The theory of development economics changed signifcantly from the first attempts of defining the concepts in the 50s until nowadays. The contributions to the development theory are at the same time closely related to the historical context of the underdeveloped and developing countries. This paper tries to facilitate the understanding of the way development economics evolved, by presenting the main contributions to the theory. The research methodology used in this study is analytical, based on the gatherinf of the information, its organisation in a logical way, the presentation and analysis of the most significant ones, and finally the drawing of relevant conclusions. The main findings of this paper are that after five decades of strong ideas and recipes of economic development we have reached a point of uncertainty regarding what is beneficial or harmful for the nations' economic development.

Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification: O10.