Four stylised facts of aggregate economic growth are set up initially. The growth process is interpreted to represent transitional dynamics rather than balanced-growth equilibria. Against this background, the fundamental importance of subsistence consumption is comprehensively analysed. Subsequently, the meaning of the productive-consumption hypothesis for the intertemporal consumption trade-off and the growth process is investigated. Finally, the process of growth is analysed empirically by means of cross-sectional conditional convergence regressions with endogenous control variables.

Introduction.- Preliminaries.- Stylised facts of aggregate growth in developing countries.- Development economics and growth theory.- Methodological foundations.- Economic growth with subsistence consumption.- Introduction.- The subsistence level of consumption.- A linear growth model with subsistence consumption.- Extensions of the basic linear growth model.- Summary and conclusion.- Appendix.- Productive consumption and growth in developing countries.- Introduction.- Productive consumption: an overview.- The importance of productive consumption for growth.- Summary and conclusion.- Appendix.- Transitional dynamics with endogenous control variables.- Introduction.- The convergence debate: a selective overview.- Cross-sectional convergence analysis.- Summary and conclusion.- Summary and conclusion.