Creative Accumulation: Lessons from Korea's Path out of the Middle Innovation Trap

Creative Accumulation examines how nations build the capabilities required for sustained technological leadership, moving beyond simple catch-up growth. Drawing on Korea's long-term development experience, Jeong-Dong Lee introduces the concept of the "middle innovation trap", a condition in which countries achieve high levels of implementation capability yet struggle to generate original concepts, architectures, and design leadership.

The book argues that original concept design is not the p...