Systemic vulnerability and sustainable economic growth : skills and upgrading in Southeast Asia For many developing countries economic growth is an elusive quest. Both economists and policymakers have long known that issues such as education investment and infrastructure are necessary ingredients for development and yet only a very small number of countries seem to be able to come up with the right mix of these ingredients. Bryan Ritchie demonstrates how political relationships among government business academic and labor leaders create different incentives for economic actors to make key decisions to promote economic upgrading and sustainable development 1. Introduction 2. The political economy of technical intellectual capital formation 3. Some preliminary evidence 4. The origin of initial institutional decisions 5. Coalitions and initial decisions during state building 6. The legacies of initial choices 7. Institutional formation and skills development 8. The Asian financial crisis and technical intellectual capital formation