Belgium's Postwar Growth and the Catch-up Hypothesis

In the years 1944-1960 Belgium was distinguished by a particularly rapid recovery followed by below average growth. The 'Belgian miracle' of the immediate postwar period was associated with bold institutional reforms, both social and monetary. The relatively slow growth in the 1950s has frequently been attributed to defensive investments and the absence of industrial restructuring. The Belgian experience, as a small open economy, is considered in the light of recent debates on reconstruction, convergence and catching-up. Catching-up and convergence, it will be argued, were not automatic but were strongly conditioned by structural and institutional factors.