Lessons from East Asia

This book, which includes a collection of case studies and comparative articles across countries, focuses on the role of public policies in the experience of East Asian economies. Regional learning and its diffusion is a major theme of this volume. From Japan's example and experience, to the impressive achievements of countries that were considered unviable in the 1950s and 1960s, such as Korea and Taiwan, the contributors show how lessons from regional politics have easily filtered across borders. The 1980s brought further lessons and capital flows to the second generation of rapidly growing industrialized countries. The 1990s saw new emerging countries, such as Vietnam, benefit from the spread of these lessons. However, as the chapters taken together reveal, the transferability of lessons depends on the institutional framework in which policies are formulated, the consistency of those policies, and the quality of their implementation. The first part includes case studies of the first generation of East Asia's fast-growing economies - the Tigers - while the second part examines the success stories of the subsequent generation - the Cubs - as well as the Philippines, a country that is just beginning to show notable progress. The third part includes comparative articles between countries on public investment, foreign direct investment, and patterns of international experiences that summarize the lessons learned and suggest measures that other countries seeking development can follow. These articles aim to fill two major gaps: the scarcity of country-specific studies on the institutional aspect of development policies, and the inability to explain the variation in the industrial policy record in East Asia. This book will be of interest to students, researchers and policy makers in the field of development economics. This title was officially part of the series Studies in International Trade Policy, now called Studies in International Economics.