This volume, the culmination of a decade of empirical research on economic development at the International Development Center of Japan, focuses on the common problems encountered by economies in the process of growth. Specifically, technological diffusion, productivity growth, changes in employment patterns, and demarcation of the phases that an economy passes through on the way to development are examined through data analysis and long-term observation.

The authors view economic development as an extended process, and their model is formulated in terms of a dualistic structure, which they see as characterizing developing economies: the traditional coexisting with the modern. Their analysis attempts to quantify this structure, and to examine how changes in the balance between tradition and modernity affect technological diffusion, factor prices, the labor market, and the sequence of events in economic growth.

Japan's example is used to illustrate one economic development pattern, and is contrasted with other paths to growth. This volume will be of use in academic studies as well as in training programs for those involved in planning and managing developing economies.