Rostow's Five Stages of Growth - Explained!
Rostow's Five Stages of Growth - Explained!
Rostow's Five Stages of Growth - Explained!
Rostow'sFiveStagesofGrowthExplained!
1.TraditionalSociety:
This initial stage of traditional society signifies a
primitive society having no access to modern science
and technology. In other words, it is a society based on
primitive technology and primitive attitude towards the
physical World. Thus, Rostow defines a traditional
society as one whose structure is developed within the
limited production function based on pre-Newtonian
science and technology and as pre-Newtonian attitudes
towards the physical world
However, Rostow does not view this traditional society
as being completely static. In this stage of a society
output could be increasing through the expansion of
land area under cultivation or through the discovery
and spread of a new crop.
But the critical fact about this type of society is that there
is limit to attainable output per head. This limit arises
due to the absence of access to modern science and
technology. This type of a society allocates a large
proportion of its resources to agriculture and is
characterised by a hierarchical social structure in which
there is little possibility for vertical mobility.
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2.PreConditionsorthePreparatoryStage:
The covers a long period of a century or more during
which the preconditions for take-off are established.
These conditions mainly comprise fundamental
changes in the social, political and economic fields;
for example:
(a) A change in societys attitudes towards science, risktaking and profit-earning;
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3.TheTakeoffStage:
This is the crucial stage which covers a relatively brief
period of two to three decades in which the economy
transforms itself in such a way that economic growth
subsequently takes place more or less automatically.
The take-off is defined as the interval during which
the rate of investment increases in such a way that real
output per captia rises and this initial increase carries
with it radical changes in the techniques of production
and the disposition of income flows which perpetuate
the new scale of investment and perpetuate thereby the
rising trend in per captia output.
Thus, the term take-off implies three things : first the
proportion of investment to national income must rise
from 5% to 10% and more so as to outstrip the likely
population growth; secondly, the period must be
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4.DrivetoMaturity:PeriodofSelfsustained
Growth:
This stage of economic growth occurs when the
economy becomes mature and is capable of generating
self-sustained growth. The rates of saving and
investment are of such a magnitude that economic
development becomes automatic. Overall capital per
head increases as the economy matures. The structure of
the economy changes increasingly.
The initial key industries which sparked the take-off
decelerate as diminishing returns set in. But the average
rate of growth is maintained by a succession of new
rapidly-growing sectors with a new set of leading
sectors. The proportion of the population engaged in
agriculture and other rural pursuits declines, and the
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5.StageofMassConsumption:
In this stage of development per capita income of
country rises to such a high level that consumption
basket of the people increases beyond food, clothing and
shelters to articles of comforts and luxuries on a mass
scale. Further, with progressive industrialisation and
urbanisation of the economy values of people change in
favour of more consumption of luxuries and high styles
of living. New types of industries producing durable
consumer goods come into existence which satisfies the
wants for more consumption. These new industries
producing durable consumer goods become the new
leading sectors of economic growth.
A Critique of Rostows Stages of Growth:
Rostows stages of growth theory have come in for
severe criticism. Gunar Mydral has argued that there
cannot an inevitable sequence of events described as
successive stages of growth. According to him, economic
growth is the result of certain economic policies adopted
and not the other way around.
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, Growth
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