Varieties of Compressed Development

Chapter 5 explores the ways in which less-developed countries experience the era-related effects of compressed development and try to cope with them. Chapter 4 compared late-developer Japan and compressed-developer China, but countries with poor or mixed records of economic development also face the opportunities and constraints of compression, and must do so with institutions, policies, and industries which emerged under prior conditions. Large-market less-developed countries such as Brazil, India, and even China face the era effects of compression, with legacies that are often poorly suited and sometimes antithetical to the demands of global value chains and technology ecosystems. Discontinuities and differences across sectors further complicate the role of the state in the era of compressed development.