In sum, historical experiences of the industrial revolution offer several insights. First, countries that are on the technological frontier can play the role of the ―lead geese‖ as the U.K. did. Second, late comers have the economic advantage of ―backwardness,‖ and under certain conditions, can catch up quickly and even overtake the lead geese. Third, capital accumulation was necessary but not sufficient for success. Political stability, openness to trade, and labor mobility were also important for the country to acquire the new technology and develop new industries. Fourth, the government was required to play a facilitating role, as in the case of Germany, the US, and Japan. Without the existence of a centralized state in Germany before 1871, there would have been no railroad or industrial revolution.

**Table 2.1:  The Catch-Up in the Pre-War, and Post War Era: Countries can catch up if their per capita income levels are not too far apart (per capita GDP by 1990 International GK dollars)**

||**Europe targete**<br>**gaps were**|**d the UK,**<br>**small**|**Japan target**<br>**Meiji**|**ed Germ**<br>**Restorat**|**any during**<br>**ion**||**Japan**|**targeted**<br>**the W**|**the US after**<br>**WII**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**1870**|**% of UK**|**1890**|**1900**|**% of**<br>**Germany**||**1950**|**1960**|**% of the US**|
|**France**|**1,876**|**59%**|**2,376**|**2,876**|||**5,186**|**7,398**||
|**Germany**|**1,839**|**58%**|**2,428**|**2,985**|**100%**||**3,881**|**7,705**||
|**U.K.**|**3,190**|**100%**|**4,009**|**4,492**|||**6,939**|**8,645**||
|**United States**|**2,445**|**77%**|**3,392**|**4,091**|||**9,561**|**11,328**|**100%**|
|**Japan**|**737**||**1,012**|**1,180**|**40%**||**1,921**|**3,986**|**35%**|
||**The East Asia**<br>**S.Korea ta**<br>|**NIEs (4 dr**<br>**rgeted Jap**<br>**1960-80s**|**agons) incl**<br>**an in the**|**China**<br>**NIE**|**targeted the**<br>**s including**|**East Asian**<br>**S. Korea**|**Late co**<br>**Ch**|**mers sta**<br>**ina after**|**rted to target**<br>**the 2000**|
||**1960**|**1970**|**% of Japan**|**1980**|**1990**|**% of Korea**|**2000**|**2008**|**% of China**|
|**U.K.**|**8,645**|**10,767**||**12,931**|**16,430**||**20,353**|**23,742**||
|**United States**|**11,328**|**15,030**||**18,577**|**23,201**||**28,467**|**31,178**||
|**Japan**|**3,986**|**9,714**|**100%**|**13,428**|**18,789**||**20,738**|**22,816**||
|**South Korea**|**1,226**|**2,167**|**25%**|**4,114**|**8,704**|**100%**|**14,375**|**19,614**||
|**China**|**662**|**778**||**1,061**|**1,871**|**23%**|**3,421**|**6,725**|**100%**|
|**India**|**753**|**868**||**938**|**1,309**||**1,892**|**2,975**|**44%**|
|**Vietnam **<br>Source: Authors c|**799**<br>alculation based on|**735**<br>Maddison d|ataset.|**757 **|**1,025**||**1,809**|**2,970**|**44%**|

Fifth, some European countries could catch up with Britain relatively quickly because their stage of development was not too far apart (Table 2.1). According to Maddison‘s estimate, the per capita incomes of Germany, France, and the United States were about 60 to 75 percent of Britain in 1870.<sup>12</sup> Sixth, during the Meiji restoration, Japan targeted Prussia‘s industries and its per capita income was about 40 percent of Germany‘s. Thus it was realistic for Japan to target Germany rather than Great Britain or the United States which were too far ahead of Japan in term of their development stage. Even though many nation states tried to catch up, Japan

> 12 Britain‘s per capita income in 1830 was 3,190 in 1990 International Geary-Khamis dollars, and those of most countries in the Western Europe were in the range of 1,500 to 2500 IGK dollars.

20