Growth, trade and uneven development

Theories of growth and international trade are reviewed critically from the perspective of understanding persistent inter-country and inter-regional income inequality. Three separate literatures are considered for the insights they offer about international disparity: Classical political economy, the North-South trade models, and the 'new' growth and trade theories that incorporate increasing returns and/or product differentiation. Classical antecedents of the more recent theories are identified, and contrasts are drawn between structuralist and neoclassical approaches to explaining the income gap between rich and poor nations. © Cambridge Political Economy Society 2005; all rights reserved.