Greater sensitivity to capital-to-labor ratios and other sector-specific factors material to the development of successful firms will ensure that successful firms are recognized as such, and that prospective participants are not discouraged from entering SME Fund accelerator programs. Generate policy guidelines regarding repeated participants in SME Fund and other innovation-and learning-focused programs to ensure that firms can achieve self-sufficiency as quickly as possible, while making programs available to the widest array of potentially suitable participants. Catching up, forging ahead, and falling behind”, The Journal of Economic History, Vol.