The aim of this book is to provide a general introduction to the dynamics of socio-economic development and to the study of the problems of developing countries. It is a reflection of multidisciplinary courses on ‘development’, which I have been teaching since 1987 at the University of Groningen and the Eindhoven University of Technology. The book was written for students of universities and other institutions of higher education, who encounter the problems of developing countries in the course of their own disciplinary studies and who are in need of a general introduction to this field. It is also intended for people pursuing a professional career in developing countries and readers with a general interest in development. The text can be read as an introduction by students with no prior knowledge of development. It also can be used at a more advanced level as a handbook, providing an overview of current theoretical and empirical debates and controversies in the field of development studies. The book provides non-economists with a non-technical introduction to economic perspectives on development, while introducing economists to a broader socio-economic view of development.

The central issue in development, as approached in this book, lies in low levels of per capita income and low standards of living among the mass of the population in the so-called developing countries. The key elements in the book are trends in per capita income and changes in standards of living and welfare, and the factors that affect economic development or economic stagnation in the long term.