Industrialization and Agricultural Surplus

Book excerpt: What is the role of agricultural surplus in financing industrialization? What are the implications of different trade and industrial policies for agricultural development? What are the respective roles of allocative efficiency and production efficiency in the process of development? These and other questions are discussed in this book. The author argues that productivity gains through better resource utilization within sectors may be more crucial in the long run than efficient allocation of resources between sectors. He supports this with an analysis of the interaction between industry and agriculture in the development of China, India, Iran, Japan, and Taiwan.