Case Study (Finance and Development in Emerging Asia II)

Instructors

NISHIZAWA Toshiro

Term / Language / Credits

S1S2 / English / 2

Objectives

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. The role of financing for development, both internal and external, is one of the key focuses of discussion.
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 or matured enough to support sustained and equitable economic growth?
*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?
*How should we assess the effectiveness of the domestic financial systems?
*How should we invest in human capital to achieve sustained and equitable economic growth over the longer term?
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 policy with an effective incentive design and minimum market distortions.
The study seeks implications for the roles of the institutional framework and of public policy to meet the demand for paradigm change in Asia. We will keep asking ourselves how we should define and seek Asia’s concept of a "more advanced stage" of development?

Keywords

Asia, development model, emerging economies, finance, institution, middle-income trap, 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. Students are required to choose a topic of his/her interest in the early stages of the course. 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 brief presentations occasionally on a topic of his/her choice 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 presentations 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%

Required Textbook

None

Reference Books

Required readings, mainly excerpts taken from the following reference books and other materials, will be either made available on the student bulletin board or handed out in class.
Coggan, Philip. 2011. Paper Promises: Money, Debt and the New World Order. New York: Penguin Groups.
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.
Nishizawa, Toshiro. 2011. "Changes in Development Finance in Asia: Trends, Challenges, and Policy Implications." Asian Economic Policy Review. Volume 6, Issue 2 (December).
Piketty, Thomas. 2014. Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Translated by Arthur Goldhammer. MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Rodrik, Dani. 2012. The Globalization Paradox: Why Global Markets, States, and Democracy Can't Coexist. New York: Oxford University Press.
World Bank. 1993. The East Asian Miracle: Economic Growth and Public Policy. New York: Oxford University Press.

Notes on Taking the Course

The former course "Case Study (Paradigm Change for Asia's Emerging Economies II)" (Course Number 5140722) offered in the summer semester 2014 has now been renamed as "Case Study (Finance and Development in Emerging Asia II)" (Course Number 5140724) so that those who took the former course (5140722) are not allowed to take this course. This course offers an updated discussion on current policy issues in Asia's emerging economies following the course "Case Study (Finance and Development in Emerging Asia I)" (Course Number 5140723) and does not require completion of 5140723 as the prerequisite.

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