Answer to Question #124569 in Economics for Joseph Danso

Question

What contribution does Rostow’s stage theory make to an understanding of the development process?

Answer 1

The theory of transition to "self-sustaining growth", which was put forward by the scientist Walt Whitman Rostow, had a great influence on the formation of modern concepts of modernization of developing countries.

Rostow proposed five stages of growth: traditional society (the traditional society);

the preconditions for take-off period; take-off movement to maturity (the drive to maturity); the age of high mass consumption.

In his later work Politics and Stages of Growth (1971), Rostow adds a sixth stage - the “stage of the search for quality" of life, when the spiritual development of a person is brought to the forefront. Thus, he tried to outline the future development of modern societies.

Development with this approach is understood, first of all, as a synonym for high growth rates. Deep social and institutional changes appear to be in the shade, the ratio of investment and the growth rate of the gross national product comes to the fore.