Title_ Structural Change: Is South Korea a Good Model for Developing Countries?

Author_ Richard Grabowski

Pages 19-29

Abstract_ South Korea’s structural change process seems to have been the result of an unbalanced growth strategy in which the agricultural sector was basically ignored for several decades while investment was focused on manufacturing. It has been argued by some scholars that for many of today’s developing countries this sort of development strategy is likely to be successful. However, it is argued in this paper that the early success of this unbalanced approach based on manufacturing rather than agriculture is not a good model for others to follow. Specifically, commodity aid (food and raw materials) was critical for South Korea’s unbalanced growth strategy. Without access to such significant amounts of aid most developing countries are unlikely to achieve successful structural transformation. As a result, agriculture must play a key role in the structural change process in many of today’s developing countries.

Keywords_ Structural change, South Korea, Unbalanced growth, Agriculture