Submitted by D.M. Bradley on Wed, 03/03/2021 - 15:59
Mateus Labrunie has collaborated on an article for the European Journal of Development Research with Antonio Andreoni and Dr Ha-Joon Chang on the challenges and opportunities of the 'Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)' for developing countries. Their research revealed that 4IR technologies have a long history, and what is really revolutionary about them is their 'technological fusion' potential. As such, developing countries should focus on developing their 'foundational capabilities' before they can think of leapfrogging strategies. Once a certain capability level is achieved, several leapfrogging opportunities open up. They highlight them through detailed evidence of applications of 4IR in several productive sectors. Finally, they discuss what this means for industrial policy designs in developing countries.