The Iranian Association of International Studies International Relations Researches 2251-8444 8 1 2018 05 22 Convergence and Divergence Between Developing and Developed States Convergence and Divergence Between Developing and Developed States 7 40 82463 FA Saeed Dehghan Khavari Assistant Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, Meybod University Seyd Hossein Mirjalili Associate Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies Journal Article 2019 02 03 The last decades only a limited number (less than 10 percent of the economies in the world) managing to progress out of lower or middle income status to high-income status but despite the rising weight of middle-income countries in supporting global growth, many of them have been stuck in the middle-income trap. Leader-follower strategy is based on imitation and emulation the leading countries have paid to explain this convergence and catching up process and analyze its nature and determinants so that provide opportunities for other developing countries to following from generations and waves of development. Leading-follower strategy can be explained in three models within the country includes the catching-up process through diversification and rationalization of industries, pro-trade-oriented (PROT) foreign direct investment (FDI) and agreed specialization. Intra-regional dynamics contains regional industrialization waves and intra-regional trade and investment. We concluded the most important principles of the strategy are structural transformation; correct selecting of leader countries and imitation of followers from leaders Countries; The comparative advantage and export promotion policies according to it. Also it should be avoided from economics of unrealistic ambitions and comparative-advantage-defying strategies in these processes. So in some cases, countries do not move in the direction of structural changes but in some cases, countries move in the direction of structural changes but these changes is not consistent with the comparative advantages of the country and the structure of production factors The last decades only a limited number (less than 10 percent of the economies in the world) managing to progress out of lower or middle income status to high-income status but despite the rising weight of middle-income countries in supporting global growth, many of them have been stuck in the middle-income trap. Leader-follower strategy is based on imitation and emulation the leading countries have paid to explain this convergence and catching up process and analyze its nature and determinants so that provide opportunities for other developing countries to following from generations and waves of development. Leading-follower strategy can be explained in three models within the country includes the catching-up process through diversification and rationalization of industries, pro-trade-oriented (PROT) foreign direct investment (FDI) and agreed specialization. Intra-regional dynamics contains regional industrialization waves and intra-regional trade and investment. We concluded the most important principles of the strategy are structural transformation; correct selecting of leader countries and imitation of followers from leaders Countries; The comparative advantage and export promotion policies according to it. Also it should be avoided from economics of unrealistic ambitions and comparative-advantage-defying strategies in these processes. So in some cases, countries do not move in the direction of structural changes but in some cases, countries move in the direction of structural changes but these changes is not consistent with the comparative advantages of the country and the structure of production factors https://www.iisajournals.ir/article_82463_8b4e1845b38e603d9c6a2cb240c13123.pdf