2 - Typology in Development Theory: Retrospective and Prospects

Abstract

This chapter discusses the retrospective and prospects of topology in the development theory. The functional distribution of income within each sector, along with the relative importance of nonagricultural activities in the rural areas, is an important determinant of the size distribution of income. Traditional exports, recently augmented by oil and always by foreign capital, could continue to fuel the industrialization effort in Mexico, including the export of fairly sophisticated capital and consumer durables. The contemporary typological approach to development, whether it has its origins in a cross-sectional approach or a comparative historical approach, fully embraces the notion that economic history, especially that of the developing world since the Second World War, still is a much underused laboratory for analyzing contemporary development issues. In this context, the comparative historical school has a responsibility to fill in more of the typological spaces between such relatively extreme cases as Taiwan, on the one hand, and Mexico, on the other.