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Currie's 'leading sector' strategy of growth: an appraisal

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  • Ramesh Chandra

Abstract

This paper offers a new interpretation of Lauchlin Currie's (1974) leading-sector strategy. The idea of a leading sector normally conjures up notions of a favoured or privileged treatment. This paper argues that Currie's leading-sector strategy is a misnomer in the sense that it does not call for any favoured treatment to the chosen sectors (such as urban housing or exports), but only removal of handicaps or institutional barriers. The paper also shows that Currie's strategy is different from Rosenstein-Rodan's (1943, 1961) big push, to which it is often compared. While Rosenstein-Rodan advocated centralised investment planning to maximise the size and to optimise the composition of investment, Currie's leading sectors were based on the Smith (1776)- Young (1928) pro-market framework. Finally, while the policy conclusions of Currie's approach and the current development thinking are similar in many ways, the underlying theoretical framework is very different.

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  • Ramesh Chandra, 2006. "Currie's 'leading sector' strategy of growth: an appraisal," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(3), pages 490-508.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:42:y:2006:i:3:p:490-508
    DOI: 10.1080/00220380600576391
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ramesh Chandra, 2004. "Adam Smith, Allyn Young, and the Division of Labor," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(3), pages 787-805, September.
    2. Ramesh Chandra, 2003. "Allyn Young revisited," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 30(1), pages 46-65, January.
    3. David Laidler & Roger Sandilands, 2002. "An Early Harvard Memorandum on Anti-Depression Policies: An Introductory Note," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 34(3), pages 515-532, Fall.
    4. Murphy, Kevin M & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1989. "Industrialization and the Big Push," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(5), pages 1003-1026, October.
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    8. Allyn A. Young, 1913. "Pigou's Wealth and Welfare," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 27(4), pages 672-686.
    9. Ramesh Chandra & Roger J. Sandilands, 2005. "Does modern endogenous growth theory adequately represent Allyn Young?," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 29(3), pages 463-473, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ramesh Chandra & Roger J. Sandilands, 2021. "Nicholas Kaldor, increasing returns and Verdoorn’s Law," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(2), pages 315-339, April.
    2. Ramesh Chandra, 2022. "Was Allyn Young a Marshallian?," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(2), pages 258-279, June.
    3. Ramesh Chandra & Roger Sandilands, 2006. "The role of pecuniary external economies and economies of scale in the theory of increasing returns," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 193-208.
    4. Roger Sandilands, 2009. "An Archival Case Study: Revisiting The Life and Political Economy of Lauchlin Currie," Working Papers 0906, University of Strathclyde Business School, Department of Economics.
    5. Roger J. Sandilands, 2009. "Solovian and New Growth Theory from the Perspective of Allyn Young on Macroeconomic Increasing Returns," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 41(5), pages 285-303, Supplemen.

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