Neoclassical Development Theory and the Prebisch Doctrine: A Synthesis

Abstract

For his search for an alternative development strategy for less developed countries, the late Argentinean economist Raul Prebisch is widely touted as a revolutionary scholar. This paper demonstrates that Prebisch's views differed little from those of typical neoclassical writers. The paper concludes that, although Prebisch opposed certain canonistic views, no fundamental political differences exist between the two espoused paradigms. Prebisch was no revolutionary but a system reformer at most.