Which of the following statements is/are correct? 1. The convergence model divides nations into three phases of economic progress. 2. At the heart of the convergence theory is the closing of the gap between labour and productivity. 3. Technology leaders typically have arrived earlier at different economic eras. 4. The time period covered by the convergence theory presented herein encompasses, as mentioned, 4012200 years. 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

CSATMediumPrelims 2026Comprehension

Which of the following statements is/are correct?

The convergence model divides nations into three phases of economic progress.
At the heart of the convergence theory is the closing of the gap between labour and productivity.
Technology leaders typically have arrived earlier at different economic eras.
The time period covered by the convergence theory presented herein encompasses, as mentioned, 4012200 years.

Select the answer using the code given below.

Explanation

Answer: B — 2 and 3

Statement 1 — Incorrect. The passage says that the convergence model divides economic eras into three phases: the breakaway phase, the catch-up phase, and the fine-tuning phase. It does not say that it divides nations into three phases of economic progress.

Statement 2 — Correct. The passage begins by saying that convergence theory explains the process by which countries close their labour-productivity gap with the technology leader. Hence, the idea of closing this productivity gap is central to the theory.

Statement 3 — Correct. Technology leaders are the ones that move ahead first when a new technology develops. The passage says that during the breakaway phase, the per capita income of technology leaders rises while that of followers remains unchanged. This supports the idea that technology leaders typically arrive earlier at different economic eras.

Statement 4 — Incorrect. The passage mentions technologies such as scavenging three million years ago, hunting one million years ago, farming twelve thousand years ago, and industrial technology a little more than two hundred years ago. These are separate reference points in history and should not be added together to get $4012200$ years.

Therefore, statements 2 and 3 are correct.