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Middle Income (or Non-Convergence) Traps

August 21, 2017

World Bank Office, Sasana Kijang

The idea of middle-income countries facing risks of falling into growth traps has been approached in at least three different ways: as a common need of policy and institutional change; as an empirical hypothesis of breaks or turning points in time-series data on levels or growth rates in per capita incomes across countries; and as a possible ¡°bad¡± case among multiple equilibrium paths. While the empirical approach has led to mixed results about the existence of general properties regarding groups of countries classified as middle income, we argue in favor of the relevance of an analytical approach that takes into account the specificities of their stage of development. Bridges between general growth theories and country-specific middle-income experiences need to be built.

  • Otaviano Canuto

    Mr. Otaviano Canuto currently holds the position of Executive Director at the Executive Board of Directors of the World Bank Group and its Affiliates, the same position he held when he was Executive Director of the World Bank from 2004-2007. He represents Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Philippines, Suriname, and Trinidad & Tobago. He is also a member and Chairman of the Committee on Development Effectiveness (CODE). Prior to this position, Mr. Canuto served in the following capacities: Executive Director of the Board of Directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Brazil, Cabo Verde, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guyana, Haiti, Nicaragua, Panama, Suriname, Timor Leste, and Trinidad & Tobago (2015-2016); Senior Advisor on BRICS economies at the World Bank (2014-2015); Vice President for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network (PREM), World Bank (2009-2014); and Vice President for Countries at the Inter-American Development Bank (2007-2008). In Brazil, in the year 2003, he was State Secretary for International Affairs at the Ministry of Finance. Mr. Canuto received his Master in Economics from the Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, and was subsequently awarded his Doctorate in Economics from the University of Campinas, Brazil. At the University of S?o Paulo and at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil, he was a Professor of macro and international economics. He has authored and co-edited 7 books and over 160 book chapters and academic articles, and is a frequent contributor to numerous blogs and periodicals: Huffington Post; Project Syndicate; VoxEU; Roubini Global Economics; and Seeking Alpha, No Se Mancha, and Columbia Global Centers.

Event details

  • when: Monday, August, 21, 2017; 12:30-1:30PM
  • where: World Bank Malaysia Office, Level 3, Sasana Kijang, No. 2, Jalan Dato¡¯ Onn
  • RSVP: Kindly RSVP by Friday, August 18, 2017