Which of the following conclusions are correct? 1. In the breakaway phase, economic progress is slow for the technology followers. 2. In the catch-up phase, leaders stagnate and followers, therefore, close the gap between them and the leaders. 3. In the fine-tuning phase, technology is exhausted, as it were, and both leaders and followers attempt to extract leftover benefits, leading to more or less similar per capita income levels. 4. Industrial technology followed scavenging, which preceded hunting, which itself was followed by farming. Select the answer using the code given below.

Passage

The process by which countries close their labour-productivity gap with the technology leader is based on convergence theory. The convergence model divides economic eras into three phases : the breakaway, the catch-up, and the fine-tuning phase. It also divides economic entities into two categories : the technology leaders and the technology followers. The process begins with the development of a new technology, such as scavenging three million years ago (MYA), hunting—one MYA, farming—12 thousand years ago, and industrial technology—a little more than 200 years ago. During the breakaway phase, the per capita income of the technology leaders (e.g., Western Europe and North America in the industrial era) rises, but is unchanged for the technology followers. In the catch-up phase, the followers adopt the new technology and close their per capita income gap with the technology leaders. In the fine-tuning phase, where participants try to extract the remaining benefits from an increasingly exhausted technology, leaders and followers have similar per capita incomes.

QUESTION

CSAT

Hard

Comprehension

Prelims 2026

Which of the following conclusions are correct?

In the breakaway phase, economic progress is slow for the technology followers.
In the catch-up phase, leaders stagnate and followers, therefore, close the gap between them and the leaders.
In the fine-tuning phase, technology is exhausted, as it were, and both leaders and followers attempt to extract leftover benefits, leading to more or less similar per capita income levels.
Industrial technology followed scavenging, which preceded hunting, which itself was followed by farming.

Select the answer using the code given below.

Select an option to attempt

Explanation

Let us evaluate the given statements based on the passage:

Statement 1 is incorrect: The passage explicitly states that during the breakaway phase, the per capita income is "unchanged for the technology followers." "Unchanged" implies zero economic progress, not "slow" progress.

Statement 2 is incorrect: The passage mentions that in the catch-up phase, "the followers adopt the new technology and close their per capita income gap with the technology leaders." It does not state that the leaders stagnate; leaders might still be experiencing economic growth, but the followers grow at a faster rate to close the gap.

Statement 3 is correct: The passage clearly states that in the fine-tuning phase, "participants try to extract the remaining benefits from an increasingly exhausted technology, leaders and followers have similar per capita incomes." This perfectly matches the phrasing of the statement.

Statement 4 is correct: The passage provides a clear chronological timeline of technological development: Scavenging (3 million years ago) $\rightarrow$ Hunting (1 million years ago) $\rightarrow$ Farming (12 thousand years ago) $\rightarrow$ Industrial technology (200 years ago). Breaking down the statement:

"Industrial technology followed scavenging": True, as the industrial era (200 years ago) came long after scavenging (3 million years ago).
"which preceded hunting": True, scavenging (3 MYA) came before hunting (1 MYA).
"which itself was followed by farming": True, hunting (1 MYA) was followed by farming (12,000 years ago).

Since only statements 3 and 4 are correct, Option A is the correct answer.