East Asian Economic Conditions

This insightful book explores the economic conditions and policy response of four major East Asian economies in the wake of the 2008 global economic crisis. Written by a distinguished group of Asian social scientists, this study summarizes and synthesizes the economic impacts of the crisis on individual countries and their policy response over the past few years, and in particular carefully scrutinizes the immediate and remote causes of the crisis. It not only offers an assessment of the impacts of the crisis, and identifies specific country measures that can be undertaken to stabilize the situation, but also looks at the crisis from three important economic perspectives: that of a healthy fiscal system, international trade, and the energy market. This insightful research monograph will be gratefully received by academics in economics and development studies as well as public policy think tanks. Government economic planning agencies in emerging countries, as well as international economic organizations and institutions such as World Bank and United Nations will also find plenty of key insights and important information in this path-breaking book.

"Easily the most informed and comprehensive analysis to date on how and why East Asian countries have achieved sustained high economic growth rates, [this book] substantially advances our understanding of the key interactions between the governors and governed in the development process. Students and practitioners alike will be referring to Campos and Root's series of excellent case studies for years to come." Richard L. Wilson, The Asia Foundation Eight countries in East Asia--Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia--have become known as the "East Asian miracle" because of their economies' dramatic growth. In these eight countries real per capita GDP rose twice as fast as in any other regional grouping between 1965 and 1990. Even more impressive is their simultaneous significant reduction in poverty and income inequality. Their success is frequently attributed to economic policies, but the authors of this book argue that those economic policies would not have worked unless the leaders of the countries made them credible to their business communities and citizens. Jose Edgardo Campos and Hilton Root challenge the popular belief that East Asia's high performers grew rapidly because they were ruled by authoritarian leaders. They show that these leaders had to collaborate with various sectors of their population to create an environment that was conducive to sustained growth. This required them to persuade the business community that their investments would not be expropriated and to convince the broader population that their short-term sacrifices would be rewarded in the future. Many of the countries achieved business cooperation by creating consultative groups, which the authors call deliberation councils, to enhance accountability and stability. They also obtained popular support through a variety of wealth-sharing measures such as land reform, worker cooperatives, and wider access to education. F

Economic Development of Emerging East Asia presents economic studies of Taiwan and South Korea, compares them chiefly with Japan and the United States and finds that these East Asian countries are still in the process of emerging in the world economy. A timely quantitative and econometric analysis of the regional economies of emerging East Asia, the volume examines development indicators, effects of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, productivity growth, catching up and convergence of long run real GDP per capita growth, the time required for a country to catch up, colonialism and economic development in Taiwan and India. Arranged in increasing complexity of economic analyses, the chapters in this book provide a comprehensive understanding of emerging East Asian economies. In addition to serving as a handy reference for regional economists, policy analysts and researchers, Economic Development of Emerging East Asia can also be used as a textbook on economics and business.

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.

The notion that South Asian economies have tended to be less successful than those of East Asia is critically examined and the reasons why discussed. Countries covered include Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Key issues examined: * agriculture and rural development * labour market and human resource development * trade and industry policies * foreign investment and technological capabilities * foreign aid and economic development * financial development and economic performance * poverty, inequality and economic development * regional economic co-operation * 'green' development.

This book is a compilation of papers written jointly by the staff and students of the Applied Economics Division of the Nanyang Business School. It is unique, in that all the works included are the result of an extensive, equal and mutually beneficial collaboration between the students and staff. At the same time, they embody the highest level of technical and analytical rigor, and will be immensely relevant and useful to readers interested in East Asian economic issues. In particular, this volume will prove valuable for anyone interested in both the microeconomic and macroeconomic developments affecting Singapore and ASEAN.