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How rich countries became rich and why poor countries remain poor: It's the economic structure…duh!

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  • Felipe, Jesus
  • Kumar, Utsav
  • Abdon, Arnelyn

Abstract

Becoming a rich country requires being able to produce and export commodities that embody certain characteristics. We classify 779 commodities (exported) according to two dimensions: (1) sophistication (measured by the income content of the products exported) and (2) connectivity to other products (measured by how easy it is to ‘jump’ into other potential exports). We identify 88 “good” products (highly sophisticated and well connected products), 93 “bad” products (unsophisticated and poorly connected products), and 598 “middle” products. Then, we categorize 154 countries into four groups according to the export share of each of these three types of products. There are 21 countries whose export baskets contain at least 15% of “good” products; 41 countries with a significant share of relatively sophisticated and well connected products; 50 countries with a significant share of relatively unsophisticated and not well connected products; and 42 countries whose export basket contains at least 15% of “bad” products.

Suggested Citation

  • Felipe, Jesus & Kumar, Utsav & Abdon, Arnelyn, 2014. "How rich countries became rich and why poor countries remain poor: It's the economic structure…duh!," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 46-58.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:japwor:v:29:y:2014:i:c:p:46-58
    DOI: 10.1016/j.japwor.2013.11.004
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Ridha Nouira & Sami Saafi, 2022. "What Drives the Relationship Between Export Upgrading and Growth? The Role of Human Capital, Institutional Quality, and Economic Development," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(3), pages 1944-1961, September.
    3. Naima Chrid & Sami Saafi & Mohamed Chakroun, 2021. "Export Upgrading and Economic Growth: a Panel Cointegration and Causality Analysis," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 12(2), pages 811-841, June.
    4. Mohamed Chakroun & Naima Chrid & Sami Saafi, 2021. "Does export upgrading really matter to economic growth? Evidence from panel data for high‐, middle‐ and low‐income countries," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 5584-5609, October.
    5. Guan, Shu & Cheng, Liwei, 2020. "Does product complexity matter for firms' TFP?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    6. Vivarelli, Marco, 2018. "Globalisation, structural change and innovation in emerging economies: The impact on employment and skills," MERIT Working Papers 2018-037, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    7. Jung-In Yeon & Sojung Hwang & Bogang Jun, 2022. "The spillover effect of neighboring port on regional industrial diversification and regional economic resilience," Papers 2204.00189, arXiv.org.
    8. Sadeghi, Pegah & Shahrestani, Hamid & Kiani, Kambiz Hojabr & Torabi, Taghi, 2020. "Economic complexity, human capital, and FDI attraction: A cross country analysis," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 168-182.
    9. Evžen Kočenda & Karen Poghosyan, 2018. "Export Sophistication: A Dynamic Panel Data Approach," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(12), pages 2799-2814, September.
    10. Kuroiwa, Ikuo, 2015. "Industrial deepening in East Asia," IDE Discussion Papers 489, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    11. Andriansyah & Asep Nurwanda & Bakhtiar Rifai, 2023. "Structural Change and Regional Economic Growth in Indonesia," Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(1), pages 91-117, January.
    12. Shujin Zhu & Renyu Li, 2017. "Economic complexity, human capital and economic growth: empirical research based on cross-country panel data," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(38), pages 3815-3828, August.
    13. Evzen Kocenda & Karen Poghosyan, 2017. "Export sophistication: A dynamic panel data approach," Working Papers 980, Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bad product; Good product; Proximity; Sophistication; Structural transformation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • O25 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Industrial Policy
    • O57 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries

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