East Asia's Dynamic Development Model and the Republic of Korea's Experiences
No region has been more dynamic in recent years than East Asia. Despite its successful economic development, evaluations of the East Asian development model have often been capricious, shifting from "miracle" to "cronyism." How...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2003/03/2191888/east-asias-dynamic-development-model-republic-koreas-experiences http://hdl.handle.net/10986/18277 |
| Summary: | No region has been more dynamic in
recent years than East Asia. Despite its successful economic
development, evaluations of the East Asian development model
have often been capricious, shifting from
"miracle" to "cronyism." How can we
explain East Asia's ups and downs consistently? To
respond to this challenge, it is necessary to study the
progress of East Asian development and to trace the
influence of Asian cultural values. This study mainly
focuses on cultural aspects of economic progress and
analyzes East Asia's philosophical and historical
backgrounds to explain the dynamic process. East Asians
believe that balance between opposite but complementary
forces, Yin and Yang, will ensure social stability and
progress. Through repeated rebalancing to maintain harmony,
the society comes to maturity. In traditional East Asian
societies, a balance was maintained between Confucianism
(Yang) and Taoism, Buddhism, and other philosophies (Yin).
In modern societies, the challenge is to balance traditional
systems (Yang) and Western style capitalism (Yin). This East
Asian development model explains the Republic of
Korea's rise, fall, and recovery. Korea was a poor
country until the early 1960s, during the time when
spiritualism (Yang) dominated. From the 1960s through the
1980s, Korea achieved rapid growth by finding a new balance
and moving toward materialism (Yin) from spiritualism
(Yang). But the failure to maintain a harmonious balance
between cooperative systems and collectivism (Yang) and
individualism (Yin) led to major weaknesses in labor and
financial markets that contributed significantly to the
financial crisis in 1997. As Korea arrived at a new balance
by instituting reform programs, the venture-oriented
information and communication technology (ICT) industry
blossomed and led to a rapid economic recovery. Since 2000,
domestic financial scandals and political corruption have
emerged as new social issues. Korea's next challenge is
to find a new harmonization between morality (Yang) and
legal frameworks (Yin). |
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