ABSTRACT
The Konstanz conference arose from an initiative of Austin Robinson, then president of the International Economic Association. This chapter aims to clarify the basic economic mechanism which underlies the notion of the take-off—the idea of leading sectors—and to relate the workings of this mechanism to the other conditions required for take-off. The effects of a sector touched by new technology and experiencing a rapid growth phase transcend the sector itself. Having sought to clarify the role of leading sectors in the take-off, it is necessary to relate this mechanism to the other economic variables which determine whether, when, and how sustained growth becomes a more or less regular feature of a society's performance. The potential spreading effects which may flow from the achievement of high momentum in a given industrial sector evidently have something to do with the technology required in that sector.
