Introduction

Abstract

The developing or underdeveloped countries, or the Third World, include most of the world’s population and cover the larger part of the earth’s surface but enjoy only a fraction of its wealth. Millions die from preventable disease or starvation, while many of those who survive remain malnourished and illiterate for the rest of their lives. Even in the countries which have been able to make progress large minorities still languish in absolute poverty (Ahluwalia and Carter, 1981). The rest are caught in an underdevelopment trap from which there seems little chance of escaping.