Author: Canaan Bridges Consulting Inc.
What pathways to development are best for developing countries? By far, the experiences of developing economies are not homogeneous. To avoid the trap of the development paradox – making domestic changes to foster welfare goals, but development remains elusive- a contextual lens is better suited for policy directives in developing countries.
The rapidly changing global economic landscape, wars in the Middle East and Europe, technological evolution, environmental challenges and cultural displacements are a few challenges that any development path has to navigate. By far, the experiences of developing economies are not homogeneous. To avoid the trap of the development paradox – making domestic changes to foster welfare goals but achieving no growth- a contextual lens is better suited to policy directives in developing countries.
Although there is no consensus on the definition of development, the ontologies of development change over time: the concepts, narratives and norms used to frame and inform (and even constrain) our understanding of development and the shape it will take evolve.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) specify benchmarks and targets for development within and across nations. The SDGs are universally recognized as what the results of progression in economies should be (this includes zero hunger, industrialization and innovation, reduction in income equality between countries and the sustainable use of marine resources). As such, the SDGs help frame the “how,” “when,” “where,” and “what” that are central to the many dimensions of development policy choices. Developing countries’ economies are heterogeneous: differences in economic, cultural, and political characteristics impact their economies in varied and often dissimilar ways across regions and even within regions.
Notwithstanding the universal relevance of the SDGs, development policy—in particular, the how, where, and through what mechanisms to achieve the SDGs—needs to be contextually relevant to each country’s peculiarities. For example, the means and processes that lead to sustainable innovation and industrialization in economies may differ. This also holds for small, vulnerable economies. Institutions, entrepreneurs and consumers in Economy X may respond differently to the same economic shocks experienced by stakeholders in Economy Y. Efforts to revitalize traditional industries, such as tourism and the agricultural sector, leverage the creative industries or the blue economy, or foster advanced manufacturing as an aspect of domestic growth, are likely to be substantially short of expected returns without regard for the domestic realities (and endogenous variables) of the economy.
Focusing on the domestic enablers of development is more likely to address and redress the barriers to sustainable growth in developing countries.
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