• Development economics is a branch of the economy whose purpose is to improve the financial, economic and social situation of developing countries.

  • Areas that development economics focuses on include health care, education, working conditions and market conditions.
  • Development economics seeks to understand and shape macro and micro economic policies to lift poor countries out of poverty.
  • The application of development economics is complex and varied because the cultural, social and economic foundations of each country are different.
  • The four general theories of development economics include mercantilism, nationalism, the linear stage of growth model, and the theory of structural change.