Chapter 4 Analytics of development: Dualism

The concept of dualism discussed in this chapter is both more narrowly economic and dynamic. It focuses on the coexistence of two sectors that are asymmetricaland thus dualisticin terms of both product and organizational characteristics. The production asymmetry relevant here is that while traditional agriculture disposes over something approaching fixed inputs of land, very little capital, with large pre-existing inputs of labor, the modernizing manufacturing sector requires virtually no land, while capital can be accumulated and labor absorbed as needed. The concept of dualism discussed is intrinsically dynamic, because the interactions between the two sectors over time in the closed economy context and, ultimately, with each other and the rest of the world, in the open economy context is discussed. The chapter reviews in brief the place of dualism in economic history and in the history of economic thought. The chapter presents an examination of modern day dualism in the closed economy, focusing on the main elements of linkage between the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors as well as on the normative problem of defining developmental success and non-success with the help of the concept of dualism in its dynamic version. The chapter also discusses open dualism, focusing on the triangular relationships between domestic agriculture, domestic non-agriculture, and the rest of the world, distinguishing between dualism in a colonial context from dualism in a developmental context.