Industrial Ladder

Industrial ladder is the development sequence described in Getting entrepreneurial in Korea (Summer School), where countries often start with simpler labor-intensive goods such as T-shirts and then try to move toward steel, cars, and computer chips. The source uses garment manufacturing as a first rung because it can absorb many workers without requiring high formal education.

The concept is not a guarantee. Bangladesh became one of the largest clothing exporters, but Oliver Kim says it did not move as expected into more complicated goods. The episode therefore treats Textile Knowledge Transfer as powerful but incomplete: countries can climb the first rung and still stall.

Connections

• South Korea and Bangladesh - source cases at different ladder positions.
• Desh Garments, Textile Knowledge Transfer, and Rana Plaza - garment-industry branch.
• Export Discipline and Flying Geese Model - mechanisms that can move or fail to move industries upward.