Economic growth : a unified approach / Olivier de La Grandville ; with two special contributions by Robert M. Solow.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 351-355) and index.

Introduction; Part I. Positive Growth Theory: 1. The welfare of society and economic growth; 2. The growth process; 3. A production function of central importance; 4. The CES production function as a general mean (in collaboration with Robert M. Solow); 5. Capital-labour substitution and economic growth (in collaboration with Robert M. Solow); 6. The long-term growth rate as a random variable, with an application to the U.S. Economy; Part II. Optimal Growth Theory: 7. Optimal growth theory: an introduction to the calculus of variations; 8. Other major tools for optimal growth theory: the Pontryagin Maximum Principle and the Dorfmanian; 9. First applications to optimal growth; 10. Optimal growth and the optimal savings rate; Part III. A Unified Approach: 11. Preliminaries: interest rates and capital valuation; 12. From arbitrage to equilibrium; 13. Optimal savings: a general approach; 14. Problems in growth: common traits between planned economies and poor countries; 15. From Ibn Khaldun to Adam Smith, and a proof of Smith's conjecture; 16. In conclusion: on the convergence of ideas and values through civilizations; Further readings, and data on growth; Index.

How can society improve its living standards? What are the conditions necessary for prosperity? These are the questions that define the essence of growth theory. In this user-friendly book, Olivier de la Grandville provides a fascinating introduction to the theory of economic growth.