Do Developing Countries Still Need to Industrialize?(nicholasdecker.substack.com)
nicholasdecker.substack.com
Do Developing Countries Still Need to Industrialize?
https://nicholasdecker.substack.com/p/do-developing-countries-still-need
https://nicholasdecker.substack.com/p/do-developing-countries-still-need
Mass industrialization of low economic complexity manufacturing is useless in the world today - even factories in India heavily utilize industrial automation as prices have gone down significantly [0][1][2].
On the other hand, industrialization with investment in high complexity manufacturing (which of course doesn't nearly translate to significant job growth) is of significant value, especially if some amount of this output is redistributed via a welfare system.
The latter is the approach India is now taking [3], and I see first-hand in my ancestral village as well - we have factories manufacturing wind turbines, EV batteries, textile yarns, and generic pharmaceuticals for domestic and export markets, but most employees work part-time earning around $200-300/mo as they also get the advantage of rural social safety nets netting an additional $100-150/mo, and the spouse works a government job netting around $100-200/mo.
The only region of India where mass industrialization via light manufacturing can work are those regions of India where state capacity for welfare delivery is lowest and manufacturing wages can be at the $100-150/mo range thus outcompeting industrial automation. The only regions like that are Bihar, Jharkhand, and Eastern UP.
[0] - https://m.indiamart.com/impcat/automatic-soldering-machine.h...
[1] - https://m.indiamart.com/city/delhi/automatic-wire-cutting-an...
[2] - https://m.indiamart.com/impcat/plastic-injection-moulding-ma...
[3] - https://www.phenomenalworld.org/interviews/the-techno-patrim...