Growth Theories In Light Of The East Asian Experience

The contributors to this volume analyze the growth experiences of Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan in light of the recently developed endogenous growth theory to provide an understanding of the economic boom in East Asia. The theory explored in this volume attributes the phenomenal economic success of these countries to, among other factors, the role of an outward orientation—a focus on exporting rather than on protecting home markets. In addition, the importance of exchange rate behavior, of the supportive role of government policy, and of the accumulation and promotion of physical and human capital are explored in detail. This collection also examines the extent to which growth in each country became self-sustaining once it began. Demonstrating the relevance of endogenous growth theory for studying this important region, this fourth volume in the NBER-East Asia Seminar on Economics series will be of interest to observers of East Asian affairs.

This collection of papers challenges the conventional view of East Asian development driven by open and efficient markets and suggests that considerable diversity both at the institutional level and in policy approaches lies behind the region's rapid economic growth.

This paper examines the different arguments raised by the studies that addressed the East Asian growth experience. The original arguments presented in this paper are all on the negative side, highlighting problems associated with some of the possible explanations for the East Asian miracle. The paper concentrates mainly on four dimensions of the debate about the East Asian growth experience: (i) The nature of economic growth intensive or extensive?; (ii) The role of public policy and of selective interventions; (iii) The role of high investment rates and a strong export orientation as possible engines of growth; and (iv) The importance of the initial conditions and their relevance for policy.

Although economic growth is amongst the oldest of debates in Economics, there has been little advancement in growth theory since the classic works of Solow. As such, clear-cut answers to the context-specific determinants of growth, especially for developing countries, are rare. Bridging the Gap Between Growth Theory and Policy in Asia: An Extension of the Solow Growth Model adds to the works of Solow by showing how his original model can be extended and used for policy, discussing issues in growth econometrics, including the theoretical underpinnings of growth models, and some of the important challenges in empirical studies on economic growth. This simpler manual will be highly useful for applied economists, policy makers, and graduate students.

No region has been more dynamic in recent years than East Asia. Despite its successful economic development, evaluations of the East Asian development model have often been capricious, shifting from "miracle" to "cronyism." How can we explain East Asia's ups and downs consistently? To respond to this challenge, it is necessary to study the progress of East Asian development and to trace the influence of Asian cultural values. This study mainly focuses on cultural aspects of economic progress and analyzes East Asia's philosophical and historical backgrounds to explain the dynamic process. East Asians believe that balance between opposite but complementary forces, Yin and Yang, will ensure social stability and progress. Through repeated rebalancing to maintain harmony, the society comes to maturity. In traditional East Asian societies, a balance was maintained between Confucianism (Yang) and Taoism, Buddhism, and other philosophies (Yin). In modern societies, the challenge is to balance traditional systems (Yang) and Western style capitalism (Yin). This East Asian development model explains the Republic of Korea's rise, fall, and recovery. Korea was a poor country until the early 1960s, during the time when spiritualism (Yang) dominated. From the 1960s through the 1980s, Korea achieved rapid growth by finding a new balance and moving toward materialism (Yin) from spiritualism (Yang). But the failure to maintain a harmonious balance between cooperatism and collectivism (Yang) and individualism (Yin) led to major weaknesses in labor and financial markets that contributed significantly to the financial crisis in 1997. As Korea arrived at a new balance by instituting reform programs, the venture-oriented information and communication technology (ICT) industry blossomed and led to a rapid economic recovery. Since 2000, domestic financial scandals and political corruption have emerged as new social issues. Korea's next challenge is to find a new harmonization between moralism (Yang) and legalism (Yin). This paper-a product of the Office of the Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, Development Economics-is part of a larger effort in the Bank to examine institutional and cultural foundations of development across regions and countries.

A wide-ranging, interdisciplinary analysis of the evolution of successful economic policies in East Asia, this study advances a thorough examination of the sustained economic growth enjoyed by the countries in this region.

Published in 1999, this text investigates whether FDI caused spill over effects which have led to the economic growth of the ASEAN-5 economies, and if that it so, whether the ASEAN Preferential Trade Agreement (APTA) had a significant effect in attracting FDI to the region. It takes into account the different levels of economic development of the countries under analysis. The results from the structural (static) model suggest that FDI has stimulated economic growth through the human factors followed by technology transfer, international trade, and learning by doing, and that the formation of APTA had a lagged influence on FDI inflows into the advantage of the more developed member countries and the disadvantage of the less developed countries. Those from the multiplier (dynamic) effects analysis demonstrate that whereas the impact is immediate in the more developed, politically stable and foreign investment friendly economies, there is a time lag in those economies which are less developed and more hostile to FDI. The analysis presents an empirical comparison of how the level of economic development affects the interaction of FDI, regionalism and economic growth.

The fifteen essays in this volume address from several viewpoints the question of what role population change played in East Asia's rapid economic development.