The goal of this paper is to offer a non-technical interpretation of the “Great Divergence” and “Great Convergence” stories. After reviewing existing explanations in the literature, I offer a different interpretation. Western countries exited the Malthusian trap by destroying traditional...

Diversity of development paths and structural transformation in historical perspective : an introduction / Martin Andersson and Tobias Axelsson -- Structural change and catching up : the relative small country advantage / Lennart Schön -- The latecomer advantages and disadvantages : a new...