但是这一手段也存在局限性，以致许多试图在同一发展阶梯上攀登的发展中国家最终在中端陷入停滞，甚至倒退下滑，而哈佛大学的经济学家丹尼·罗德里克（Dani Rodrik）将其称之为“过早的去工业化”现象。
But that approach has its limits, exemplified in the numerous developing countries that have attempted to climb the same development ladder, only to become stuck on the middle rungs or even to fall back, owing to what Harvard University economist Dani Rodrik has called “premature deindustrialization.”