Korean Law and the Middle-Income Trap

Abstract

The middle-income trap has haunted developing economies due to concerns about growth stagnation and cornered national economies, resulting in numerous social consequences. South Korea is one of the Asian countries that has successfully defeated the middle-income trap. This article analyzes the role of Korean law in sustaining economic growth, lifting Korea out of the middle-income trap in the 1990s. The Korean experience shows that law has a guiding effect on bolstering industrial specialization, promoting high-quality human resources and facilitating the process of decentralization to effectively allocate resources, contributing to providing economic growth.