"There has been a long-running debate among development economists with regard to the role of governments in the phenomenal economic growth of the East Asian countries. On the one hand, neoclassical economists maintain that their success can be attributed to the laissez-faire approach adopted by the respective governments and the export-oriented policies aimed at achieving more efficient allocation of resources through the harmonization of domestic and world prices. On the other hand, other development specialists challenge this line of argument and counter that these countries have employed active interventionist policies to promote selected export industries by creating dynamic comparative advantage in them. Alam attempts to substantiate the latter thesis with respect to three East Asian countries, namely Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. This volume consist of five chapters. The first is exclusively concerned with the theoretical discourse between the two schools of thought. The next three chapters relate to the case studies of the three countries. The last chapter tries to answer the question whether the export-oriented strategy, so successful to these countries, can be adopted by other developing countries with an equal chance of success. The book is rather eclectic with no tables or quantification. The writing style is concise and to the point. Appropriate for academic collections." -- Choice
Review
“There has been a long-running debate among development economists with regard to the role of governments in the phenomenal economic growth of the East Asian countries. On the one hand, neoclassical economists maintain that their success can be attributed to the laissez-faire approach adopted by the respective governments and the export-oriented policies aimed at achieving more efficient allocation of resources through the harmonization of domestic and world prices. On the other hand, other development specialists challenge this line of argument and counter that these countries have employed active interventionist policies to promote selected export industries by creating dynamic comparative advantage in them. Alam attempts to substantiate the latter thesis with respect to three East Asian countries, namely Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. This volume consist of five chapters. The first is exclusively concerned with the theoretical discourse between the two schools of thought. The next three chapters relate to the case studies of the three countries. The last chapter tries to answer the question whether the export-oriented strategy, so successful to these countries, can be adopted by other developing countries with an equal chance of success. The book is rather eclectic with no tables or quantification. The writing style is concise and to the point. Appropriate for academic collections.”–
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