Education and the Journey to the Core: Path-dependence or Leapfrogging?
Mehta, Aashish; Felipe, Jesus | March 2014
Abstract
We use changes in indices of revealed comparative advantage to study whether export diversification is path-dependent (i.e., history matters), and whether it is more difficult to diversify into more sophisticated products; and whether education helps reduce path-dependence, or to develop comparative advantage in sophisticated products. We find that the development of comparative advantage is a path-dependent process—stepping stones products must usually be developed to approach new products. Second, there is strong evidence consistent with the view that education helps reduce this path dependence by facilitating more rapid incremental movement across the stepping stones of industrial development. Results also indicate that education quality matters more than education quantity, and that high-quality basic education matters for export diversification. Finally, leapfrogging into complex products is very unlikely.
Citation
Mehta, Aashish; Felipe, Jesus. 2014. Education and the Journey to the Core: Path-dependence or Leapfrogging?. © Asian Development Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/11540/1974. License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.ISSN
1655-5252
Keywords
Levels Of Education
Foreign Trade Policy
Trade Negotiations
Economics of education
Economic integration
Trade data interchange
Educational innovations
Global trade
Mass media and business
Show allCollapse
Citable URI
http://hdl.handle.net/11540/1974Metadata
Show full item recordUsers also downloaded
-
Accountability Mechanism: Listening to Communities Affected by ADB-Assisted Projects and Enhancing Development Effectiveness
Asian Development Bank (Asian Development Bank, 2009-03-15)In May 2003, ADB approved a new accountability mechanism to replace the previous Inspection Function. The mechanism was established to provide better access for people adversely affected by ADBassisted projects to voice and seek solutions to their problems and also report alleged violations of ADB’s operational policies and procedures. Establishment of the mechanism is also an effort to enhance ADB’s ...In May 2003, ADB approved a new accountability mechanism to replace the previous Inspection Function. The mechanism was established to provide better access for people adversely affected by ADBassisted projects to voice and seek solutions to their ... -
Managing Reforms for Development: Political Economy of Reforms and Policy-Based Lending Case Studies
Abonyi, George; Bernardo, Romeo; Bolt, Richard; Duncan, Ronald; Tang, Christine (Asian Development Bank, 2013-01-01)The book’s intended readers are development practitioners involved in the policy reform process. It aims to help them understand political economy factors that shape actual outcomes, and to simplify the complexities of policy reform. Successful reform has to resolve two separate and conflicting dimensions: people and time. Reforms, by their very nature, challenge the status quo, often threatening ...The book’s intended readers are development practitioners involved in the policy reform process. It aims to help them understand political economy factors that shape actual outcomes, and to simplify the complexities of policy reform. Successful reform ... -
Multilateralizing Asian Regionalism
Baldwin, Richard; Kawai, Masahiro (Asian Development Bank Institute, 2013-08-15)Motivated by the proliferation of free trade agreements (FTAs) in Asia over the last decade, this paper studies the challenges faced by the Asian “noodle bowl”—overlapping, multiple trade rules, regulations, and standards in Asia—in the process of regional and global trade integration. The paper first highlights the importance of trade and investment linkages among Asian economies that have formed ...Motivated by the proliferation of free trade agreements (FTAs) in Asia over the last decade, this paper studies the challenges faced by the Asian “noodle bowl”—overlapping, multiple trade rules, regulations, and standards in Asia—in the process of ...