The Lewis Model: A 60-Year Retrospective

摘要

The Lewis (1954) model of economic development is one of the rare 60 year-old papers still featured on many graduate economics reading lists. However, like many classics, the original paper, "Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labor," is probably read less frequently than it is cited. There are numerous commentaries and glosses available that save readers the trouble of wrestling with the original-even though Lewis's writing was lucid and engaging. In particular, many development textbooks offer verbal or graphic summaries of the Lewis model, but the summaries often lose the richness of the original.