Immiserizing growth is a theoretical situation first proposed by

Jagdish Bhagwati Jagdish Natwarlal Bhagwati (born July 26, 1934) is an Indian-born naturalized American economist and one of the most influential trade theorists of his generation. He is a University Professor of economics and law at Columbia University and a Seni ...

, in 1958, where economic growth could result in a country being worse off than before the growth. If growth is heavily

export An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...

based it might lead to a fall in the

terms of trade The terms of trade (TOT) is the relative price of exports in terms of imports and is defined as the ratio of export prices to import prices. It can be interpreted as the amount of import goods an economy can purchase per unit of export goods. An ...

of the exporting country. In rare circumstances this fall in the terms of trade may be so large as to outweigh the gains from growth. If so, this situation would cause a country to be worse off after growth than before. This result is only valid if the growing country is able to influence world prices. Harry G. Johnson had, independently, worked out conditions for this result in 1955.Johnson, Harry G. 1955. "Economic Expansion and International Trade," Manchester School 23, pp. 95-112

References

Economic growth Paradoxes in economics {{econ-stub