This paper is built on the notion that the common threefold categorization of countries according to developing, emerging, and developed countries does not fully capture the heterogeneity of the markets observable in the world. To create a more meaningful conceptualization of markets with different development stages, we propose a finetuned framework with the addition of “premerging” and “postmerging” markets as intermediary stages between developing and emerging as well as emerging and developed markets, respectively. We base our claims on economic national data from the International Monetary Fund between 1990-2022 as well as index rankings from the Human Development Index, Sustainability Performance Index and the Sustainable Development Report. Cluster analyses show that there is too much heterogeneity across markets to only work with the established three development stages classification. What is more, over time, the lines between emerging, postmerging and developed markets is blurring. This bears direct implications to all studies on emerging markets. While the term "emerging markets" is widely used in management and economics literature alike, it does have its limitations and can oversimplify the complex dynamics of economic development. We proffer economic prosperity as a dynamic process involving both upward and downward movements between different development stages.