Lewis Model
The Lewis model describes development as labour transfer from low-productivity agricultural sector to high-productivity industrial sector. Growth occurs as industrial employment expands.
Real World
In 1950s–70s Taiwan, millions of rural workers moved from low-productivity rice farming into urban factories producing textiles and electronics, driving the structural transformation that underpins the Lewis model.
Exam Focus
Identify the Lewis 'turning point' — when surplus labour is exhausted and wages rise — as an evaluative weakness for countries with large rural populations still.
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