Structural Transformation and Late Development in the 21st Century: Is the Lewis Model Still Relevant?

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Description

In 1954, Arthur Lewis published a paper that set out his famous Dualistic Development Model, arguing that developing economies could foster capitalist growth by employing surplus labour from the subsistence sector. This intervention arrived at a critical juncture in human history. The world was recovering from the Second World War, many countries were emerging out of colonial regimes, achieving their first independence in centuries, and geopolitical dynamics were shaped by the tussles between capitalism vs. communism.

 

Since the article’s publication, the world has changed phenomenally, in some ways proving stranger than science fiction. Today, you can wake up in Japan but start working for Jamaica or replace Claudia, a tech worker, for Claude, the AI. The dynamics of the global political economy have also changed with the world shifting from a bipolar Cold War-era system dominated by the United States and the Soviet Union to a multipolar landscape, where emerging economies like China, India, and Brazil increasingly shape global trade, finance, and development policies. Furthermore, the integration of global markets through digital technology, the rise of multinational corporations, and the dominance of global value chains have redefined the movement of goods, services, and labour across borders.

Does Lewis’s model hold up in this changing world? Academics at the Global Development Institute (GDI) organised a two-day conference to debate this question on 5-6 December 2024, celebrating the 70th anniversary of Lewis’s paper.

Period22 Jan 2025

Media contributions

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Media contributions

  • TitleStructural Transformation and Late Development in the 21st Century: Is the Lewis Model Still Relevant?
    Degree of recognitionInternational
    Media name/outletGDI Blog
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
    Date22/01/25
    DescriptionIn 1954, Arthur Lewis published a paper that set out his famous Dualistic Development Model, arguing that developing economies could foster capitalist growth by employing surplus labour from the subsistence sector. This intervention arrived at a critical juncture in human history. The world was recovering from the Second World War, many countries were emerging out of colonial regimes, achieving their first independence in centuries, and geopolitical dynamics were shaped by the tussles between capitalism vs. communism.


    Since the article’s publication, the world has changed phenomenally, in some ways proving stranger than science fiction. Today, you can wake up in Japan but start working for Jamaica or replace Claudia, a tech worker, for Claude, the AI. The dynamics of the global political economy have also changed with the world shifting from a bipolar Cold War-era system dominated by the United States and the Soviet Union to a multipolar landscape, where emerging economies like China, India, and Brazil increasingly shape global trade, finance, and development policies. Furthermore, the integration of global markets through digital technology, the rise of multinational corporations, and the dominance of global value chains have redefined the movement of goods, services, and labour across borders.

    Does Lewis’s model hold up in this changing world? Academics at the Global Development Institute (GDI) organised a two-day conference to debate this question on 5-6 December 2024, celebrating the 70th anniversary of Lewis’s paper.
    URLhttps://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/structural-transformation-and-late-development-in-the-21st-century-is-the-lewis-model-still-relevant/
    PersonsMahtab Uddin