These initiatives will take a concerted effort by policy makers business leaders and south korean citizens but the result could be a new growth formula that complements the current model reverses the erosion of middle income households and builds a sustainable future for all south koreans. But the growth formula behind the south korean economic miracle a state guided capitalism focused on export led manufacturing is no longer working for many koreans gdp has nearly tripled in the past 20 years but this growth has become decoupled from the fate of ordinary citizens whose real wages have grown by less than half that rate. Beyond korean style shaping a new growth formula a new report from the mckinsey global institute mgi explores the causes of these economic challenges and makes specific recommendations for combatting them. Beyond korean style shaping a new growth formula april 2013 and why the japanese economy is not growing micro barriers to productivity growth mckinsey global institute july 2000 for further examples of cross country productivity gaps in different industries based on mgis productivity research over more than