Description

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Avoiding the "middle-income trap" has become a major topic in the economic literature and a key concern for policy makers, even though a precise definition of it and empirical evidence for it remain elusive. The basic argument is that growth in high-income countries differs qualitatively from that of middle-income countries, and hence requires different factor endowments, industrial structures, and policies. Increased capacity to innovate and economic reforms are seen as vital to support higher value-added production. Since achievement of high-income status is a key goal of many policy makers, understanding the factors that hinder or support this transition becomes important. This volume presents recent research related to the middle-income trap, with a focus on the experience of the People's Republic of China, whose policy makers show great interest in the question.

About the Author

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Naoyuki Yoshino is dean of the Asian Development Bank Institute.Peter J. Morgan is senior consulting economist and co-chair, Research, at the Asian Development Bank Institute.Guanghua Wan is principal economist of the Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department at the Asian Development Bank.Bihong Huang is a research fellow at the Asian Development Bank Institute.