From Primary Commodity Dependence to Diversificationand Growth

From Resource Dependence to Growth
The continuous capital accumulation process in East
Asian countries between the 1960s and 1990s has gone
hand in hand with a spectacular economic growth, an
equally impressive poverty reduction and a
significant technological catch up. Over the same
period, Sub-Saharan Africa has been falling further
behind the rest of the world in terms of both
technology adoption and per capita income. Parallel
to this difference between Asia's economic take-off
and Africa's stagnation, an astounding difference
could be observed between the dramatic change in the
export composition of Asian countries and the
constant reliance on the export of raw materials for
most African countries. The author attributes this
difference to the absorptive capacity.

This book examines the mechanisms by which absorptive
capacity, as a prerequisite for change in export
composition, can explain the transition from the
reliance on primary commodity to a diversified
export. The growth experiences of Mauritius and
Botswana are used for illustration.

Autorentext

Alexis Habiyaremye is a PhD researcher in the Economics andPolicy of Technical Change at the UNU-MERIT in Maastricht, TheNetherlands. Before joining the United Nations University,heworked as a lecturer at Maastricht University, teaching variousgraduate and undergraduate courses.

Klappentext

From Resource Dependence to GrowthThe continuous capital accumulation process in EastAsian countries between the 1960s and 1990s has gonehand in hand with a spectacular economic growth, anequally impressive poverty reduction and asignificant technological catch up. Over the sameperiod, Sub-Saharan Africa has been falling furtherbehind the rest of the world in terms of bothtechnology adoption and per capita income. Parallelto this difference between Asia's economic take-offand Africa's stagnation, an astounding differencecould be observed between the dramatic change in theexport composition of Asian countries and theconstant reliance on the export of raw materials formost African countries. The author attributes thisdifference to the absorptive capacity.This book examines the mechanisms by which absorptivecapacity, as a prerequisite for change in exportcomposition, can explain the transition from thereliance on primary commodity to a diversifiedexport. The growth experiences of Mauritius andBotswana are used for illustration.