Suchergebnisse

Getting growth going is hard and rare -- History as prologue -- Dictators build and sustain pro-growth coalitions -- Dictators incite domestic capitalists to invest -- Selective interventions in rice agriculture -- The state and industrial development -- Technological upgrading -- Democrats, democratic developmental states and growth -- Democracy and corruption -- Lessons from IMT for the rest

Why do some economies seem to excel at effective pollution management while others miss the mark when responding to deteriorating urban environments? These studies of pollution management in East Asia's newly industrialized economies (NIEs) include successful government responses in Singapore and Taiwan, qualified results in China and Indonesia, and much more limited success in Thailand and Malaysia. In each example, Michael Rock considers the starting point of the economy as it began its path toward industrialization in the post World War II period. He discusses the relevant historical and political context, the pressures placed on the political system from domestic and international sources, and the influence of ongoing trends in East Asia for democratization and economic liberalization. Rock's text makes it clear that each economy found unique, innovative ways to link environmental protection to its own political and economic institutions. Thus, while public pressure from both home and abroad gave strong impetus to successful programs in Taiwan, the development of policy in Singapore involved limited public review and a centralized, government-led process. The result of Rock's scholarship is a book that provides important lessons without being reductionist. The book offers insights to apply to pollution management in a diverse range of developing nations, but avoids attempts for precise prescriptions, or universally appealing, normative answers. A copublication of Resources for the Future and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS).

Political elites in East Asia have opted for a set of democratic institutions with a strong majoritarian bias that privilege efficiency and accountability over representativeness. Some have labeled these democracies "democratic developmental states." Because the political architects of East Asia's democratic developmental states have met at least some of their objectives, it is time to ask, What has been the impact of the shift to majoritarianism on growth? I answer this question empirically by demonstrating that the contribution to growth from majoritarian democratic institutions in East Asia is as large as that from the region's developmentally oriented authoritarian governments.