European University Institute Library

Economic growth, a unified approach, Olivier de La Grandville ; with a foreword and two contributions by Robert M. Solowc

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 417-422) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Economic growth

bibliography

967681074

Olivier de La Grandville ; with a foreword and two contributions by Robert M. Solowc

a unified approach

"In the second edition of this user-friendly book, Olivier de La Grandville provides graduate students and academic researchers with a clear and original introduction to the theory of economic growth, its mechanisms and its challenges. The book has been fully updated to incorporate several important new results and proofs since the first edition, and offers a new solution to the fundamental question: how much should a nation save and invest? In addition to a progressive treatment of dynamic optimization, readers will find intuitive derivations of all central equations of the calculus of variations and of optimal control theory. Contrary to dire contemporary predictions, de La Grandville shows that the optimal savings rule not only corresponds to the maximization of future welfare flows for society, but also maximizes the value of society's activity, as well as the total remuneration of labor"--, Provided by publisher"Why should you read a book on economic growth? Because the subject is important: it is about the well-being of our societies today and in the future; and because it is beautiful. It carries wonderful ideas, some exposed more than 2000 years ago, spanning all civilizations. You will certainly marvel at Ibn Khaldun's prescience, at Mo Tzu's wisdom, at Solow's depiction of transition phases, at Dorfman's incredible intuition in solving variational problems. This book is not quite the same as other books. Economic growth has attracted, particularly in the last hundred years, countless, excellent writers who have developed the field into an immense array of topics, from theoretical to empirical. Rather than trying to cover all developments - of which you can have an idea through the bibliography - I have wanted to tell you what I found fascinating in the subject. But my hope is also that you will find here a useful introduction to this wide area of research, because a lot of the book is not only on ideas but on methodology as well"--, Provided by publisher

Foreword Robert M. Solow; Preface; Introduction; Part I. Positive Growth Theory: 1. The welfare of society and economic growth; 2. The growth process: an intuitive approach; 3. A production function of central importance; 4. Poverty traps; 5. The CES production function as a general mean in collaboration with Robert M. Solow; 6. Why has the elasticity of substitution most often been observed as smaller than 1? And why is it of importance?; 7. Capital-labour substitution and economic growth in collaboration with Robert M. Solow; 8. The long-term growth rate as a random variable, with an application to the US economy; Part II. Optimal Growth Theory: 9. Optimal growth theory: an introduction to the calculus of variations; 10. Deriving the central equations of the calculus of variations at a single stroke of the pen; 11. Other major tools for optimal growth theory: the Pontryagin maximum principle and the Dorfmanian; 12. First applications to optimal growth; 13. Optimal growth and the optimal savings rate; Part III. A Unified Approach: 14. Preliminaries: interest rates and capital valuation; 15. From arbitrage to equilibrium; 16. Why is traditional optimal growth theory mute? Restoring its rightful voice; 17. Problems in growth: common traits between planned economies and poor countries; 18. From Ibn Khaldun to Adam Smith, and a proof of Smith's conjecture; 19. Capital and economic growth in the coming centuries; In conclusion: on the convergence of ideas and values through civilizations; Further reading, data on growth and references; Index