Growth pole theory
Topic: Economic Growth Theories and Business Cycles · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Growth pole theory (François Perroux, 1955) says growth does not happen evenly everywhere. It gathers around dynamic industries or centres, called "growth poles". From there, it spreads to the surrounding region through demand for inputs, jobs, services and new technology. Policy can therefore deliberately build such poles to develop a backward area.
Example
India's industrial corridors, such as the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), and its Special Economic Zones (SEZs) follow this idea. Clusters of industry are meant to pull development into the regions around them.
Don't confuse with
- Cumulative causation (Myrdal, 1957): this warns that growing centres often draw resources away from nearby regions (backwash effects) more than they spread benefits, so disparity widens.
Related concepts
- Big push theory
- Balanced growth theory
- Unbalanced growth theory
- Balanced versus unbalanced growth
- Backward and forward linkages
- Low-level equilibrium trap
- Rostow's stages of economic growth
- Cumulative causation