Education and National Development: The Case of Taiwan

Abstract

Taiwan's economic success has attracted worldwide attention. Although government declared the Taiwan to be theory and model for developing countries and was quick to promote it internationally (Lee Teng-hui 1988, 8), some scholars clearly pointed out that experience of Taiwan could not be a model, since it possessed unique historical, geographic, and political characteristics that no other country could imitate (Evans and Pang 1988, 19; Amsden 1988, 172). Of many reasons cited for Taiwan experience, some emphasized strategy, such as land reform and phasic development (Ranis 1979; Amsden 1988; Tsai 1989); others gave credit to role of government (Evans and Pang 1989). Still others focused on historical and cultural factors such as Confucian philosophy (Berger 1984; Hwang 1986). Education was another factor often cited. This fact was not only affirmed by educators but by many economists from point of view of human capital theory, citing education's cont...