This Collaborative Paper is one of a series embodying the outcome of a workshop and conference on Economic Structural Change: Analytical Issues, held at IIASA in July and August 1983. The conference and workshop formed part of the continuing IIASA program on Patterns of Economic Structural Change and Industrial Adjustment.
Structural change was interpreted very broadly: the topics covered included the nature and causes of changes in different sectors of the world economy, the relationship between international markets and national economies, and issues of organization and incentives in large economic systems.
There is a general consensus that important economic structural changes are occurring in the world economy. There are, however, several alternative approaches to measuring these changes, to modeling the process, and to devising appropriate responses in terms of policy measures and institutional redesign. Other interesting questions concern the role of the international economic system in transmitting such changes, and the merits of alternative modes of economic organization in responding to structural change. All of these issues were addressed by participants in the workshop and conference, and will be the focus of the continuation of the research program's work