Leapfrogging Possibilities For Sustainable Consumption and ...

PART II- SCP AND LEAPFROGGIING
4 Leapfrogging
4.1 Definition and concepts
The terms leapfrogging has assumed different meanings depending on the contexts of its
use.
Alex Steffen of Worldchanging defines leapfrogging as the notion that describes a
situation where areas which have poorly-developed technology or economic bases can
move themselves forward rapidly through the adoption of modern systems without going
through intermediary steps 39 According to Worldchanging, one doesn’t “need a 20th
century industrial base to build a 21st century bio/nano/information economy”.
Leapfrogging as a process was first noted back in 1962 by a political philosopher named
Alexander Gerschenkron in his contribution entitled "Economic Backwardness in
Historical Perspective". He then argued that, sometimes, not having invested in a
particular industry or technology can be beneficial when a paradigm shift occurs, as the
society does not have to deal with sunk costs and legacy issues. The society can often
adopt the new systems more rapidly and completely than can other, ostensibly more
"advanced," societies, gaining the social and economic benefits earlier 40 .
Leapfrogging can be done by skipping over generations of technologies e.g. the use of
cellular phones in rural Africa skipping landlines, or avoiding the use of fossil fuels, and
go straight to renewable energies, avoid the proliferation of private cars, and promote
sustainable mobility in the urban, medium cities, etc . It can also mean leaping further
ahead to become the technological leader surpassing contemporary leaders, e.g. Korean
leapfrogging in the steel sector 41 .
Industrial systems in a given area, say a country or region, can undergo technological
evolution through three patterns of catching-ups, namely path-creating catching-up, pathskipping
catching-up, and path-following catching-up 42 . The first two cases of catch-ups
can be interpreted as leapfrogging.
Based on a useful typology of technological innovation, four kinds of technological
change can be discussed, namely 43 :
• incremental innovations: usually occur virtually continuously as industries try to
improve quality, design, performance, and adaptability;
39 Steffen (2006)
40 Ibid
41 Gallagher (2006)
42 Lee and Lim (2001)
43 Freeman (1992)
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