Rethinking the East Asian Miracle

Abstract

Initially, the intention of this book's work, was to take a fresh look at East Asia's regional experience during the 1990s, and to expand, and revise as necessary the findings of the World Bank's "East Asian Miracle", (published in 1993). However, while work began in 1997 - when the East Asian crisis was only a small, localized cloud over Thailand - the seriousness of the crisis demonstrated the need to bring together a number of different perspectives on key aspects of the East Asian model, and its several country variants. The book assesses the evolving experience with industrial policies, in the forms implemented by individual countries in the region, examines in depth how the Chinese experience meshes with those of other economies in the region - a dimension absent in the "East Asian Miracle" - and, the rich evidence from the 1990s, casts new light on the relative contribution of export-led policies, and of import liberalization to growth, while helping to clarify key issues that influence the choices of exchange rate policies. Taking into account the realization that understanding the East Asian development requires admittance of the political economy of change, of governance, and of the roles of key institutions, the contributors to this book, considered each of these carefully, and offer an economic kaleidoscope on East Asia that is deep, and analytically rigorous.