This study aims to assess the factors responsible for high economic growth in major East Asian developing countries and the sustainability of their growth in years to come. The study particularly pays attention to the factors which are not easily meas...
This study aims to assess the factors responsible for high economic growth in major East Asian developing countries and the sustainability of their growth in years to come. The study particularly pays attention to the factors which are not easily measurable, such as renewed self-consciousness of the people in the region, a unique guiding role of governments, an 'oriental' perception of trade and commerce which is different from that in the western society, and a special system for education and culture.
This study is organized as follows. The first chapter is devoted to explaining the purpose of this research and what hypothesis is going to be dealt with. The second chapter addresses various factors which are not measurable yet played a very significant role in economic development in East Asia. In the third chapter, economic conditions in the East Asian region in coming years are discussed. In the discussion, both the measurable and non-measurable factors are analyzed and both are put in perspective. In the fourth chapter, various theories about the East Asian economy are introduced both on the pessimistic and the optimistic side. After presenting the major arguments of those theories, a value judgement is made on the conditions that those theories are presuming. The last chapter is devoted to the summary and the conclusion.
The main argument of this study lies in that a pessimistic assessment of the East Asian economy a' Ia Paul Krugman is misleading to the extent that total factor productivity growth has not been the primary source of its growth in the past. The vibrant growth of the region is based upon very intensive investment in human resources, mobilization of domestic savings, market-augmenting government guidance, and the unique Confucian social value system.
The real miracle of the East Asian economy may be socio-cultural more than economic. It is rare in the history of economic development of the world that people's self-consciousness of the necessity for economic growth combined nicely with government leadership complementing the private sector's efforts. As the economies get closer to the advanced stage, however, the countries in the region must recognize institutional and individual fallibility. This recognition will give rise to a more sensible and flexible system which is needed for a structural reform at the time the East Asian developing countries join the rank of developed countries.