Developing Countries and Economic Growth

This paper examines the elements that determine why some developing countries have managed to achieve higher rates of economic growth in the post-Second World War period while others have stagnated in comparison. The paper tests several theoretical frameworks and models developed in order to see if these can explain the differences, and if not, why not. In order to examine the main research questions of the paper, the study employs a comparative case study design that combines quantitative data and statistics with qualitative interviews. The particular case study examines the economies of Kenya and Malaysia to determine why one has remained among the least developed economies (Kenya) while the other (Malaysia) has been able to take advantage of the convergence in the world economic order. The study is significant for several reasons, the chief among them being the fact that globalization has made it even more imperative for developing nations to get their economies into fighting shape so that they can cope with increased competition. As well, it is hoped the study can contribute to the theoretical discussion on how effective models are that present ômade in the Westö economic concepts within economies that have not yet developed these conceptsùmainly agrarian societies, for example. The study examined four factors that were pointed out by both the literature and the respondentsù

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s are born equal when it comes to economics and that the economies of some nations and/or regions can be held back because of political and economic relationships. One example given is that of colonialism which had, according to this theory, built-in mechanisms to make sure the colonized nations could not develop properly (outside the areas where the colonizer wanted to exploit its raw materials). According to this theory, there is little chance that a country can escape this dependency. However, this theory cannot account for the fact that some former colonies do undergo economic change for the better. 2.1.2 The Maddison Model As shown in table 2.1 below, Maddison (1982) introduced his own model for economic growth, including a rough division into six eras or epochs. As he explains, these are ômeant to be a rough description of the progressive evolution of the major material forces determining production potentialö (p. 4). Epochs Output a function of  Pre-agrarian (hunting, fishing, finding) Natural resources Raw labour  Agrarianism Natural resources appropriated and maintained Labour force with bare minimum of skills, defensively oriented elite unlikely to generate or take in new technology Moderate stock of working capit
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 4482
Approximate Pages = 18 (250 words per page)

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