Opportunities for Latecomer Technological Catch-up in the Era of Renewables Capitalism
Possible Pathways out of the Periphery
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4815964 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lindsay Whitfield (0000-0003-1352-0542), Tobias Wuttke (0000-0001-8355-7426) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 56 |
| Issue | 4-5 |
| Pages | 783-812 |
| Publication date | 2025-09-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Development and Change (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0012-155X • E-ISSN: 1467-7660 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/dech.70016 |
| OpenAlex | W4413945449 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 45 |
The Debate section asks whether developing countries can leverage the transition to renewables capitalism to escape their peripheral status in the global economy. This contribution focuses on how capitalism, and thus also renewables capitalism, creates windows of opportunity during periods of disruptive technological change and how latecomer countries can exploit these windows for technological catch-up; it suggests possible pathways out of the periphery that have been downplayed or overlooked in the development studies literature. The authors argue that successfully leveraging windows of opportunity requires three interconnected dynamics: (1) local firms must access and assimilate foreign knowledge through transnational networks; (2) firms must use this knowledge base for innovation while securing adequate market demand and financing to scale production and reduce costs; and (3) governments must provide strategic support through targeted industrial policies. The article makes a novel contribution to the debate on technological catch-up in development studies by demonstrating that all three dynamics are not only important but necessary for technological catch-up. It illustrates this argument through two industry case studies from the more distant past (South Korea and Taiwan in semiconductors) and the more recent past (China in electric vehicles). Its insights can inform strategies regarding the windows of opportunity related to green decarbonization technologies which will inevitably arise under renewables capitalism
Biology · Business · Capitalism · Economic geography · Economic system · Economics · Political science · Politics · Renewable energy · Asian Industrial and Economic Development · Ecology · Innovation and Socioeconomic Development · Law · Socioeconomic Development in Asia
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Embedded Autonomy
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The Silicon Valley-Hsinchu Connection
The crisis of intellectual monopoly capitalism
Technical change and economic theory
The New Argonauts
Business cycles
Markets, States or Transnational Networks? Explaining Technology Leverage by Latecomer Firms in Industrializing Countries
Global Green Shift
Developmental State or Economic Statecraft? Where, Why and How the Difference Matters
Constructing a Ladder for Growth
America Inc? Innovation and Enterprise in the National Security State
Innovation in East Asia
The European Semiconductor Industry Resurgence and Rationalization
The rise of China's new energy vehicle lithium-ion battery industry
Survival of the Greenest
Governing the Market
The End of Peripheries? On the Enduring Relevance of Structuralism for Understanding Contemporary Global Development
Beyond the Stereotype
Pathways from the Periphery
The Consumption of Dependency Theory in the United States
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |