Page 56 - The Atlas of Economic Complexity

MAPPING PATHS TO PROSPERITY | 57

countries that do well in this index, given their income lev- ing for a new location or looking to diversify into a new
el, tend to achieve higher levels of economic growth. The product. These maps carry information about the produc-
ability to successfully export new products is a reflection tive capabilities that are present in a given country and the
of the fact that the country has acquired new productive degree to which these capabilities are relevant to support a
knowledge that will then open up further opportunities for particular new industry.
progress. What a country needs to do to achieve this will be A map does not tell people where to go, but it does help
highly specific to the context of the country and the prod- them determine their destination and chart their journey to-
uct. Better seeds could cause an agricultural revolution; im- wards it. A map empowers by describing opportunities that
proved infrastructure could open up new possibilities for would not be obvious in the absence of it. If the secret to
light manufactures; clarifying property rights and human development is the accumulation of productive knowledge,
subject regulations may allow for participation in pharma- at a societal rather than individual level, then the process
ceutical research; changing the responsiveness of training necessarily requires the involvement of many explorers, not
institutions to the needs of new sectors may unleash their just a few planners. This is why the maps we provide in this
growth; etc. Atlas are intended for everyone to use.
The Economic Complexity Index is not easy to manipu-
late through a narrow set of decisions. Ultimately, countries
improve on the index by being able to increase the number
of different activities they can successfully engage in and by
moving towards activities that are more complex. The policy
message for most countries is clear: create an environment
where a greater diversity of productive activities can thrive
and, in particular, activities that are relatively more com-
plex. Countries are more likely to succeed in this agenda if
they focus on products that are close to their current set of
productive capabilities, as this would facilitate the identi-
fication and provision of the missing capabilities. The ECI
therefore, is accompanied by maps that help chart the op-
portunities and rewards available for each country. These
are maps that are specific to each country and do not repre-
sent one-size-fits-all development advice.
These maps, however, could also be used by firms search-