Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
This book takes stock of the lessons from two decades of successful economic performance in East Asian countries and the new lessons that have arisen from the recent economic crisis. Observations from East Asia are divided into those relating to economic policies and those relating to their institutional underpinnings. The book concludes with updated analysis aimed at helping other countries learn from the East Asian experience.
Synopsis
Before the financial crisis of the late 1990s, the East Asian experience was hailed as a miracle and a model of successful development. A broad consensus had been reached on the role of governments in engineering this economic success, and rapid growth was generally attributed to sound policies that were underpinned by a solid institutional framework. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, however, the miracle has been dismissed as a myth and a bad example that other countries should avoid. Critics allege that governments not only made serious policy mistakes, but also that the institutional framework was not so beneficial after all. The term crony capitalism is frequently used to summarize this notion. This book investigates the role that institutional conditions played in the miracle, and whether they had a part in causing the crisis. The focus is on such factors as the close ties between the public and private sectors, the incentives structures within the public sector, and corruption. Empirical tests show that these factors can indeed contribute to explaining differences in economic growth. The data also show that the notion of distinctive East Asian experience is misguided because there were always large differences in institutional conditions among the miracle economies. Scorecards of institutional performance are presented for Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong The volume ends with a detailed discussion of the role of corruption. The author concludes that, contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence of corruption having cased the crisis.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [155]-161) and index.