On the evening of April 11, the 11th lecture of Song Zexing Lecture Series by Overseas Prestigious Scholars was held at the Jonathan KS Choi Hall of Puhe Campus, where Professor Keun Lee from Seoul National University was invited to deliver an academic report titled “Innovation Development — Detours for Latecomers”. Professor Yu Miaojie, a deputy to the 14th National People’s Congress, special supervisor of the State Committee of Supervisory of the PRC, member of the Standing Committee of Liaoning Provincial People’s Congress, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Committee and President of Liaoning University attended the meeting and delivered a welcome speech. The meeting was presided over by Professor Li Yupeng, member of the 14th CPPCC, member of the 13th Standing Committee of Liaoning Provincial Political Consultative Conference and Vice President of Liaoning University.

Yu Miaojie introduced in detail Professor Keun Lee’s research fields and academic achievements, particularly his insightful and outstanding contribution in the theories and practices of economic catch-up.

During the report, Professor Keun Lee comprehensively interpreted the connotation of catch-up economy based on the in-depth and extensive empirical analysis of global enterprises and industries and drew a blueprint for a batch of developing countries that are still suffering from economic difficulties. Starting from the interactive perspective of “globalization-localization”, he illustrated some development methods and economic catching-up strategies adopted by some typical developing economies. By taking Shenzhen as an example, he deeply analyzed how the government could catalyze the deep integration of globalization and localization through targeted and powerful policy measures, especially industry-oriented policies so that local large enterprises could grow fast to achieve the goal of economic catching-up. Also, he believed that the building and development the growth engines cannot solely be achieved by the free market mechanism and it is critical for the government to actively intervene and play a leading role. The close coordination and interaction between regions, countries and enterprises is vital to drive economic growth. Finally, by presenting two innovative development cases of successful detours in ROK, he deeply analyzed the important roles and interaction mechanisms of the government, large-scale enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises in economic catch-up, which provided valuable strategic and practical thinking for the audience.

At the end of the meeting, President Yu Miaojie presented Professor Keun Lee with a commemorative plate of the Song Zexing Lecture Hall for Overseas Masters and a lifelong honorary professor appointment letter of Liaoning University. In return, Professor Keun Lee presented his latest monograph “Innovation Development Detours for Latecomers” to President Yu. Professor Zhang Danning, Deputy Dean of the School of Economics presented a souvenir to Professor Keun Lee, Associate Professor Kong Xiao, Office Director of the Faculty of Economics put on a university badge and a university cap to him and Associate Professor Yin Lijuan, a teacher representative of the Faculty of Economics presented a bouquet. Guests at the meeting took a group photo.

 The report was hosted by the Faculty of Economics and undertaken by the School of Economics of LNU. Leaders of the schools affiliated to the faculty and over 350 faculty members and students attended the report.

Introduction to the speaker:

Keun Lee is an outstanding scholar in economics, a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley, a senior professor in the Department of Economics from Seoul National University and a board member of the World Economic Forum. He serves as editor-in-chief of Research Policy, the top journal of innovation research and deputy editor-in-chief of Industrial and Corporate Change, the leading journal of Schumpeter economics. He was Vice Chairman of the National Economic Advisory Council for President of ROK, President of the Schumpeter International Association, former Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Innovation Network Committee and a member of the United Nations Development Policy Committee.

Professor Keun Lee’s main research fields are innovation and development, catch-up economics, innovation economics and science and technology policy. His research also covers enterprise structure and development as well as high-tech, steel, shipbuilding and renewable energies. He has achieved tremendous academic achievements, including a batch of published high-quality papers in international magazines such as Structural Changes and Economic Dynamics, European Journal of Development Research, Research Policy, World Economy, Journal of Comparative Economics, etc. His academic papers have been cited over 12,500 times with an H index of 51. His monograph “Schumpeter Analysis of Economic Catch-up” was awarded the Schumpeter Award in 2014.