The Middle-Income Trap: Definitions, Theories and Countries Concerned—A Literature Survey

The term middle-income trap (MIT) usually refers to countries that have experienced rapid growth and thus quickly reached middle-income status, but then failed to overcome that income range to further catch up to the developed countries. This paper surveys the MIT literature. It begins by laying out...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Comparative economic studies 2016-12, Vol.58 (4), p.507-538
Main Authors: Glawe, Linda, Wagner, Helmut
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Developed countries
Economic development
Economic growth
Economic models
Economics
Economics and Finance
Income
International Economics
Middle income
Political Economy/Economic Systems
Polls & surveys
Survey Article
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The term middle-income trap (MIT) usually refers to countries that have experienced rapid growth and thus quickly reached middle-income status, but then failed to overcome that income range to further catch up to the developed countries. This paper surveys the MIT literature. It begins by laying out different approaches to defining the MIT and by presenting as well as classifying the most important empirical studies. After a short overview of the currently identified MIT countries, the article summarizes the main explanatory approaches, taking into account both the theoretical foundations and the empirically identified triggering factors.
ISSN:0888-7233
1478-3320
DOI:10.1057/s41294-016-0014-0