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Dinh, Hinh Truong

Strategy and Operations, Development Economics Group, World Bank
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Fields of Specialization
international finance; public finance; industrialization; economic development; Africa; Asia
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Strategy and Operations, Development Economics Group, World Bank
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Last updated: January 31, 2023
Biography
Hinh T. Dinh is Lead Economist in the Office of the Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank. Previously, he served as Lead Economist in the Africa Region (1998–2008), the Finance Complex (1991–98), and the Middle East and North  Africa Region at the Bank (1979–81). His research focuses on public finance, international finance, industrialization, and economic development. His latest books include Light Manufacturing in Africa (2012), Performance of Manufacturing Firms in Africa (2012), Light Manufacturing in Zambia (2013), Tales from the Development Frontier (2013),and Light Manufacturing in Tanzania (2013).
Citations 16 Scopus

Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Publication
    Social Capital, Product Imitation and Growth with Learning Externalities
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-09) Agénor, Pierre-Richard; Dinh, Hinh T.
    Links between social capital, human capital, and product imitation are studied in an overlapping generations model of endogenous growth where the key benefit of social capital is to promote imitation. There is also a two-way interaction between imitation and human capital. Building social capital (which brings direct utility) requires time. Because life expectancy is endogenously related to human capital, time allocation between market work and social capital accumulation is also endogenously determined. Social capital accumulation depends also on access to infrastructure. The model is calibrated numerically for a low-income country. A policy that helps to promote social capital accumulation may be very effective to foster economic growth, even if it involves offsetting cuts in other productive components of government spending, such as education outlays or infrastructure investment. Offsetting cuts in infrastructure investment, however, may be less effective.
  • Publication
    From Imitation to Innovation : Public Policy for Industrial Transformation
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-05) Agénor, Pierre-Richard; Dinh, Hinh T.
    What role does public policy play in helping countries accelerate the industrialization process? This note aims to answer this question by applying a framework to analyze the process of transitioning from imitation to innovation. Based on a dynamic model of growth, simulations suggest that learning through imitation may enable firms to improve productivity significantly in a first stage, and that this may eventually benefit innovation activity as well. The model also shows how failure to switch from imitation as the main source of productivity growth to broad-based, homegrown innovation could lead to the 'middle-income trap' that has befallen some countries.
  • Publication
    Public Policy and Industrial Transformation in the Process of Development
    (World Bank, Washington, D.C., 2013-04) Agenor, Pierre-Richard; Dinh, Hinh T.
    This paper studies the role of public policy in promoting industrial transformation from an imitationbased, low-skill economy to an innovation-based, high-skill economy, where technological progress now occurs through the domestic invention of ideas. Industrial transformation is measured by changes in an index of industrial structure, defined as the ratio of the variety of imitation- to innovation-based intermediate goods. A key mechanism through which productivity increases initially in both the imitation and innovation sectors is through a knowledge externality associated with learning by doing in the imitation sector. The process of industrialization increases the demand for high-skill labor, inducing individuals to invest in education. The model also emphasizes the distinction between basic or core infrastructure, which promotes imitation, and advanced infrastructure, which promotes innovation. A calibrated version for a low-income country is used to perform several policy experiments, including an increase in investment in infrastructure, a reduction in the cost of training, and improved enforcement of property rights.