Introduction: Construction of a development model for Bangladesh

Abstract

This introductory chapter reviews several important clusters of economic development theories and then gives a brief picture of the socioeconomic progress Bangladesh has made since its independence. While analyzing the development, however, we see that none of the existing theories can fully explain the ‘Solidarity Economic Development’ phenomenon of Bangladesh where the government, non-government organizations, private sector and households have been playing roles to further the development process. We then critically examine studies that identify factors to explain this situation in terms of the ‘development surprise’ of Bangladesh. The chapter observes that previous studies have missed identifying the impact of ‘other factors,' such as the density of population, the proliferation of quick mass communication technology for accessing and sharing of information, knowledge, and technology at no cost or a low cost, the role of returnee migrants, and the ‘big push’ investment in mega projects. These may all have played an unseen role in the development process at various points of time. The chapter argues that these factors should be brought into the discussion to assess their impact on the explanation of the ‘development surprise’ of Bangladesh. The chapter ends with a brief view of all the chapters included in the book.