Problems of Economic Research in Third World Countries

This article explores the main obstacles facing economic research in Third World countries. It argues that research is vital for development policy, yet remains constrained by weak institutional links between universities and society, limited access to documentation, imported intellectual frameworks, and teaching practices that leave little room for autonomous inquiry. The paper also criticizes approaches to underdevelopment that rely on inadequate indicators or external models disconnected from local realities. It calls for more historically grounded, socially informed, and intellectually independent economic research capable of defining national development strategies.