainly due to the technological improvements. The estimated regression model identifies some variables that significantly influence the productivity of banks in Egypt. The banks with higher loan to deposit ratio and higher returns on equity have higher productivity growth reflecting on their strong strategic and managerial skills. The size of a bank seems to be associated with an increase in productivity. The maturity of a bank (measured by age) is associated with higher productivity. The NIM and NIETA variables do not seem to be affecting the productivity of banks. Surprisingly, our results reveal that the financial crisis was negatively and statistically insignificant, hence it had no effect on the Egyptian banks.