Some major findings of economic growth center research

THE GOAL OF CENTER RESEARCH HAS BEEN TO UNDERSTAND THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS -- TO DECIDE WHAT THE IMPORTANT PROBLEMS ARE AND TO FOCUS ON THEM. THEORETICAL MODELS OR CONSTRUCTS PROPOSED AS VALID REPRESENTATIONS OF UNDERDEVELOPED ECONOMIES ARE PRESENTED UNDER FIVE HEADINGS: THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT AND RELATED EMPIRICAL WORK; SOCIAL CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT -- THE MEXICAN CASE; STUDIES RELATING PRIMARILY TO THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR; THE FOREIGN SECTOR AND GROWTH; AND INDUSTRIALIZATION AND URBANIZATION. THE MAJOR THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTION OF THE GROWTH CENTER HAS BEEN THE DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE MECHANISM OF A LABOR SURPLUS ECONOMY AND THE POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF SUCH AN ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK. THIS MODEL, NOW WELL KNOWN AND WIDELY USED, STARTS WITH THE PREMISE THAT THE AMOUNT OF LABOR IN UNDERDEVELOPED ECONOMIES IS SO GREAT THAT, AT LEAST WITHIN THE TYPICAL INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK, ALL OF IT CANNOT BE USED PRODUCTIVELY. THE GROWTH PROCESS INVOLVES THE REMOVAL OF LABOR FROM THE "TRADITIONAL" SECTOR, WHERE ITS MARGINAL PRODUCTIVITY IS EITHER ZERO OR BELOW A SUBSISTENCE WAGE LEVEL, AND ITS TRANSFERRAL TO THE "MODERN" SECTOR (A SUBSTANTIAL PART OF WHICH IS ASSUMED TO BE IN THE INDUSTRIAL SECTOR) AS THE DEMAND FOR IT INCREASES.