East Asian development : foundations and strategies

Taking both a historical and a comparative view, Perkins explores the nature of economic growth in East Asia. He focuses on ten sites in East and Southeast Asia that achieved a substantial degree of economic success: China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Secondarily, he discusses the failures in growth of other countries in the region, notably the Philippines. He analyzes why several of the economies of East and Southeast Asia have achieved rates of growth seldom witnessed elsewhere in the world (with a few exceptions); why some of the economies in the region have done better than the others; and why the richest economies eventually have all slowed down. He examines income distribution and the places where income inequality resulted. In looking into the sources for the high rate of growth, he analyzes how these economies and societies transformed the living standards of most their citizens.