Innovative Asia: Advancing the Knowledge-Based Economy - Highlights of the Forthcoming ADB Study Report

[Excerpt] The development of knowledge-based economies (KBEs) is both an imperative and an opportunity for developing Asia. It is an imperative to sustain high rates of growth in the future and an opportunity whereby emerging economies can draw from beneficial trending developments that may allow them to move faster to advance in global value chains and in position in world markets. Over the last quarter of a century, driven mostly by cheap labor, developing countries in Asia have seen unprecedented growth rates and contributions to the global economy. Sustaining Asia’s growth trajectory, however, requires developing economies to seek different approaches to economic growth and progress, especially if they aspire to move from the middle-income to the high-income level. KBE is an important platform that can enable them to sustain growth and even accelerate it. It is time for Asia to consolidate and accelerate its pace of growth. Asia is positioned in a unique moment in history with many advantages that can serve as a boost: to name a couple, an expanding middle of the pyramid—Asia is likely to hold 50% of the global middle class and 40% of the global consumer market by 2020; and the growing importance of intra-regional trade within Asia, increasing from 54% in 2001 to 58% in 2011. Many developing economies are well placed to assimilate frontier technologies into their manufacturing environment

Central Asia : Mapping Future Prospects

Central Asia has emerged as one of the worlds fastest growing regions since the late 1990s and has shown notable development potential. This is significant for a region comprising largely of small landlocked economies with no access to the sea for trade. Among the advantages, of the region are its high- priced commodities (oil, gas, cotton and gold), reasonable infrastructure and human capital as legacies of Soviet rule; and a strategic location between Asia and Europe. Furthermore, many Central Asian Republics (CARs) have embarked on market-oriented economic reforms to boost economic performance and private sector competitiveness. Central Asia : Mapping Future Prospects considers the regions economic prospects to 2015. It charts recent economic performance, highlighting the economic revival. It also synthesizes recent forecasts and constructs scenarios for future economic variables against a constant global background. Projections include, among others, gross domestic product (GDP), manufactured exports per head, GDP per capita and poverty. A special theme chapter develops a manufacturing competitiveness index to compare the CARs with other transition economies and explores the impact of economic reform and supply-side factors (e.g. foreign investment and human capital) on industrial performancecentral Asia, future economic variables, gross domestic product, manufactured exports per head, GDP per capita, poverty, manufacturing competitiveness index

Central Asia’s Transition After Fifteen Years : Growth and Policy Choices

This paper presents a coherent and systematic analysis of the collapse and subsequent revival of the Central Asian Republics (CARs) since 1990. The focus is on the pattern of growth and structural change during the cycle of decline and subsequent revival in the CARs which have been inadequately analyzed in the literature on transition. The paper relates economic performance to initial conditions, country characteristics and policies. Within this framework, it proposes a simple typology of policies (including a new Type III set of policies on regional cooperation and industrial competitiveness) and relates them to the cycle of decline and revival in the CARs. It goes on to examine medium-term prospects and policy needs for the CARs.Growth, economic reform, regional cooperation, industrial competitiveness, central Asia, transitional economies

Central Asia after Fifteen Years of Transition: Growth, Regional Cooperation, and Policy Choices

This paper presents a coherent and systematic analysis of the collapse and subsequent revival of the Central Asian Republics (CARs) since 1990. The focus is on the pattern of growth and structural change during the cycle of decline and subsequent revival in the CARs, which have yet to be adequately analyzed in the literature on transition. The paper relates economic performance to initial conditions, country characteristics, and policies. Within this framework, it proposes a simple typology of policies (including a new 'Type III' set of policies on regional cooperation and industrial competitiveness) and relates them to the cycle of decline and revival. It goes on to examine medium-term prospects and policy needs for the CARs.growth; economic reform; regional cooperation; industrial competitiveness; Central Asia; transitional economies

The influence of global intellectualization on human development

In the context of the global intellectualization, human capital is the determining factor in the innovation development and the international competitiveness of countries. In the XXI century. the leading component of human capital are qualitatively new information, communication and network technologies. Particular importance are education and training, professionalism, high level of human resources management, building up, reproduction and human capital development. These factors are the prerequisite for the growth of the competitive advantages of the country in the conditions of globalization

Central Asia’s Transition After Fifteen Years: Growth and Policy Choices

This paper presents a coherent and systematic analysis of the collapse and subsequent revival of the Central Asian Republics (CARs) since 1990. The focus is on the pattern of growth and structural change during the cycle of decline and subsequent revival in the CARs which have been inadequately analyzed in the literature on transition. The paper relates economic performance to initial conditions, country characteristics and policies. Within this framework, it proposes a simple typology of policies (including a new Type III set of policies on regional cooperation and industrial competitiveness) and relates them to the cycle of decline and revival in the CARs. It goes on to examine medium-term prospects and policy needs for the CARs.growth, economic reform, regional cooperation, industrial competitiveness, Central Asia, transitional economies

The cluster-based development strategy in Kazakhstan's agro-food sector: A critical assessment from an Austrian perspective

This paper challenges the uselfullness of the cluster-based development strategy to diversify and increase the competitiveness of Kazakhstan's economy, regarding the case of the country's agro-food sector. For this it refers to insights of the Austrian Market Process Theory. It is argued that already the theoretical foundations of the cluster concept suffer from severe difficiencies, because it widely neglects the function of competition as a discovery procedure with alert entrepreuneurs as the driving force. Moreover, it ignores the knowledge requirements and limitations in a modern market economy for any outside third party to identify and promote successful industry structures. The closer examination of the implementation of the cluster development program in Kazakhstan's agro-food sectors shows that cluster facilitation in practice turned out to be another form of social engineering and picking winners. In the light of the Austrian understanding of the market system as an entrepreneurial discovery process the paper suggestes as alternative policy option to concentrate on the establishment of a stable institutional framework for the whole economy that stimulates the entrepreneurial discoveries of profitable businesses. Yet, such an Austrian approach is politically less appealing, for it might bring no quick results due to the prevalence of conflicting informal institutions which in the short run might be difficult to change. -- G E R M A N V E R S I O N: Der Beitrag diskutiert die Eignung der Clusterförderungspolitik zur Diversifizierung und Verbesserung der Wettbewerbsfähigkeit der Volkswirtschaft Kasachstans am Beispiel der Agrar- und Ernährungswirtschaft des Landes. Dazu wird auf Erkenntnisse der Marktprozeßtheorie der Österreichischen Schule zurückgegriffen. Es wird argumentiert, daß allein schon die theoretische Fundierung der Clusterförderungspolitik fraglich ist, weil sie die Funktion des Wettbewerbs als eines Entdeckungsverfahrens mit findigen Unternehmern als treibende Kraft vernachlässigt. Darüber hinaus unterschätzt sie die Anforderungen an das Wissen, das staatliche Akteure und beratende Ökonomen haben müßten, um erfolgversprechende Industrie- und Unternehmensstrukturen identifizieren und fördern zu können. Die Analyse der Umsetzung der Clusterförderungspolitik in Kasachstans Agrar-und Ernährungswirtschaft zeigt, daß sie praktisch nichts anderes ist als eine weitere Form von staatlichem Konstruktivismus und einer Politik der picking winners. Ausgehend vom Verständnis der Österreichischen Schule des Marktsystems als eines von findigen Unternehmern getragenen Entdeckungsverfahrens schlägt der Beitrag als alternative Strategie vor, sich auf den Aufbau von verlässlichen institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen zu konzentrieren, die für alle Sektoren der kasachstanischen Volkswirtschaft gleichermaßen gelten und die geeignet sind, den unternehmerischen Entdeckungsprozeß zu fördern. Aus politischen Gründen dürfte jedoch diese österreichische Politikoption wenig attraktiv sein, da sie langfristig angelegt ist und kurzfristig nicht zuletzt aufgrund des Konflikts zwischen formalen und informalen Institutionen keine sichtbaren Resultate erwarten lässt.Cluster,Kazakhstan,industrial policy,institutional change,Cluster,Kasachstan,Industriepolitik,institutioneller Wandel