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Rostow's Stages of Economic Growth

The Rostowian take-off model outlines five stages of economic growth: Traditional Society, Preconditions for Take-off, Take-off, Drive to Maturity, and Age of High Mass Consumption, based on Britain's economic history. Each stage represents a transition from limited production and agricultural reliance to industrialization and mass consumption, highlighting the evolution of social, political, and economic structures. The model suggests that all societies experience these stages in a similar manner, leading to modernization and increased living standards.

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13 views11 pages

Rostow's Stages of Economic Growth

The Rostowian take-off model outlines five stages of economic growth: Traditional Society, Preconditions for Take-off, Take-off, Drive to Maturity, and Age of High Mass Consumption, based on Britain's economic history. Each stage represents a transition from limited production and agricultural reliance to industrialization and mass consumption, highlighting the evolution of social, political, and economic structures. The model suggests that all societies experience these stages in a similar manner, leading to modernization and increased living standards.

Uploaded by

salman saad
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Stages of Growth Theory

• The Rostowian take-off model claims to be a universal


historical model of economic growth which was developed
on the basis of the economic history of Britain.
• The model claims that economic modernization occurs in
five basic stages, in changeable time period.
– Traditional society
– Preconditions for take-off
– Take-off
– Drive to maturity
– Age of high mass consumption
• Rostow argues this is a universal historical categorization of
stages of growth that all societies necessarily go through
with similar experiences.
Traditional Society
• A traditional society is one whose structure is
developed within limited production functions,
based on pre-Newtonian science and technology,
and on pre-Newtonian attitudes towards the
physical world.
• These societies, because of the limitation on
productivity, had to devote a very high proportion
of their resources to agriculture; and flowing from
the agricultural system there was an hierarchical
social structure.
• Family and clan connexions played a large role in
social organization.

• Landholders plays a dominant and important role


in the determination of political and economic
power

• The value system of these societies was generally


geared to what might be called a long-run
fatalism.
Pre-conditions for Take-off
• The second stage of growth embraces
societies in the process of transition; that is,
the period when the preconditions for
take-off are developed; for it takes time to
transform a traditional society in the ways
necessary for it to exploit the fruits of modern
science.
• Emergence of entrepreneurial and managerial
class;
• Development of a financial sector and
increase in investment;
• Infrastructural development;
• Modern business using new and sophisticated
methods of production;
Take-off
• The take-off is the interval when the old blocks
and resistances to steady growth are finally
overcome.

• Increasing industrialization, production and


employment switches from agriculture to
manufacturing;

• Growth concentrated in a few regions of the


country and in one or two manufacturing
industries;
• Evolution of new political and social
institutions supporting the industrialization

• Growth becomes self-sustaining as investment


leads to increasing incomes in turn generating
more savings to finance further investment.
Drive to Maturity
• The economy starts spreading into new areas;

• Technological innovation provides expanded range of


investment opportunities.

• the economy starts producing a wide range of goods and


services and there is less reliance on imports

• this diversity leads to greatly reduced rates of poverty and


rising standards of living, as the society no longer needs to
sacrifice its comfort in order to make certain sectors more
productive.
Age of High Mass Consumption
• The economy is oriented towards mass
consumption;
• Service sector becomes increasingly
dominant;
• Society is now devoted to the pleasures of
consumer choice, the pursuit of security, and
the enjoyments of the arts and leisure;

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