U.N.: "Knowledge gap" major cause of poverty

VIENNA, Austria — The "knowledge gap" is a major cause of poverty and is behind almost 60 percent of the giant income disparity between Sub-Saharan African countries and industrialized countries, a U.N. development agency said Wednesday.

The 2005 Industrial Development report also said it is getting increasingly difficult for poor countries to catch up because industrialized countries are quickly developing their use of knowledge and technology.

Jan Fagerberg, a professor at Oslo University who helped research the report, said countries could increase their chances for prosperity by focusing on the right factors.

"Knowledge, financial systems and governance matter a lot for the abilities for countries to catch up," he said, adding that factors such as openness and democracy appeared to be less crucial from a statistical viewpoint.

"It's more what countries do in terms of policy than how they invent that policy," he said.

The report also said Switzerland ranked highest in an index listing countries by their industrial-production level in 2002, which is the latest year for which figures are available.

In 1990, Japan topped the index. The 2002 rank placed Japan second, followed by Finland, Sweden, Ireland and Luxembourg.

The United States was 12th on the list, which ranks countries according to the amount of manufactured value added per capita.