Backward advantage

Backward advantage
InitiatorAlexander Gerschenkron[1]
Introduced1952
Backward advantage
Simplified Chinese后发优势
Traditional Chinese後發優勢
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinHòufā yōushì

The backward advantage[2] (simplified Chinese: 后发优势; traditional Chinese: 後發優勢), or the 'advantage of backwardness',[3] also known as latecomer's advantage,[4] is a notion first formulated by the Russian-American economist Alexander Gerschenkron[5] in 1952.[6] However, there is one who argues that it was the American economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen who developed the concept of the "advantage of backwardness" in his essay Imperial Germany and the Industrial Revolution, which was published in 1915. [7]

The backward advantage implies that a still-developing country can take advantage of the technology/industry gap with a developed country by implementing a new technology or venturing into an industry that is new to its economy but mature in the developed country. In this case, the innovative costs for still-developing countries will be significantly lower than for developed countries that need to invent or innovate.[8] But when still-developing countries reach a higher stage of development, and when the cost of production factors gradually rises, upgrades are necessary to cope with the rise. Otherwise, these countries will fall into the middle income trap.[9]

Starting from around 2000, economists Yang Xiaokai and Lin Yifu had a famous academic debate about "backward disadvantage" and "backward advantage", [10] and their debate was essentially about whether the economic development of late-developing countries should take the path of institutional imitation or technological imitation.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ Angang Hu (1 February 2018). China's Road and China's Dream: An Analysis of the Chinese Political Decision-Making Process Through the National Party Congress. Springer. pp. 149–. ISBN 978-981-10-7422-6.
  2. ^ Fang Cai (25 February 2010). The China Population and Labor Yearbook, Volume 2: The Sustainability of Economic Growth from the Perspective of Human Resources. Brill Publishers. pp. 151–. ISBN 978-90-474-2699-8.
  3. ^ Prema-chandra Athukorala (12 July 2010). The Rise of Asia: Trade and Investment in Global Perspective. Routledge. pp. 202–. ISBN 978-1-136-95903-5.
  4. ^ József Böröcz (10 September 2009). The European Union and Global Social Change: A Critical Geopolitical-Economic Analysis. Routledge. pp. 100–. ISBN 978-1-135-25580-0.
  5. ^ Mari Lending (5 December 2017). Plaster Monuments: Architecture and the Power of Reproduction. Princeton University Press. pp. 46–. ISBN 978-0-691-17714-4.
  6. ^ Marcel Timmer (2000). The Dynamics of Asian Manufacturing: A Comparative Perspective in the Late Twentieth Century. Edward Elgar. pp. 12–. ISBN 978-1-84064-231-5.
  7. ^ "'The Fly Swatter' - The New York Times". The New York Times. Jul 14, 2002.
  8. ^ Justin Yifu Lin and Volker Treichel (May 5, 2014). "Making industrial policy work for development - ILO" (PDF). International Labour Organization.
  9. ^ "Exorcising the spectre of slow growth". The Borneo Post. April 26, 2015.
  10. ^ Guo Yanru (1 June 2008). Changes in State Organization in Economic History: The Ming and Qing Dynasties as Examples. China Financial and Economic Press. pp. 26–. ISBN 978-7-5095-0728-5.
  11. ^ Lin Lefen (21 January 2018). Development Economics. Sonbook Publishing Industry Company Limited. pp. 657–. ISBN 978-986-492-705-0.