| 210 | Part III: The Economics of Development
absence of such a labour supply in underdeveloped countries
invalidates the application of balanced growth. Hence, Albert
Hirschman characterizes the balanced growth doctrine as “the
application to underdevelopment of a therapy originally advised
for an underemployment situation”. In advanced countries during
depression, “the industries, machines, managers, and workers, as
well as the consumption habits” were all present eagerly “waiting to
resume their temporarily suspended functions and roles”. Therefore,
the critics assert that this theory as an offshoot of the Keynesian
theory of trade cycle is ill suited to a less developed economy.
According to Hirschman, the degree of complementarity is ...