Case Study (Paradigm Change for Asia's Emerging Economies)

Instructors

NISHIZAWA, Toshiro

Credits / Language / Semester

2Credits / English / Winter

Objectives/Overview

A primary question is whether the achievements of Asia's emerging economies since the crisis in the late 1990s will be sustainable, and could lead to the fundamental transformation of the economies towards a “more advanced stage” of development going forward. Cases are taken mainly from the experiences of and prospects for Indonesia, Korea, and Thailand.

As a first step, it should be worthwhile to revisit recent history since the crisis in the late 1990s, and ask how and why Asia's emerging economies have been able to demonstrate better performance, and thus regain an improved credit standing and positive investor confidence. Also, we should ask whether the current setting for Asia's emerging economies differs from the pre-Asian Crisis landscape.

What are the key factors and mechanisms behind these achievements? Contributing factors and mechanisms, both endogenous and exogenous, are sought in the political, social, and economic domains from historical and global perspectives. More specific questions can be asked such as:

--Has their growth performance with relatively sound macroeconomic balances been a policy-induced outcome, or primarily made possible by benign external environments?

--How should we assess the economic fundamentals and institutional aspects? Are they resilient to possible external shocks?

--How have the domestic social and political motivations contributed to their achievements?

--What has been the role of regional and global production, and distribution networks?

--What has been the role of external capital flows? Were external capital flows a destabilizing or contributing factor to their improved performance?

--How should we assess the effectiveness of the existing regional and global financial architecture?

Another question can be asked whether there are any challenges and pitfalls in their development model in such contexts as global macroeconomic imbalances, excessive dominance of monetary easing in advanced economies, natural resource and environment constraints, and social equity dimensions. We should also ask how to correct any shortcomings in a feasible way, particularly through public finance with an effective incentive design and minimum market distortions.

The study seeks implications for the role of the government and of public policy to meet the demand for paradigm change in Asia. How should we define and seek Asia's concept of a “more advanced stage” of development?

Keywords

Asia, development model, emerging economies, paradigm change, public policy, role of government

Schedule

To be announced on the first day of the course

Teaching Methods

This course will be organized as a seminar with introductory lecture followed by class discussion. Active participation in discussion based on student different backgrounds, life-experiences, knowledge, skills, and reading of assigned materials is expected. The working language is English.

Guest speakers will be invited to discuss specific issues from various perspectives and/or based on different fields of professional expertise.

Students are required to make presentations at least twice on a topic of their interest either individually or as a team depending on the total number of registered students. Each student is also required to submit reports based on the presentation in the middle and at the end of the course.

Grading

The course grade will be based on:
Presentations 35% (10% for mid-term and 25% for final)
Individual reports 35% (10% for mid-term and 25% for final)
Class attendance and participation 30%

Reference Books

Required readings, mainly excerpts taken from the following reference books and other materials, will be either made available on the course website or handed out in class.

Aoki, Masahiko, Hyung-ki Kim, and Masahiro Okuno-Fujiwara, eds. 1996. The Role of Government in East Asian Economic Development. New York: Oxford University Press.

Coggan, Philip. 2011. Paper Promises: Money, Debt and the New World Order. New York: Penguin Groups.

Djiwandono, J. Soedradjad. 2005. Bank Indonesia and the Crisis: An Insider's View. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

Gill, Indermit, and Homi Kharas. 2007. An East Asian Renaissance: Ideas for Economic Growth. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

Hill, Hal. 2000. The Indonesian Economy. 2nd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Ito, Takatoshi, Akira Kojima, Colin McKenzie, and Shujiro Urata, eds. 2007. Ten Years After the Asian Crisis: What Have We Learned or Not Learned? Asian Economic Policy Review. Volume 2, Issue 1 (June).

Kohli, Harinder S., Ashok Sharma, and Anil Sood, eds. 2011. Asia 2050: Realizing the Asian Century. New Delhi: SAGE Publications.

Phongpaichit, Pasuk, and Chris Baker. 1998. Thailand's Boom and Bust. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books.

Phongpaichit, Pasuk, and Chris Baker, eds. 2008. Thai Capital: After the 1997 Crisis. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books.

Stiglitz, Joseph E., and Shahid Yusuf, eds. 2001. Rethinking the East Asian Miracle. New York: Oxford University Press.

Wie, Thee Kian. 2012. Indonesia's Economy since Independence. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

World Bank. 1993. The East Asian Miracle: Economic Growth and Public Policy. New York: Oxford University Press.

Yoshitomi, Masaru, and ADBI Staff. 2003. Post-Crisis Development Paradigms in Asia. Tokyo: Asian Development Bank Institute.

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