The globalization experience in the nineteenth century serves as an important reminder that simply expecting a combination of new technology, infrastructure spending and trade to deliver sustainable and inclusive growth is not bome out by the historical record. In the Republic of Korea - a prime example of manufacturing-led industrialization after the Second World War - the confluence of technological advance, export promotion, investment and capital accumulation was linked not only to favourable external conditions but also to multiannual plans from 1962 to 1992 that set out targets and allocated resources for investments in social overhead capital. Public infrastructure investment grew in real terms at an average annual rate of 25 per cent over 1997-2010 (Zhang etal.,