IntroductionV

　　The “New Structural Economics” presented in this book is an attempt

　　to set out this third wave of development thinking. Taking into account the

　　lessons learned from the growth successes and failures of the last decades,

　　it advances a neoclassical approach to study the determinants and dynamics

　　of economic structure. It postulates that the economic structure of an

　　economy is endogenous to its factor endowment structure and that sustained

　　economic development is driven by changes in factor endowments

　　and continuous technological innovation.

　　The factor endowments in a country are given at any specifi c time and

　　changeable over time. A country’s comparative advantages and thus its

　　optimal industrial structure are determined by its factor endowments.

　　Upgrading the industrial structure in a given country requires the upgrading

　　of the factor endowment structure from one that is relatively abundant

　　in labor and natural resources to one that is relatively abundant in capital,

　　the introduction of new technologies, and the corresponding improvement

　　in infrastructure to facilitate economic operations. The new structural

　　economics argues that the best way to upgrade a country’s endowment

　　structure is to develop its industries at any specifi c time according to the

　　comparative advantages determined by its given endowment structure

　　at that time. The economy will be most competitive, the economic surplus

　　will be the largest, and the capital accumulation and the upgrading

　　of factor endowment structure will be the fastest possible. For the private

　　enterprises in a country to enter industries according to the country’s

　　comparative advantages, relative factor prices must fully refl ect the relative

　　abundance of those factors, and those prices can be determined only

　　through competition in a well-functioning market. Therefore, the market

　　should be the basic institution of the economy.

　　For the introduction of new technologies, developing countries can turn

　　their backwardness into an advantage by borrowing or adapting technologies

　　that have already matured in richer economies. In contrast, advanced

　　economies must produce at the global technology frontier and have to

　　invest continuously in new R&D to achieve technological innovation.

　　Hence developing countries have the potential to achieve a rate of technological

　　innovation several times higher than that of advanced countries.

本文摘自《新结构经济学》

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　　 Economic development is a process of continuous technological innovation and structural transformation. Development thinking is inherently tied to the quest for sustainable growth strategies. This book provides a neoclassical approach for studying the determinants of economic structure and its transformation and draws new insights for development policy. The market is the basic mechanism for effective resource allocation at each level of development. However, economic development as a dynamic process entails structural changes, including industrial upgrading and diversification and corresponding improvements in hard and soft infrastructure. Such upgrading and improvements require coordination and go hand in hand with large externalities to firms transaction costs and returns to capital investment. Thus, in addition to an effective market mechanism, the government should play an active role in facilitating structural changes. The book provides empirical evidence in support of this framework as well as concrete advice to development practitioners.