Policy choices in the newly industrializing countries

This paper compares the policies and economic performance of newly-industrializing countries (NICs) in the Far East and Latin America in the 1963-88 period. The two groups of countries include Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan; and Agentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. Information is provided on indicators of economic growth as well as on domestic savings ratios, the efficiency of investment, and export performance. The experience of the Far Eastern and Latin American NICs provides important lessons to other developing countries. It indicates the superiority of outward-oriented policies that provide similar incentives to exports and to import substitution. It also shows that the continuation of outward-orientation policies permits overcoming the effects of external shocks while reliance on external borrowing reinforces the adverse effects of these shocks.