Development and Structural Change in Asia-Pacific: Globalising Miracles or End of a Model? (2004)

Development and Structural Change in Asia-Pacific: Globalising Miracles or End of a Model? Edited by Martin Andersson and Christer Gunnarsson. London and New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003. Pp. 217. Instead of another edited volume on the Asian financial crisis, nine authors set themselves to rethink on the Asia-Pacific development model. The misperception that the East and Southeast Asian economies never represented or followed one model is replaced by them as part and parcel of a regional industrialization process, each with different roles commensurate with their economic and social structure and level of development. In the context of globalization and deregulation, a rethinking of the Asia-Pacific model is also timely. The edited volume from a 1999 conference relooks at the structural and institutional differences of the Asian crisis economies, also in comparison with Latin American crisis economies and the interplay of international and national institutional and political factors in the overall shaping of the challenges and responses in the processes of industrialization and globalization. Organized into two parts and ten chapters, the editors (Martin Andersson and Christer Gunnarsson) first give the perspectives on Asia-Pacific development, straddling between the market-friendly and state-led approaches and how the Asian crisis gave further cause for pause for the controversial model. The divergent paths are noted and the model reached a hiatus when the crisis broke out. Part I on global institutions and the state contains five chapters on lessons learnt (Irma Adelman), a tale of two crises in Latin America and the HPAEs (John Weeks), a defence of neoliberalism in a comparative review of the Asian crisis (Chris Edwards), the IMF and the Thai crisis (Medhi Krongkaew), and the Malaysian in the economic globalization era (the late Ishak Shari). The idiosyncratic impact and policy response of these case studies reflect the need for a differentiated analysis of the financial crisis as the domestic political economy and state is intertwined with international political economy in contemporary times. Part II has four chapters on beyond policy explanations (Martin Andersson and Christer Gunnarsson), education and equality (Anne Booth), failure of the universal model (Jomo, K. S.), and an epilogue (Martin Andersson and Christer Gunnarsson). The divergent economic development paths are further underscored. The epilogue concludes with two propositions, the first in terms of the historical divide as before mid-1980s and the one after as applicable to Asia-Pacific, the second of another divide between Northeast and Southeast Asian in both periods. As the Asian crisis hit the whole region as part and parcel of a long-term developmental process, the editors conclude that industrialization types matter and that the traditional miracle explanation has run out of date. The edited volume is focused on policy lessons both positively in terms of handling the globalized world better and somewhat regrettably in the end of a model with the financial crisis disruptive effects both cyclically and structurally. One way to review it more creatively is to imagine a policy-maker using the book in a proactive way if the next financial crisis is to be averted. …