Resumen de Development economics and language: the earnesf search for a mirage?
This essay considers the question of language äs it relates to some of the key elements of the recent development economics literature and suggests ways in which language might be incorporated into that literature. First, I focus on information-theoretic arguments drawn from current research in applied microeconomics. In turn I deal with (i) transactions costs, (ii) the principal-agent approach to tenancy contracts in LDC agriculture, (in) missing market models of contractual choice in LDC agriculture, (iv) network externalities, and (v) the credit market in LDC agriculture.
Second, I examine the topic of development economics and language from the dynamic perspective. In sequence I discuss (i) neoclassical growth, (U) growth models with human capital and increasing returns, (iii) growth models that center on diversity versus specialization, (iv) dynamic models of social custom, and (v) dualistic growth models and migration. Third, I deal with the role of the state in development economics and consider (i) "big push" models of state Intervention and (ii) the state äs a social planner. For each class of models I discuss, Iformulate a tentative conjecture äs to how linguistic variables can be integrated into the analysis and how they will affect the development process.
