OVERVIEW OF COURSE
REQUIRED TEXTS
REFERENCE MATERIAL ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
COURSE ORGANIZATION
ASSIGNMENTS
DETERMINATION OF COURSE GRADE
INSTRUCTOR'S POLICIES
FIRST PAPER ASSIGNMENT
SECOND PAPER ASSIGNMENT
MIDTERM EXAM
FINAL EXAM
The focal countries are Hong Kong (a unitary economy if not a country), Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. The emphasis is on understanding the logic underpinning their strategies of economic development; the issues dealt with are the "big picture" issues relating to development strategy. None of these countries will be dealt with in any real depth; rather, the concern is with the "stylized details" of their development, both in terms of policy and performance. Two other countries - China and India --loom so large that they shouldn't be neglected, notwithstanding that each is respectively sui generis, and this not simply because of its complexity born of the diversity that attends on massive size. Major policy issues confronting each - as a consequence of the decision to follow in the footsteps of the East Asian seven -- will be examined, with some attention being given to the arguably mistaken strategic choices made in the past that have led to the highly problematic nature of resolving these issues. Japan needs also to be reckoned with. Here the reckoning is not with regard to its past economic triumphs but rather in terms of its current, seemingly deep-seated, economic malaise which in various ways affects the entire region. Dealt with hardly at all are the many Asian economies which have experienced disappointing economic performance over the entire past half century. The causes of their problematic development should be apparent in general terms once the lessons of success are understood.
K&W - N.D. Kristof & S. WuDunn, Thunder from the east: portrait of a rising Asia, 2000; 352 pages.EAM - World Bank, The East Asian Miracle: economic growth and public policy, 1993; 389 pages.
LEW - L.E. Westphal, Technology strategies for economic development ...; 2001:
"Technology strategy" @ http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/lwestph1/download_files.html.REA - J.E. Stiglitz & S. Yusuf, eds., Rethinking the East Asian miracle, 2001, 526 pages (not all to be read).
China - N.R. Lardy, Integrating China into the global economys, 2002, 176 pages.
Japan - E.J. Lincoln, Arthritic Japan: the slow pace of economic reform, 2001, 222 pages.
India - V. Joshi & I.M.D. Little, India's economic reforms, 1991-2001, 1996, 265 pages.
Note: The total cost to purchase all of the texts will undoubtedly equal or surpass about $200. Pairs or triples of students might therefore want to coordinate their text purchases to share at least one text in common.
Two short papers will be assigned, with the specifics of the assignments reflecting student interests and concerns. There will also be a one hour mid-term and a two hour final.
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Weeks 1 & 2: |
Read all of K&W. |
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Weeks 3 through 5: |
Read all of EAM, omit appendices except 3.1; ~293 pages;
also read all of LEW paper. |
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Week 6: |
Week 6: read REA, ch.s by Yusuf, Ito, &
Stiglitz; ~ 110 pages. |
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Week 7: |
Prepare for midterm. |
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Spring Break: |
"ENJOY!" |
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Week 8: |
Read REA, ch.s by Perkins, Okazaki, Woo-Cumings, Jomo;
~ 152 pages |
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Weeks 9 & 10: |
Read all of China book. |
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Weeks 11 & 12: |
Read all of Japan book; you may also want to start
reading India book. |
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Weeks 13 & 14: |
Read all of India book. |
Late assignments: Assignments are due at the beginning of class or at the time stated, as the case may be. Assignments turned in after the deadline will be marked down one "notch" (e.g., from A- to B+) per hour that they are late; an exception will be made only in the case of a certified (by a Dean or Worth Health Center) emergency or medical excuse.
On cheating and plagiarism: See the Student Handbook's statement regarding Academic Honesty. Cases of suspected plagiarism and cheating on exams will be reported to the Dean's Office for judicial action. In addition, the instructor has the automatic policy that any student whom he considers, on the basis of evidence available to him, to have engaged in plagiarism or cheating in any individually assigned work (i.e., in this course, exams and written reports) will automatically receive No Credit for the course.
Examples of possible divisions of labor, responsibility
within student pairs:
Financial sector - status of financial institutions (e.g., bad debts) -VS-
monetary policy (inflation, etc).
Fiscal policy - expenditures -VS- revenues. E.g., in China, both emphasizing
federal structure problems.
Balance of payments - exchange rate -VS- capital flows. China, alternatively,
either -VS- WTO accession.
The assignment is first to read a book, a "classic," that offers an important perspective on some aspect of Asian economic performance. Some candidate books are listed below. Students wishing use this assignment to investigate the performance (over the past ~40 years) of some Asian economy may either read a classic that surveys its development experience or, where there is no classic, substitute a selection of readings more or less sufficient taken together to provide such a survey. Books / selections of readings must be approved by the instructor in advance of starting work on the assignment.
The assignment is then to participate in team oral reports to the class on commonalities, differences in perspectives between / among the individual readings; teams will be chosen on the basis of student choices of reading material. The final component of the assignment is to write a review of the book / selection of readings that summarizes principal arguments & findings, evidence, themes, and so on, depending on the nature of the book. To be included in the review is a brief discussion of how at least one published review evaluated the book, with some commentary on that review.
Book possibilities (one student per book; others may be
chosen, subject to instructor's approval):
Amsden, A.H., Asia's next giant: South Korea and late industrialization,
1989.
Bhagwati, J.N., and P. Desai, India: planning for industrialization; ...
policies ..., 1970.
Clifford, Troubled tiger: businessmen, bureaucrats, and generals in South
Korea, revised ed., 1998.
Dicken, Global shift: transforming the world economy, 3rd ed., 1998.
Hayami, Y. and V.W. Ruttan, Agricultural development: an international
perspective, 1985 ed.
Hobday, M., Innovation in East Asia: the challenge to Japan, 1995.
Kim, L.S., Imitation to innovation: ... Korea..., 1997.
Kim, L., & R.R. Nelson, eds., Technology, learning, and innovation: ...
industrializing economies, 2000.
Lall, S., Learning to industrialize: ... India, 1987.
Landes, D.S., The wealth and poverty of nations: why some are so rich and
some so poor, 1998.
Mathews, J.A. and D-S Cho, Tiger technology: The creation of a semiconductor
industry in East Asia, 2000.
Wade, R. (1990) Governing the market: ... role of government in East Asian
industrialization, 1990.
PLEASE group answers to each multi-part question together; clearly identify the question by number; and indicate the item being addressed at the start of each answer.
1. (7 points per answer; spend ~4+ minutes on each; totals:
21 points; 12.5 minutes)
Answer, briefly!, for any three of the four elements
below: How did the HPAEs' performance / achievements (from the 1960s up to
the Asian crisis) differ in general terms from that / those of developing
economies elsewhere in the world? What factors appear to explain the difference?
How did the difference(s) contribute, either directly or indirectly, to the
HPAEs' superior overall development performance?
2. (7 points per answer; spend ~4+ minutes on each; totals:
21 points; 12.5 minutes)
For any three of the six terms / concepts below, briefly!
give a definition / explanation and indicate its significance in the context
of East Asian development.
Cultural factors
Neoclassical versus revisionist
Financial repression
Policy fundamentals
Initial conditions
Price distortions
3. (18 points, spend ~11 minutes) Does the notion of export-led development (or development via export push) capture a fundamentally important aspect of East Asian performance; if so, does it apply equally well to the first- and the second- tier economies (or early achievers and late comers)?
Part II -- Essay, longer-answer question.
(40 points; spend ~ 24 minutes) What are the principal themes of Kristof's and WuDunn's Thunder from the East? What arguments do they advance in support of these themes; what evidence do they cite in support of them? Where, if at all, might it be thought that they are misguided or wrong (based on what else you've learned in the course to date)?
You have two and a half hours (or,
150 minutes) to take the exam. Answer questions as indicated below. If you
chose to bring into the exam a 5x8 card with your notes, be sure to turn in
the card when you turn in your blue books. In answering the questions, please
take care to note the point values (out of 200 points in total) and notional
time allotments for each part.
Part I - 60 points; 45 minutes.
Determine (or, identify / select) the six distinct, specific, and unitary terms, concepts, and / or "things" - respective examples might be selective intervention, corporate governance, land reform; collectively you might think of them as aptly descriptive "buzz phrases" - that you think best encapsulate the most significant aspects of East Asian economic policy and performance over the past forty plus years. For each of the six in turn (i.e. separately), briefly: define it; explain its significance in East Asian experience; justify its inclusion as one of the six most important "buzz phrases."
Part II - 40 points, 30 minutes.
What are considered to have been among the causes of the East Asian Economic / Financial Crisis of the late 1990s? What do you consider to have been the single most important cause; why?
Part III - 100 points, 75 minutes.
Consider the agenda of economic reforms remaining to be undertaken
by the Indian government that is discussed in Joshi's and Little's book. To
what extent are these also the reforms that remain to be accomplished by the
governments of China, Korea, and Japan (pay separate attention to each of
these three countries, and be sure to explain as necessary, useful)? Taking
into account as well the other countries in East Asia covered in the course,
which features of an advanced, "truly developed" economy (such as
those of the non-Asian OECD countries) appear to be the most difficult for
the Asian Economies to accomplish, or bring into being; why are they the most
difficult?