Labor in the political economy of East Asian Industrialization

Abstract

As with the Japanese “miracle,” the rapid growth of the East Asian newly industrializing countries (NICs)—South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore—has spawned a new literature seeking the taproot of economic success. While neoclassical economists have focused on the pursuit of export-led growth and market-oriented policies that “got the prices right,” a new revisionism has demonstrated the extent of state intervention in Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea. Some observers have pointed to a common Confucian culture in the East Asian NICs, and others have argued for the importance of close business-government relations and strong states in guiding the growth process.