Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC)
Library,Documentation and Information Science Division

“A research journal serves that narrow

borderland which separates the known from the unknown”

-P.C.Mahalanobis


Image from Google Jackets

Economic growth : a unified approach / Olivier de La Grandville.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublication details: Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2017.Edition: 2nd edDescription: xxi, 428 pages : illustrations ; 24 cmISBN:
  • 9781107535602 (Paperback)
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 338.9001 23 G755
Contents:
Part I. Positive growth theory: 1. The welfare of society and economic growth -- 2. The growth process -- 3. Poverty traps -- 4. A production function of central importance -- 5. The CES production function as a general mean / (in collaboration with Robert M. Solow) -- 6. Capital-labour substitution and economic growth / (in collaboration with Robert M. Solow) -- 7. Why has the elasticity of substitution most often been observed as smaller than 1? and why is it of importance? -- 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 with 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 their conjecture -- 19. Capital and economic growth in the coming centuries -- In conclusion: on the convergence of ideas and values through civilizations.
Summary: "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"--Summary: "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"--
Tags from this library: No tags from this library for this title. Log in to add tags.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Books ISI Library, Kolkata 338.9001 G755 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 138048
Total holds: 0

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part I. Positive growth theory:
1. The welfare of society and economic growth --
2. The growth process --
3. Poverty traps --
4. A production function of central importance --
5. The CES production function as a general mean / (in collaboration with Robert M. Solow) --
6. Capital-labour substitution and economic growth / (in collaboration with Robert M. Solow) --
7. Why has the elasticity of substitution most often been observed as smaller than 1? and why is it of importance? --
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 with 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 their conjecture --
19. Capital and economic growth in the coming centuries --
In conclusion: on the convergence of ideas and values through civilizations.

"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"--

"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"--

There are no comments on this title.

to post a comment.
Library, Documentation and Information Science Division, Indian Statistical Institute, 203 B T Road, Kolkata 700108, INDIA
Phone no. 91-33-2575 2100, Fax no. 91-33-2578 1412, ksatpathy@isical.ac.in