Intro -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Preface to the Paperback Edition -- Prologue: The Quest -- I - Why Growth Matters -- 1 - To Help the Poor -- Intermezzo: In Search of a River -- II - Panaceas That Failed -- 2 - Aid for Investment -- Intermezzo: Parmila -- 3 - Solow's Surprise: Investment...

The World Development Report (WDR) has become such a fixture that it is easy to forget the circumstances under which it was born and the Bank's motivation for producing such a report at that time. In the first chapter of this essay, the authors provide a brief background on the circumstances of...

The new growth literature, using both endogenous growth and neoclassical models, has generated strong claims for the effect of national policies on economic growth. Empirical work on policies and growth has tended to confirm these claims. This paper casts doubt on this claim for strong effects...