The End of the ‘Asian Model’?

With the economic crisis in Asia, which unfolded in recent years, the development ‘model’ on which the phenomenal earlier success of several countries in the region was built requires increasing scrutiny. This anthology questions the validity of the notion promoted by some observers and international financial organizations that there is a universally applicable model of industrialization common to Asian countries. A number of senior and highly regarded Asia specialists are taking a critical look at the various development experiences of several (and some often neglected) Asian countries and evaluate their experiences in a comparative perspective. Comparing the analyses of countries such as Mongolia, the Pacific Islands, or Sri Lanka with Singapore, South Korea and other countries of the region leads the editors of this volume to the conclusion that the fashionable talk about a ‘model’ is not justified and that the picture is much more complex.