New Structural Economics : A Framework for Rethinking Development

Lin, Justin Yifu

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ACCESS TO INFORMATION;    AGRICULTURE;    AMOUNT OF CAPITAL;    ARBITRAGE;    BANK ACCOUNT;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-5197
RP-ID  :  WPS5197

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

As strategies for achieving sustainablegrowth in developing countries are re-examined in light ofthe financial crisis, it is critical to take into accountstructural change and its corollary, industrial upgrading.Economic literature has devoted a great deal of attention tothe analysis of technological innovation, but not enough tothese equally important issues. The new structural economicsoutlined in this paper suggests a framework to complementprevious approaches in the search for sustainable growthstrategies. It takes the following into consideration:First, an economy's structure of factor endowmentsevolves from one stage of development to another. Therefore,the optimal industrial structure of a given economy will bedifferent at different stages of development. Eachindustrial structure requires corresponding infrastructure(both "hard" and "soft") to facilitateits operations and transactions. Second, each stage ofeconomic development is a point along the continuum from alow-income agrarian economy to a high-income industrializedeconomy, not a dichotomy of two economic development stages("poor" versus "rich" or"developing" versus "industrialized").Industrial upgrading and infrastructure improvement targetsin developing countries should not necessarily draw fromthose that exist in high-income countries. Third, at eachgiven stage of development, the market is the basicmechanism for effective resource allocation. However,economic development as a dynamic process requiresindustrial upgrading and corresponding improvements in"hard" and "soft" infrastructure at eachstage. Such upgrading entails large externalities tofirms' transaction costs and returns to capitalinvestment. Thus, in addition to an effective marketmechanism, the government should play an active role infacilitating industrial upgrading and infrastructure improvements.