The Road to Development

Abstract

ow can government promote economic development? This is a perennial question, and it has not gone away with the collapse of the Soviet model 20-plus years ago. The debate often becomes acrimonious and ideological, but through it all, one can be hopeful about the accumulation of experience and understanding. The road from experience to understanding is not straightforward, and requires rigorous analysis of data. I want to illustrate that point with the example of rural roads in India.