Outperformers: High-growth Emerging Economies and the Companies that Propel Them

PIIE's Arvind Subramanian, former chief economic adviser to the government of India, gave the keynote address on the prospects for global development at an event held by the Institute and the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) on October 17, 2018. The event was held to discuss the MGI report, Outperformers: High-growth emerging economies and the companies that propel them. Report coauthor Anu Madgavkar, MGI, led the panel discussion with Simon Johnson, PIIE and MIT Sloan School of Management; Cullen S. Hendrix, PIIE and the University of Denver; and Nancy Birdsall, president emeritus of the Center for Global Development.

The MGI report analyzes the per capita GDP growth performance of 71 emerging economies to identify the outperformers and the key factors, including the standout role that large companies have played in driving that growth.

Subramanian, PIIE nonresident senior fellow, is a visiting lecturer in public policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. He rejoined the Institute in August 2018, following his leave for public service as the chief economic advisor to the government of India since October 2014.

Madgavkar is a partner with MGI, McKinsey’s business and economics research arm. She joined MGI in 2011 and leads teams based in India, working on global as well as India-focused research.

Johnson, PIIE senior fellow since 2008, is the Ronald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he is head of the Global Economics and Management group, a member of the Executive Personnel Committee, and chair of the Sloan Fellows MBA Program Committee.

Hendrix, PIIE nonresident senior fellow, is associate professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. He has consulted for the US Department of Defense, Food and Agriculture Organization, Political Instability Task Force, and World Food Programme, among others.

Birdsall was president at the Center for Global Development until 2016. Prior to launching the Center in 2001, she served as senior associate and director of the Economic Reform Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. From 1993 to 1998, Birdsall was executive vice-president of the Inter-American Development Bank.