How can countries sustain growth when the conditions that powered earlier development gains are becoming less reliable?
That question anchored the Growth Academy, co-hosted by the World Bank Group’s Institute for Economic Development and the University of Chicago’s Becker Friedman Institute for Economics. Held in Chicago from July 27–31 and in Washington, D.C., from August 3–5, the Academy brought together leading scholars, World Bank Group experts, and public-sector decision-makers to examine the policies, institutions, and capabilities that can help economies create better jobs, raise productivity, and sustain long-term prosperity.
The Growth Academy convened senior officials from ministries responsible for finance, economic policy, planning, territorial development, investment, and macro-fiscal management; leaders from central banks and national statistical institutions; economic advisers; researchers and academics; and World Bank Group economists. Participants came from Brazil, Chile, China, Ghana, Japan, Morocco, Paraguay, the Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Uruguay, and the United States—bringing together the institutions that shape economic strategy with the research and operational experience needed to put it into practice.
Growth begins with the capacity to adapt
The Chicago programme opened with Dr. Somik Lall, Director for Strategy and the WBG Institute for Economic Development and Co-Director of the Growth Academy, who framed the discussion around the middle-income trap: the difficulty many countries face in sustaining momentum after reaching middle-income status.
The challenge, he argued, is not simply a shortage of capital, talent, or energy. It is often the inefficient use of these resources, reinforced by institutions and policies that preserve the status quo and protect less productive firms. For countries seeking to move beyond investment-led growth, Dr. Lall emphasized the importance of a critical intermediate stage: the ability to adopt, adapt, and diffuse existing technologies across firms and sectors.
The experience of countries such as the Republic of Korea, discussed during the Growth Academy, illustrated the importance of sequencing: building productive capacity, absorbing and adapting technologies, and then strengthening the conditions for innovation at the frontier. The broader lesson was that growth strategies must fit a country’s capabilities and stage of development, rather than replicate policies designed for advanced economies.
read more: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2026/08/11/growth-academy-building-a-new-playbook-for-durable-growth
