Abstract:
Most students of international development are familiar with the term “middleincome
trap,” which refers to the penchant for countries to reach middle-income status
and then stagnate1. In this short note I am proposing a similar and related phenomenon:
the “institutional middle-income trap” or “institutional reform trap” whereby institutional
development in middle-income developing countries starts out well but then stagnates, or
does not reach its goal – which is usually to develop a world class institution. Universities
are a particular example of this phenomenon. These observations are based on extensive
institution building experience in 10 developing countries, more than half of which are
classified as middle-income. They are also initial thoughts on which I plan to build in the
future