The history of development economics is as old as that of economics itself, with contri­butions ranging back to the mercantilists, the Physiocrats and the classical economists.

However, the systematic and specialized study of the entire range of problems of less- developed countries (LDCs) did not begin until just after World War II. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a brief overview of the evolution of the field of development economics by viewing this history in terms of four slightly overlapping phases and by drawing some general conclusions. However, given the early roots of the field, it will also provide a brief discussion of some relevant aspects of the contributions of earlier econo­mists. The next section discusses the ideas of the precursors of development economics. The following sections discuss the four phases in the history of development economics. The final section concludes.