Sources of Growth and the Role of Government in the Development of the East Asian Economies

Abstract

In the past twenty to thirty years, only a few of the more than 140 developing countries in the world have achieved the status of being a newly industrializing economy (NIE). The growth and industrialization of the East Asian NIEs-in particular, Hong Kong, South Korea (henceforth Korea), Taiwan, and Singapore-during this period, as well as the rise of Japan following World War II which attained developed-country status and went on to become an economic superpower in the 1980s and 1990s have been, by all standards, spectacular. In contrast, the developing economies of Latin America-some of which were at a higher stage of development than the East Asian NIEs at the turn of the century (Argentina is one example of this)-and Africa have not witnessed as impressive performances.