Economic Development in a Globalized Environment: East Asian Evidences

by Henry Y. Wan Jr.

Overview

Is the East Asian growth record replicable today? This book answers: yes. It places the common East Asian theme in the theoretic context of product cycles, globalization and convergence and the historical perspective of the "German Miracle" after World War II, also the more recent Irish growth; it identifies the effective policies for sustained, rapid growth by structured comparisons among different economies; it evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the alternative policy packages of Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, in the light of such recent events like global trend for liberalization, and the Crises of 1997 and 2001.

Economic Development in a Globalized Environment also scrutinizes the major debates in development economics, using documented cases, and analytic reasoning for support.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780387242057
Publisher:	Springer US
Publication date:	02/10/2005
Edition description:	Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2004
Pages:	392
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.03(d)

About the Author

AFFILIATIONS:

Professor, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 1970 - present

Associate Professor, University of California, Davis, CA. 1965-1970

Assistant Professor, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 1964-1965

Lecturer, University of New South Wales, Kensington, N.S.W. Australia, 1963-1964

Associate Professor, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Republic of China, 1961-1963

EDUCATION:

Ph.D. in Economics, M.I.T. 1961

M.A. in Economics, Bucknell University, 1958

B.A. in Business Administration, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Republic of China, 1952

Table of Contents

1: General Considerations.- 1: Introduction.- 1. The World We Live In.- 2. The Benchmark Path for Catching Up.- 3. Inspection of the Foundations of the Benchmark Path Model.- Appendix 1.1 Some Statistical Description.- Appendix 1.2 The Implications of Trend Acceleration.- Summary.- Questions and Exercises.- 2: Replicable Cases?.- 1. East Asian Economies in the Trading World.- 2. The Shared Initial Conditions.- 3. The Economic Consequences of Confucianism.- 4. The Example of Japan: Achievements and Impact.- Appendix 2.1 A Model for the Dynamics of Human Capital.- Ancient Times.- Summary.- Questions and Exercises.- 3: Conditions for Sustained Growth.- 1. Regularities, Explanations and Implications.- 2. Learning-By-Doing and Trade.- Appendix 3.1 Examples of Learning-By-Doing.- Summary.- Questions and Exercises.- 4: Channels for Technology Acquisition.- 1. Product Cycle and Staged Development.- 2. The Game of Technology Transfer.- 3. Brain Drain and Reverse Brain Drain.- Culmination of the Catching Up Process.- Summary.- Questions and Exercises.- 5: Major Debates in Economic Development.- 1. Industrial Policy for a Development State.- 2. Liberalism and Revisionism.- 3. Pitfalls in Measuring Productivity Gain.- Summary.- Questions and Exercises.- 6: Crisis amidst Growth.- 1. General Remarks.- 2. The Volatility of the Terms of Trade — A Simple Example.- 3. The Political Economy of Debt Crisis.- 4. Connectedness Over Disjoint Subsystems.- Concluding Remarks.- Appendix 6.1: Debt Crisis and Rescue — A Theoretic Perspective.- Summary.- Questions and Exercises.- 2: Economy-Specific Evidence.- 7: The Republic of Korea.- 1. General Observations.- 2. The Necessary and Sufficient Conditions.- 3. Governing the Market, Park’s Style.- 4. The Heavy Chemical Industry Drive (HCI) and General Trading Company (GTC).- 5. Korea after Park and a Reappraisal.- 6. A Comparison with Japan and Other NIEs.- 7. Replicability and Other Lessons.- Appendix 7.1: Why Does the Philippines Lag Behind Korea?.- Summary.- Questions and Exercises.- 8: Taiwan.- 1. Introductory Remarks.- 2. Economic Performance.- 3. The Economic Structure.- 4. Industrial Policy — Taiwanese Version.- Possibility of Replication.- Summary.- Questions and Exercises.- 9: Hong Kong.- 1. Introductory Remarks.- 2. Hong Kong — The Highly Industrialized Phase.- 3. Hong Kong — The De-Industrializing Phase.- 4. Final Remarks.- Appendix 9.1 The Roles of Hong Kong: Entrepôt, Central Place, and Intermediary.- Summary.- Questions and Exercises.- 10: Singapore.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Survival through Industrialization.- 3. To Thrive through Restructuring.- 4. Concluding Remarks.- Summary.- Questions and Exercises.- 11: Outward Oriented Development Elsewhere.- 1. A Search for Additional Evidence.- 2. Malaysia.- 3. The People’s Republic of China.- 4. Mauritius.- Appendix: Additional Observations on the Chinese Economy.- Summary.- Questions and Exercises.- 12: Conclusions.- 1. At the Turn of the Millennium.- 2. The North and the South in Literature.- 3. The North and the South in Practice.- 4. Study of the Future and the Future of Studies.- 5. A Final Remark: What Value Is Rapid Growth?.- 6. Replicable Asian Lessons — Five Principles from Sen.- Appendix 1: Singapore’s Choice.- Appendix 2: Industry Exodus in Recession.- Summary.- Questions and Exercises.- Appendix: Problems for General Review.- Indices.- A Note for Users of Our Indices.- Author Index.- Subject Index—General.- Subject Index—Structured Comparisons.

Editorial Reviews

"This highly original book cleverly combines pointed theoretical insights with sharp site-specific observation. Henry Wan believes that the key to rapid growth in East Asian development has been a successful process of selective catching-up technologically with world best practice. Yes, yes, you will say, but what should one do? A careful reader will come away with an organized knowledge of what has been done, what worked, and what didn't, ranging all the way from broad social institutions to particular regulations, along with an agenda for thought and action." (Robert M. Solow, Institute Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Nobel Laureate of Economics, 1987)

"Henry Wan Jr. is a world class economist with an unmatched grasp of both international and development economics. To understand Asia's remarkable transformation, one needs both these disciplines and a large dose of wisdom and insightfulness as well. Wan has uniquely combined all these requisites to write a splendid and invaluable analysis that no scholar can ignore. It is a tour de force." (Jagdish Bhagwati, University Professor, Columbia University)

"During the second half of the 20th century, four East Asian countries traveled from the ranks of the poor to those of the rich. After years of unrelenting research work on this topic, Professor Wan finally puts forward his valuable views in a single monograph that tells a coherent and well-argued story of catching-up based on technology diffusion and international trade." (Jaume Ventura, Pentti Kouri Career Development Associate Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

From the Publisher