This book evaluates development progress using the lens of structural transformation in four groups of developing countries: Africas least developed countries (LDCs), Asias LDCs, landlocked Central Asian countries, and Pacific small island states. The analysis presented is contextualized in the diverse economic characteristics and geopolitical landscape of the four categories of countries.
It emphasises critical binding factors unique for each category. Therefore, the chapter on Africas LDCs emphasises their path dependence determined by colonial exploitation and maintained through neo-colonial arrangements. The chapter on Asias LDCs highlights their democratic deficits and influences of geopolitical rivalries among global and regional powers. The chapter on landlocked Central Asian countries focuses more on the unique transition experience of those countries coming out from USSR hinterlands to independent states in the wake of the third wave of democratisation in the 1990s. Lastly the evaluation of Pacific small island states is very much influenced by the fate of geography for being small in size and remotely located.
The diverse coverage offers readers rich political economy explanations of varied, but largely poor, structural transformation experiences. The book is nontechnical, with descriptive, narrative, and analytical approaches on comparative development, making it suitable and accessible for non-specialist audiences.
1 Introduction.- 2 Africas Least Developed Countries: Missed
opportunities.- 3 Asias Least Developed Countries: Policy Lessons.- 4
Central Asia: Three decades after the economic transition.- 5 The Pacific:
Development challenges of small island states.- 6 Path dependence and policy
as destiny.
Anis Chowdhury is Emeritus Professor at Western Sydney University, Australia.. He's had an accomplished academic career; founding managing editor (1995-2008) of the Journal of the Asia-Pacific Economy; Managing Editor, Asia Pacific Sustainable Development Journal, Co-editor, the Journal of the Asia-Pacific Economy; and Economic and Labour Relations Review. Also held senior United Nations positions (2008-2016) in the area of Economic and Social affairs.
Zulfan Tadjoeddin is Associate Professor in Development Studies, School of Social Sciences, Western Sydney University, Australia.
Yogi Vidyattama is an Associate Professor at Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, Faculty of Business, Government and Law, , University of Canberra, Australia.
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