This is a collection of theoretical papers, including contributions by Partha Dasgupta and three Nobel prize-winning economists: Kenneth Arrow, Amartya Sen, and Joseph Stiglitz. Originally published in 1982.

This volume distils the thinking of an international group of leading economists on the changing roles of governments and markets in economic and social development. It argues that government has a vital role to play in facilitating the effective functioning of markets, even though the recent tendency has been to withdraw from direct involvement in certain sectors of the economy and to reduce intervention and control in others.