TY  - JOUR
AU  - Wang,Zhi
AU  - Wei,Shang-Jin
AU  - Wong,Anna
TI  - Does a Leapfrogging Growth Strategy Raise Growth Rate? Some International Evidence
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 16390
PY  - 2010
Y2  - September 2010
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w16390
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w16390.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Zhi Wang
Research Division
Office of Economics
US International Trade Commission
500 E Street SW
Washington, DC 20436
E-Mail: zhi.wang@usitc.gov

Shang-Jin Wei
Graduate School of Business
Columbia University
Uris Hall 619
3022 Broadway
New York, NY 10027-6902
Tel: 212/854-9139
E-Mail: shangjin.wei@columbia.edu

Anna Wong
Department of Economics
University of Chicago
E-Mail: annawyw@uchicago.edu
AB  - While openness to trade is a well-recognized hallmark of many successful emerging market economies known as “growth miracles,” another component of the growth model is a leapfrogging strategy – the use of policies to guide the industrial structural transformation ahead of a country's factor endowment. Does the leapfrogging strategy work? Opinions vary but the evidence is scarce in part because it is more difficult to measure the degree of leapfrogging than the extent of trade openness. We undertake a systematic look at the evidence across countries to assess the efficacy of such a strategy. So far, there is no strong and robust evidence that this strategy works reliably. Future research can explore a number of refinements.
ER  -