The East Asian Newly Industrializing Economies

The phenomenal success of the East Asian Newly Industrializing Economies (NIEs) of Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore is now well-known and documented. Their success has been discussed to such an extent that it has become entrenched as part of the folklore of development economics. The Newly Industrializing Economies of East Asia takes a fresh look at the relevant literature and sifts the rhetoric from the reality. In the course of surveying the vast range of writing two competing paradigms become clear: the neo-classical approach which interprets the East Asian economic miracle as the predictable outcome of `good' policies; and the statist perspective which draws attention to the central role of the government in guiding East Asian economic development. Throughout the book the authors mix country-specific experiences with broader trends.

Offers a careful synthesis of a vast and disparate literature and makes it accessible to student readership. Points to the need to take a closer look at the future evolution of the East Asian NIEs in an era of democratisation.

Where development is concerned, our language and perhaps our way of thinking often ap pear somewhat distorted. If anything, the Asian economies with their most impressive and dynamic growth should logically be called developing countries. Instead, we call them threshold countries, newly industrializing countries (NICs) or newly industrializing eco nomies (NIEs), the latter term taking into account the Chinese argument that Hong Kong and Taiwan should not be considered countries. During the eighties, when Latin American NICs became the main victims of the debt crisis, the NIEs of East Asia (EANIEs), the little tigers or dragons, presented most impres sive examples of growth through orientation to world trade, fitting well into the Japanese 'flying-geese' concept. Naturally, questions were raised as to the reasons for this success, the lessons other countries could draw from it, and the outlook for the future. At the same time, the establis hed industrial countries wanted to know what NIE competition might mean for them. In 1988, the OECD published a study entitled "The NIEs -Challenge and Opportunity for OECD Industries". The NIBs had become a fashionable object of research and debate. In Western Europe, where countries are preparing for a period offurtherintegration and East-West cooperation, it seems worth-while to also consider the role ofthe EANIEs and the options for cooperation they represent. Moreover, the NIEs themselves are following development in Europe with some concern and are trying to adjust to the new situation as it emerges.

In surveying the vast range of writing on the East Asian NIEs and their development paths, this book evaluates the competing roles of neo-classical approaches and central government intervention in guiding economic development.

The newly industrializing countries (NICs) of East Asia have undergone rapid economic expansion over the past twenty vears. Unlike NICs elsewhere in the Third World, those in the Pacific basin-South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong-have managed to achieve almost full employment, a relatively egalitarian distribution of income, and the virtual elimination or poverty. In this collection of essays, nine development specialists explore the Asian NICs' exceptional ability to capitalize on the favorable economic environment of the 1960s and then to adapt flexibly to worsening conditions in the 1970s and 1980s.

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.