Structural Transformation Paths Across Countries

Bah, El-hadj M.

doi:10.2753/ree1540-496x4703s201

Cited by 54 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…A renewed interest in the relationship between structural change and development has recently been emerging, particularly at a time when deindustrialization is occurring at low levels of per capita income in developing countries. This is unlike the path that has historically characterized developed countries (Bah, ; Di Meglio, ; Rodrik, ). Concerns of a premature deindustrialization of developing countries (Dasgupta and Singh, , ; Felipe et al., ; Palma, ; Rodrik, ) are consistent with a revamped debate on the role of industrial policy (Stiglitz and Lin, ; Storm, ) and the recent plea for countries to ‘reindustrialize’ (Ciarli and Di Maio, ; Tregenna, ; Westkämper, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…The structure of an economy matters for growth performance and development since sectors have different capabilities to achieve and to induce productivity gains, and to benefit from domestic and foreign demand growth (Cimoli et al., ; Thirlwall, ). Processes of structural transformation have been heterogeneous both across and within developing countries (Bah, ), leading to different contributions to economic performance (McMillan and Rodrik, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Services in Developing Economies: The Deindustrialization Debate in Perspective

Meglio¹,

Gallego²,

Maroto³

et al. 2018

Development and Change

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This study contributes to the debate on the premature deindustrialization of developing countries by analysing the contribution of services to aggregate productivity and output growth within a Kaldorian framework. The article revisits Kaldor's Growth Laws and empirically tests them for a number of economic activities, including four service branches across 29 developing economies in Asia, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa over three decades . Panel data estimations are complemented by a shiftshare decomposition of labour productivity growth. The findings support the Kaldorian argument for both manufacturing and business services' contribution to aggregate productivity growth. Conversely, other services slow down aggregate productivity and output growth. The authors suggest qualifying and repositioning the debate on premature deindustrialization within a broader reflection on the opportunities for development linked to structural change. The analysis claims that these opportunities might include not only manufacturing sectors, but also business services.1. See Romero (2016) for a review.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Services in Developing Economies: The Deindustrialization Debate in Perspective

Meglio¹,

Gallego²,

Maroto³

et al. 2018

Development and Change

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“…Thus, policies aimed at enhancing the spread of adoption and use of technology and quality education of indigenes offers a potent approach towards transformation. From the empirical perspective, studies such as Bah (), Timmer et al . (), Duarte and Restuccia (), McMillan and Rodrik (), and Dabla‐Norris et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Drives Structural Transformation in Sub‐Saharan Africa?

Mensah¹,

Adu²,

Amoah³

et al. 2016

African Development Review

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This paper provides an empirical assessment of the driving forces behind structural transformation in sub-Saharan Africa, and to further access the role of structural reforms in accounting for cross-country differences in transformation. Evidence from this paper reveals that country specific fundamentals, institutions and policy reforms as well as governance and fiscal reforms are the key drivers of transformation in the region. A set of policy strategies is proposed to engender sustained transformation and development in the region. Ã Justice Tei Mensah (corresponding author), 157This paper seeks answers to three policy relevant questions: (1) What are the key drivers of transformation in SSA? (2) What role has the myriad of structural reforms implemented in the region played in spurring the process of transformation across economies in SSA? (3) What is the way forward for policy aimed at economic transformation?The paper makes important contributions to the literature on structural transformation in the sub-Saharan African region. First, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that provides empirical estimates on the determinants of structural transformation in SSA, with particular reference to the 21 countries included in the African Transformation Report which has become the blueprint of transformation in the region. Second, as part of our search for the drivers of structural transformation in SSA, we examine the impact of policy reformsthat were specifically directed at restructuring the economies of SSA to promote sustainable economic growthon economic transformation. The rate of success of different reform programs in transforming the economies of SSA is an important factor in the design of future reform policies.The literature on structural transformation is relatively scanty but growing. Studies in this area mainly have their theoretical underpinnings on the works of Kuznets (1955) which describe structural transformation as often associated with the canonical shift in the economic structure as a country transitions from developing to a developed economy. Also, the new growth theories spearheaded by Schumpeter (1934), Solow (1957), Grossman and Helpman (1991), Romer (1990), Aghion and Howitt (2009) offers good exposition on the drivers of transformation and growth. These studies unequivocally assert physical and human capital (see Romer, 1990), and technological change and innovations (Schumpeter, 1934) as key drivers of transition from developing to a developed economy (i.e. economic growth). For instance, Christiaensen et al. (2006) and Diao et al. (2007) assert that technology, rapid accumulation of human and physical capital, and the roles of market, institutions, and governments are key drivers of transformation. Thus, policies aimed at enhancing the spread of adoption and use of technology and quality education of indigenes offers a potent approach towards transformation. From the empirical perspective, studies such as Bah (2011), Timmer et al. (2012), Duarte and Restuccia (2010), McM...

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“…Looking at sectoral employment shares, Bah (2008) documents that the process of structural transformation in many developing countries also looks different than the historical experiences of current rich countries. published by the International Labor Organization (ILO).…”

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confidence: 99%

Growth and Structural Transformation

Herrendorf

Rogerson

Valentinyi

2013

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Structural transformation refers to the reallocation of economic activity across the broad sectors agriculture, manufacturing and services. This review article synthesizes and evaluates recent advances in the research on structural transformation. We begin by presenting the stylized facts of structural transformation across time and space. We then develop a multi-sector extension of the one-sector growth model that encompasses the main existing theories of structural transformation. We argue that this multi-sector model serves as a natural benchmark to study structural transformation and that it is able to account for many salient features of structural transformation. We also argue that this multi-sector model delivers new and sharper insights for understanding economic development, regional income convergence, aggregate productivity trends, hours worked, business cycles, and wage inequality. We conclude by suggesting several directions for future research on structural transformation.

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Structural Transformation Paths Across Countries

Cited by 54 publications

References 11 publications

Services in Developing Economies: The Deindustrialization Debate in Perspective

Services in Developing Economies: The Deindustrialization Debate in Perspective

What Drives Structural Transformation in Sub‐Saharan Africa?

Growth and Structural Transformation

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