Book Talk : Innovation–Development Detours for Latecomers

CRIS-IS.ORG in association with ASSIST (UK) and University of Malaya North South Research Center (UoMNSRC is organising a panel discussion on the book Innovation–Development Detours for Latecomers

Managing Global-Local Interfaces in the De-Globalization Era (2024). 

by

Keun Lee

The event is scheduled for THURSDAY 14 March at 12.00 PM GMT 

12.00 pm UK | 1.00 pm Copenhagen | 3.00 pm Addis | 9.00 pm Seoul | 11.00 pm Canberra | 5.30 pm India | 11 pm Canberra

Proposed structure: 

90 minutes online 

- Rajesh GK (Moderator) introduces the book and the speakers (5 mins) 

- Keun Lee present the book (25 mins)

- Bengt-Åke Lundvall & Arkebe Oqubay  discuss the book (25-30 mins) 

-  Keun Lee respond (10 mins) 

- Open discussion (20-25 mins)  

Book Abstract 

Many developing countries still face difficulties initiating and sustaining economic development. Such difficulties have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in an increasing divergence between rich and poor countries. One crucial question is whether to follow the trajectories of present-day rich countries or seek out different, new trajectories. Although this is a fundamental question, scholars offering mainstream prescriptions have not sufficiently explored it. Drawing on extensive empirical studies of firms and industries, Innovation and Development Detours for Latecomers proposes an effective alternative to prevailing development thinking. It presents a rich menu of development pathways, including a new role for Schumpeterian states whereby they do not follow the paths of technological development already taken by advanced countries. Rather, they can skip certain stages and even create their own detours thereby leapfrogging advanced countries in both manufacturing and service sectors. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Biographical notes

Keun LEE (李根) is Distinguished Professor, Economics dept, Seoul National University, and Head of the Center for Comparative Economic Studies. He is a Fellow of the CIFAR (Canada), and founding director of the Center for Economic Catch-up (now chairmen of the board). He is the winner of the 2014 Schumpeter Prize for his monograph on Schumpeterian Analysis of Economic Catch-up (2013 Cambridge Univ. Press). He is also an editor of Research Policy. 

In 2021, He served as the Vice-chairman of the National Economic Advisory Council, which is a key advisory body for the President of Korea (Chairman of the Council). He is also a regular writer for Project Syndicate. He served as the President of the International Schumpeter Society (2016-18), a member of the Committee for Development Policy of UN (2013-18), a GFC member of the World Economic Forum (2016-19). He obtained Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley. His total citations received is about 12,000 with H-index of 49 (Google Scholar). He has a new book, China’s Technological Leapfrogging and Economic Catch-up, from Oxford Univ. Press (2021).

Bengt-Åke Lundvall started his academic career at the University of Gothenburg as Assistant professor in 1969. In 1973, he moved to the Aalborg University, where he was appointed associate professor. From 1992 to 1995 he was Deputy Director at DSTI/OECD. Since 1995 he is Professor at the Department of Business and Management at Aalborg University, where he founded the IKE Group 1977. Lundvall was involved in the organization of Aalborg University during 1973–1977. A turning point in his career was his visit at the SPRU (UK) and Stanford (US) 1984. He was invited to become special invited professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing in 2004-06 and to become visiting professor at Sciences Po in Paris 2007–2010. He has kept a relationship with the top university of China, Tsinghua, over the years. Lundvall's research is organized around a broad set of issues related to the innovation system (in fact this concept was created by him in 1985[3]) and the learning economy. During 1992-95 he was Deputy Director at DSTI, OECD. He was involved in the preparation and follow up of the Lisbon Strategy 2000 and onwards. Lundvall has co-ordinated the IKE-group in Aalborg since 1977 and the Danish network DRUID 1996-2001. Since 2002 he coordinates the worldwide research network Globelics.

In close collaboration with Christopher Freeman, Bengt-Åke Lundvall developed the idea of innovation as an interactive process, in the first half of the eighties and the concept of National System of Innovation in the second half (Lundvall, 1985 and Lundvall, 1988). In the beginning of the nineties he developed the idea of "the learning economy" in collaboration with Björn Johnson (Lundvall and Johnson, 1994). According to the research carried by Fagerberg & Verspagen (2007) on innovation studies, Lundvall is number 4 in "The most important sources of scholarly inspiration" (only after Schumpeter, Nelson, and Lundvall's mentor Freeman)

Arkebe Oqubay (PhD) is a distinguished scholar-practitioner. He holds the British Academy Global Professor position at SOAS University of London, leading pioneering research on the greening of Africa’s economic development. He is a former Senior Minister and Special Advisor to three successive Prime Ministers of Ethiopia. He has been at the centre of policymaking in Ethiopia for over thirty years. Arkebe successfully led bold reforms and played a key role in Ethiopia’s economic transformation at different levels of government. He has been recognised internationally for his innovative and strategic leadership role in Ethiopia’s economic transformation and for championing the country’s pioneering industrial development model, which is being replicated across many African countries. He is the former Mayor of Addis Ababa, recognised for transforming the city. He has led the boards of key public enterprises, including Ethiopian Airlines.

Dr Arkebe’s remarkable contributions have garnered recognition and accolades. In 2005, he was acclaimed as the African Best Mayor for his work transforming Addis Ababa, making him a finalist for World Mayor in 2006. He is the recipient of various awards, including the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star, bestowed upon him by the Emperor of Japan in recognition of his dedicated contributions to Africa’s industrialisation. He was also Africa’s sole candidate for the Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), unanimously endorsed by the African Union.

Dr Arkebe has championed Africa’s industrialisation and economic transformation, and his distinctive leadership perspective bridges his practical experiences and extended policy expertise with scholarly pursuits. Dr Arkebe currently gives policy advice to, and consults for, African governments and international organisations. The NewAfrican recognised Dr Arkebe as one of the 100 Most Influential Africans of 2016 and a “leading thinker on Africa’s strategic development” for his work on industrialisation and industrial policies. His authored, co-authored, and co-edited works with Oxford University Press include Made in Africa (2015), How Nations Learn (2019), China-Africa and an Economic Transformation (2019); African Economic Development: Evidence, Theory, and Policy (2020); The Oxford Handbook of Industrial Hubs and Economic Development (2020); The Oxford Handbook of Industrial Policy (2020); and the forthcoming The Oxford Handbook on the Greening of Economic Development (2024). Dr Arkebe is an ODI Distinguished Fellow and a UNU-WIDER Honorary Research Fellow. He is also a Professor of Practice at the University of Johannesburg, an Honorary Professor at the University of Cape Town, and a Distinguished Professor at Fudan University (Shanghai) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. He holds a PhD in Development Studies from SOAS, University of London.

Rajesh GK is a researcher with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Australia and founder of CRIS-IS.ORG.