The Policy Implications of Economic Complexity

05/04/2022

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by   César A. Hidalgo, et al.

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In recent years economic complexity has grown into an active field of fundamental and applied research. Yet, despite important advances, the policy implications of economic complexity remain unclear. Here I organize the policy implications of economic complexity in a framework grounded on 4 Ws: "what" approaches, focused on identifying target activities and/or locations; "when" approaches, focused on when to time support for developing related and unrelated activities; "where" approaches, focused on the geographic diffusion of knowledge; and "who" approaches, focused on the role played by agents of structural change. The goal of this framework is to clarify the policy implications of recent work in economic complexity and to facilitate its continued use in regional and international development efforts.