Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. Chapter 16 Export- Oriented Growth in East Asia

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved.

Chapter 16

Export-Oriented Growth in East Asia

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 16-2

Chapter Objectives

• Understand the causes of strong and sustained economic growth in East Asia

• Analyze the factors underlying East Asia´s 1997 economic and financial crisis

• Discuss the recovery of the East Asian economies


Introduction

• In contrast to Latin America, East Asia has long enjoyed

– Macroeconomic stability

– Income equality

– Skilled workforce

– Export orientation


Key Terms

• The High Performance Asian Economies (HPAE): Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand

• The Four Tigers: Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, Taiwan

• The Newly Industrialized Economies (NIEs): a number of Asian and Latin American economies


TABLE 16.1 Population and GDP for the High Growth Asian Economies, 2005


TABLE 16.2 Average Annual Growth in Real GDP per Person, 1980–2005


General Characteristics of Growth in the HPAEs

• Falling inequality

• Accumulation of physical and human capital

• Sound macroeconomic fundamentals

• Promotion of exports


TABLE 16.3 Measures of Income Distribution, East Asia and Latin America


Accumulation of Physical and Human Capital

• HPAEs have high rates of investment thanks to high savings rates, which stem from

– Rapid accumulation of physical capital

– Stable financial institutions

– Absence of high inflation

– Demographic transition—shift to low death and birth rates

– Rapid rate of income growth


TABLE 16.4 The Share of HPAEs in World Exports, 1965–2000


Stable Macroeconomic Environments

• HPAEs kept budget deficits and foreign debt within the limits of the ability of the government to finance without having to print money or borrow excessively– Low inflation rates helped keep interest rates stable, enabled

firms to take a long-term view on their investments

• The crisis of 1997 proves the rule: significant reduction in export earnings and growth of current account deficits in some HPAE countries


The Institutional Environment

• In the HPAEs, large flows of savings were channelled into the financial system, which lent them to businesses that used them efficiently

• Moreover, governmental rules fostered efficient economic outcomes


Features of HPAEs’ Institutional Environment

• Reliable property rights– Bureaucracies are competent

– Contracts are enforced

– Access to information is wide-spread

– Regulations are clear and well-publicized

• Deliberation councils: quasi-legislative bodies set up by six HPEA governments that bring together representatives from the private and the public sectors to coordinate the information flow between businesses and policymakers


The Role of Industrial Policies

• Government interventions are common in three areas in HPEAs– Targeting of specific industries– Direct credit– Export promotion

• Let’s analyze industrial policies in greater detail…


Targeting of Specific Industries

• Targeted industrial policies: efforts to alter a country’s industrial structure and thus change its comparative advantages through channelling resources to certain industries

– Also seen as the government’s picking winners and losers


Targeting of Specific Industries (cont.)

• Six key tools of targeting

– Restrictions on imports: licensing, quotas, tariffs, export subsidies

– Direct credit: funds to an industry

– Subsidies

– Market information (especially foreign markets)

– Infrastructure construction

– Research and development funds


Targeting of Specific Industries (cont.)

• Targeted industrial policies are distinct from other efforts to promote specific industries

– Resources provided only as long as the companies receiving them met specific export targets

– Governments placed macroeconomic stability above industrial policies


Results of Targeting

• Disagreement

– World Bank: Export promotion and directed credit did boost economic growth, but industrial policies in general did not

– Critics: It is impossible to know what growth rates would have been without industrial policies


Results of Targeting (cont.)

• Agreement that successful industrial policies have

– Clear performance criteria such as export targets

– Institutional means to monitor and enforce compliance

– Low costs in order for nontargeted sectors not to suffer


Promotion of Manufactured Exports

• Production of exports has several advantages

– Make possible the purchase of imported inputs that can make firms more competitive

– In the case of HPEAs, the need to meet export targets helped encourage FDI and the acquisition of new technologies


Promotion of Manufactured Exports (cont.)

• However, promotion of exports results in greater GDP growth only if

– There is something in the promoted production process or its links to the rest of economy that is absent from domestic-oriented production

– Exports speed up the adoption of international best practices


Is Export Promotion a Good Model?

• Yes: Even if all developing countries stressed export promotion, they would be unlikely to saturate the industrialized country markets

• No: Under the Uruguay Round rules of 1994, developing countries must eliminate any subsidies contingent on export performance in eight years


Is There an Asian Model of Economic Growth?

• East Asian growth is remarkable for its growth in per capita income and in labor productivity– Labor productivity depends on additional amount of capital,

education, and total factor productivity (TPF)—issues related to new technologies, innovation, and organizational improvements

• Research conclusion: the bulk of East Asian growth is attributable to increases in capital and education, rather than TFP

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved.

Chapter 16

Additional Chapter Art


TABLE 16.5 Imports and Exports as a Share of GDP


TABLE 16.6 Free Trade Areas in Asia and Oceania


TABLE 16.7 Sources of Growth, 1960–1994 (Percent)


High-Performance Asian Economies (HPAEs)

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Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. Chapter 16 Export- Oriented Growth in East Asia