The Belt and Road Initiative and Dynamics of Structural Transformation

Structural transformation is among the core questions in development economics, but in recent decades, the discipline has shifted its focus away from production and transformation in favour of analyses on exchange, growth and productivity. Yet, the structural transformation question remains central, and needs to be confronted with the main changes in the global economic and political landscape, such as the emergence of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). With its emphasis on an infrastructure-based connectivity agenda, the BRI opens the space for a paradigm shift in development, and for a renewed emphasis on structural transformation. This article introduces a special issue that explores the role of the BRI in promoting structural transformation in low- and middle-income countries, to understand if and under which conditions the BRI creates pathways that can change the structure of the economies. Through an explicit focus on the role of BRI on transformation in low- and middle-income countries, this special issue examines how domestic institutions regulate and coordinate production diversification, national and international sectoral specificities, and drivers and barriers to technological innovation and trade. In this sense, the special issue sheds light on new conceptualisations and empirical examples of industrial policies.