J.S.L. McCombie is a Fellow in Economics at Downing College, Cambridge, UK. A.P. Thirlwall is Professor of Applied Economics at the University of Kent, UK. He has been an advisor to various government departments, and a consultant to many international development organisations.

• 1. Introduction Part One: Theory 2. The Balance of Payments Constraint as an Explanation of International Growth Rate Differences A. P. Thirlwall 3. The Balance of Payments Constraint, Capital Flows and Growth Rate Differences Between Developing Countries A. P. Thirlwall and M. Nureldin-Hussain 4. Economic Growth, the Harrod Foreign Trade Multiplier and the Hicks' Super-Multiplier John McCombie 5. Economic Growth, Trade Interlinkages and the Balance of Payments Constraint John McCombie 6. International Competitiveness, Relative Wages and the Balance of Payments Constraint R. Blecker 7. The Stability of Thirlwall's Model of Economic Growth and the Balance of Payments Constraint M. Pugno 8. The Balance of Payments Constraint: from Balanced Trade to Sustainable Debt N. Barbosa-Filho Part Two: Developed Countries 9. On the Empirics of Balance of Payments Constrained Growth John McCombie 10. The 45-Degree Rule Revisited P. Anderson 11. A New Approach to Balance of Payments Constraint: Some Empirical Evidence J. A. Alonso 12. An Application of Thirlwall's Law to the Spanish Economy M. Leon-Ledesma Part Three: Developing Countries 13. Balance of Payments Constrained Growth and Developing Countries: an Examination of Thirlwall's Hypothesis J. Perraton 14. The Balance of Payments Constraint and Growth Rate Differences Between African and East Asian Economies M. Nureldin Hussain 15. The Chronicle of Growth in Southeast Asian Countries: Does Thirlwall's Law Provide an Adequate Explanation? N. Ansari, H. Hashemzadeh and Y. Xi 16. Thirlwall's Law and Beyond: the Latin American Experience J. Lopez and A. Cruz 17. Balance of Payments Constrained Growth in Central America: 1950-96 J. C. Moreno Brid and E. Perez 18. Balance of Payments Constrained Growth: the Case of Mexico J. C. Moreno Brid 19. A Generalised Version of the Balance of Payments Constrained Growth Model: An Application to Neighbouring Regions K. Nell