Abstract

Post-war development economics drew broadly from an array of different theoretical approaches, including theorizing from the south. Academic economists and policy makers in African countries openly and critically debated alternative possibilities from different theoretical traditions. As the multi-paradigmatic approach was under assault, the great development economist Albert Hirschman reminded us, in 1981, that this transcendence beyond monoeconomics arose out of the ‘unprecedented discredit of orthodox economics’ from within the economics establishment following the Great Depression and that the reassertion of neoclassical economics was somewhat predictable. The unevenness of the patterns of development provided the opening for the wholesale attack on development economics. Following the crisis of the universities in the 1980s, brought on to some degree by donors like the World Bank, economics departments on the African continent were reconstituted and reshaped in the image of the monoeconomics of the West. Capacity building efforts emphasized a single theoretical paradigm aimed in part at supporting structural adjustment policies. The African Economic Research Consortium, based in Nairobi and founded in 1988, played a key role in transforming the economics profession in Africa. The paper will map out the institutional dynamics and the consequences of reconstructing economic departments and government agencies in African countries.

摘要

战后发展经济学大体上来自一系列不同的理论方法，包括南方的理论。非洲国家的学术经济学家和政策制定者公开讨论了来自不同理论传统的替代可能性。当多范式方法遭到抨击时，伟大的发展经济学家阿尔伯特·赫希曼（Albert Hirschman）于1981年提醒我们，超越单一经济学的这种超越源自“大萧条”以来经济学界内部的“对正统经济学的前所未有的信誉”，新古典经济学的重新确立在某种程度上是可以预见的。发展模式的不平衡为发展经济学的全面攻击提供了机会。在1980年代大学危机之后，在像世界银行这样的捐助者的支持下，非洲大陆的经济部门在一定程度上得到了重组，并以西方的单一经济学形象进行了重塑。能力建设工作强调了一个单一的理论范式，其部分目的是支持结构调整政策。总部设在内罗毕的非洲经济研究协会（African Economic Research Consortium）成立于1988年，在改变非洲的经济学专业方面发挥了关键作用。本文将勾勒出非洲国家的制度动力以及重建经济部门和政府机构的后果。能力建设工作强调了一个单一的理论范式，其部分目的是支持结构调整政策。总部设在内罗毕的非洲经济研究协会（African Economic Research Consortium）成立于1988年，在改变非洲的经济学专业方面发挥了关键作用。本文将勾勒出非洲国家的制度动力以及重建经济部门和政府机构的后果。能力建设工作强调了一个单一的理论范式，其部分目的是支持结构调整政策。总部设在内罗毕的非洲经济研究协会（African Economic Research Consortium）成立于1988年，在改变非洲经济学界中发挥了关键作用。本文将勾勒出非洲国家的制度动力以及重建经济部门和政府机构的后果。