The (Japan-Born) ‘Flying-Geese’ Theory of Economic Development Revisited - and Reformulated from a Structuralist Perspective

Abstract

The Japan-born "flying-geese (FG)" theory of growth has recently gained recognition in academia and popularity in the media. Since Kaname Akamatsu introduced his ideas in a very broad fashion in the 1930s, opportunities abound for further elaboration and application to contemporary development issues. This paper reviews some of his key ideas and presents a reformulation from a new evolutionary structuralist perspective. The oft-used, yet vague, concept of "the ladder of economic development" is defined in terms of a "leading-sector" stages model, a la Schumpeter-and what comes next as a new rung is considered. The enabling mechanisms of structural upgrading are explored, and the dynamics and benefits of an FG formation of aligned countries are stressed. Also, a new stages (FG-theoretic) model of balance-of-payments is introduced to discuss the financial issues of "borrowed growth" and "global (G2) imbalances." The dynamics of structural upgrading and interactive growth via trade and investment within a hierarchy of countries is the essence of these reformulated FG models, which make up what is now increasingly shaped and recognized as "new structural economics."

Economic Cycles, Crises, and the Global Periphery

“…and later China, Thailand, and Malaysia, in which the role of foreign capital and export sector had already become fundamentally different, allowed many Japanese and foreign scientists to expand and modernize Akamatsu's paradigm. They included the factors of FDI and TNC in their analyses and demonstrated in what way the technological and fi nancial transfers promote economic progress in developing countries (Kojima, 2000 ;Ozawa, 1992Ozawa, , 2001Ozawa, , 2005Ozawa, , 2009Ozawa, , 2010Shinohara, 1982 ; see also Ginzburg & Simonazzi, 2005 ;Ito, 2001 ;Korhonen, 1998 ;Kwan, 1994 ;Yamazawa, 1990 ). world and the weakness or strength of "national capital" (Bornschier & Chase-Dunn, 1985 ;Tausch, 2010 ).…”

Multinational Corporations from Emerging Markets

“…The five tiers have been (I) endowment-driven industries (represented by textiles and other light industry goods in labor-abundant countries and by extraction of minerals and fossil fuels in resource-endowed countries), (II) resource-processing industries (steel and basic chemicals), (III) assembly-based industries (mass-produced automobiles), (IV) research and development (R&D)-driven industries (computers and pharmaceuticals), and (V) information technology (IT)-enabled industries (digital telecoms, operating platforms, search engines, and social media) -and (VI) a new emerging tier of green technology (GT)-based industries (energysaving and pollution-abating devices, new cleaner energies [solar, wind, geothermal, etc. ] that foster a healthier living environment [augmented by both public and personal health and medical sciences]) -all in an effort to create a 'green economy' and 'sustainable growth' (Ozawa, 2011).…”

The impact of unequal regional distribution of fiscal resources on China’s post‐reform economic growth

“…To some extent, this policy is in the spirit of the flying geese theory (Akamatsu, 1961(Akamatsu, , 1962. Ozawa (2011) indicated that the third flying geese pattern, the alignment of nations along the different stages of development, has become most popularized and widely accepted among those scholars and journalists who refer to the flying geese theory of economic development. One economy, like the first goose in a V-shaped formation, can lead other economies towards industrialization, passing older technologies down to the followers as its own incomes rise and it moves on to newer technologies.…”