The big push is the idea that a poor economy may need coordinated large-scale investment across many sectors at once to escape a low-development trap.
The model logic
The theory starts from complementarity. One factory alone may not be profitable if workers remain poor, infrastructure is weak, and demand for its output is limited. But if many sectors expand together, each sector helps create demand and productivity gains for the others.
That logic often relies on:
- indivisibilities,
- external economies of scale,
- coordination failures,
- poverty traps.
Why a “push” might be needed
If private investors move one by one, each may wait for someone else to invest first. The economy can remain stuck in a low-income equilibrium even when a higher-income equilibrium is feasible.
The big-push argument says coordinated action, often involving the state or development institutions, can move the economy across that threshold.
Main criticism
The critique is that coordination is hard and governments may back the wrong sectors or overreach administratively. So the practical question is not whether coordination can matter, but when large-scale intervention is more effective than incremental development.
Related Terms
- Poverty Trap
- Coordination Failure
- External Economies of Scale
- Balanced Growth Path
- Industrialization