On catch-up and decline

Deepak Nayyar

Does the distinction between developing and industrialised countries go back a long time?

If not, when did the countries and continents, now described as the developing world, end their long period of domination to begin their decline and fall? How far does the economic recovery of developing countries in the world economy, since 1950, represent a catch-up in terms of industrialisation and development? What is the extent of the catch-up in comparison with the past? In addressing these questions, the paper traces the changes in the economic importance of Africa, Asia and Latin America — which are now described as the developing world — compared with western Europe, eastern Europe, North America and Japan — which are now described as the industrialised world — in a longterm historical perspective… It outlines the contours of their catch-up in industrialisation, discernible in the last three decades, to show that much of the catch-up in total output, international trade and industrial production is attributable to about a dozen countries.

It argues that the observed growth, which has been rapid, has often not been transformed into meaningful development because there is an exclusion of countries and of people, which is reflected in a widening gap not only between developing countries and industrialised countries but also between countries in the developing world.



From “Developing Countries in the World Economy: The Future in the Past?”