Since the 1950s, rapid growth has allowed a significant number of countries to reach middle-income status; yet, very few have made the additional leap needed to become high-income economies. Rather, many developing countries have become caught in what has been called a “middle-income trap”, characterized by a sharp deceleration in growth and in the pace of productivity increases.
China Radio International 2013-01-15 17:38:54 CRIENGLISH.com Web Editor: Chen Cong (Click on WMA - Windows Media Player - podcast available) To reach a middle income level is something…
"The features of East Asia's experience in transitioning from middle- to high-income status provide important lessons for other countries that are attempting to follow suit."
Since the 1950s, rapid growth has allowed a significant number of countries to reach middle-income status; yet, very few have made the additional leap needed to become high-income economies. Rather, many developing countries have become caught in what has been called a middle-income trap, characterized by a sharp deceleration in growth and in the pace of productivity increases. Drawing on the findings of a recently released working paper (Agénor and Canuto 2012), as well as a growing body of research on growth slowdowns, this note provides an analytical characterization of “middleincome traps” as stable, low-growth economic equilibria where talent is misallocated and innovation stagnates. To counteract middle-income traps, there are a number of public policies that governments can pursue, such as improving access to advanced infrastructure, enhancing the protection of property rights, and reforming labor markets to reduce rigidities—all implemented within a context where technological learning and research and development (R&D) are central to enhancing innovation. Such policies not only explain why some economies—particularly in East Asia—were able to avoid the middle-income trap, but are also instructive for other developing countries seeking to move up the income ladder and reach high-income status.
The “middle-income trap” has snared many developing countries: they succeeded in evolving from low per capita income levels, but then appeared to stall, losing momentum along the route toward the higher income levels of advanced economies. Does moving up the income ladder get harder the higher one climbs?
Developing countries are emerging as the new engine of global growth, but this success has led to new challenges that policy makers must overcome if their countries are to continue driving the world economy forward.
While globalization has been a powerful engine of economic growth over the past three decades, it has also posed new problems and challenges, especially for international economic policy coordination. In the past decade, the large and rapid increases in trade, remittances, and international financial flows across borders have been a strong incentive for economic growth, not only in East and South Asia but also in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. And rapid and sustained economic growth in several low- and middle-income economies has been steadily altering the economic weights of different regions in the world economy.
While the rich world puts its house in order, developing countries are becoming a new engine of global growth and a pulling force for advanced economies, says a new book by World Bank economists. According to The Day After Tomorrow: A Handbook on the Future of Economic Policy in the Developing World, almost half of global growth is currently coming from developing countries. As a group, it is projected that their economic size will surpass that of their developed peers in 2015.