The Perplexing Literature on Growth and Change

Even a casual library search clearly indicates that empirical growth studies comprise a significant, and growing, area of interest within the academic literature. In many respects, this strand of literature has been successful in identifying the basic nature of the growth process. By contrast, attempts to provide public policy directions are much less successful. It is this perplexing dichotomy that provides both the justification and point of departure of this volume. In this introductory piece, we identify several unresolved issues in both the public policy arena and economic theory that relate to the individual papers.