Globalisation, Technology, and Asian Economic Growth

Although globalisation is by no means a recent phenomenon,1 its new wave has raised a number of questions—both about its supposed benefits and its alleged adverse consequences. Rather than exploring the wider ramifications of globalisation, this paper will confine its purview to the question of technology development and dissemination in the context of globalisation as it has affected the development of Asian economies in the last few decades. In particular, the paper will focus on the somewhat dazzling performance of the East Asian economies in the last three decades and their equally sharp and unforeseen downturn in the past two years, which has raised serious doubts first about the replicability and later about the robustness of the East Asian development experience. Although the palpable cause of the current East Asian crisis has generally been situated in the increasing complexity and fragility of the global financial system, many prescient international economists had attributed it to the weakness of the technological underpinnings of East Asian growth [Krugman (1994)]. The East Asian crisis has also raised a lively controversy concerning the impact and desirability of selective micro-economic interventions by national governments, which have often been oversimplified under the rubric of ‘crony capitalism’. While the debate on which causes contributed most to the sudden down-turn in the growth of the East Asian economies remains inconclusive, there seems considerable validity in the conjecture that their future growth prospects will depend on their ability not only to master current technologies, but also to significantly further their technological prowess through R and D and scientific achievement. Although the immediate trigger of the present crisis in East Asia may have been the turmoil in their financial markets, the underlying problems in the real economy, which have so far received insufficient attention, stem largely from their incommensurate technological development.

Globalisation, Technology, and Asian Economic Growth

Although globalisation is by no means a recent phenomenon,1 its new wave has raised a number of questions—both about its supposed benefits and its alleged adverse consequences. Rather than exploring the wider ramifications of globalisation, this paper will confine its purview to the question of technology development and dissemination in the context of globalisation as it has affected the development of Asian economies in the last few decades. In particular, the paper will focus on the somewhat dazzling performance of the East Asian economies in the last three decades and their equally sharp and unforeseen downturn in the past two years, which has raised serious doubts first about the replicability and later about the robustness of the East Asian development experience. Although the palpable cause of the current East Asian crisis has generally been situated in the increasing complexity and fragility of the global financial system, many prescient international economists had attributed it to the weakness of the technological underpinnings of East Asian growth [Krugman (1994)]. The East Asian crisis has also raised a lively controversy concerning the impact and desirability of selective micro-economic interventions by national governments, which have often been oversimplified under the rubric of ‘crony capitalism’. While the debate on which causes contributed most to the sudden down-turn in the growth of the East Asian economies remains inconclusive, there seems considerable validity in the conjecture that their future growth prospects will depend on their ability not only to master current technologies, but also to significantly further their technological prowess through R and D and scientific achievement. Although the immediate trigger of the present crisis in East Asia may have been the turmoil in their financial markets, the underlying problems in the real economy, which have so far received insufficient attention, stem largely from their incommensurate technological development

Conditions of Teaching and Research in Economics: Some Preliminary Findings

This paper reports on the preliminary findings of a study initiated two years ago, at the initiative of the P.I.D.E. to review the problems of teaching and research in economics and related subjects (ERS) I during the last two decades. The need for such a study has been felt for some time not only because of the common perception of declining standards in higher education generally and, economics, in particular, but also from the perceived competition economics has faced from other disciplines, especially business studies and computer science as a passport to the job market. After having enjoyed a relatively robust period of growth in the 1960s largely through the assistance of foreign donors such as the Ford Foundation, ERS in Pakistan have suffered in their development not only from the comparative paucity of resources allocated to them, but also as a result of an adverse change in the perceptions about the primacy of their usefulness for policy purposes. The demand for economics has also suffered some decline as a result of the diminished importance of the public sector and of planned development during the last two decades. While special branches of economics, such as finance, project evaluation, transport and energy economics have shown increased demand, mainly in the private sector or donor-related institutions, the demand for general economic analysts is not as strong as in the past and does not provide many gainful opportunities for professional advancement. Due to the continued disadvantage in terms of salaries and other rewards, the academic profession, remains unattractive.

Import Substitution: A Survey of Concepts, Measures and Models

The purpose of this article is to survey briefly the current literature on development planning and import substitution in order to put in perspective the various contributions to the subject. Section I surveys some of the aggregative models on import substitution; Section II brings out the impact of recent discussions on import substitution on the process of development planning; Section III contrasts the various treatments of imports in inter-industry anal¬ysis; and Section IV surveys some of the development planning models with similar structure or motivation

Rethinking the East Asian Miracle

This paper discusses Rethinking the East Asian Miracle, a collection of 13 essays on a wide spectrum of issues, ranging from the causes of the East Asian crisis and possibilities of recovery to the strengths and weaknesses in the technical, financial and governance structures of the East Asian economies.Asia, Economic change, Literature

A Simple Optimisation Model for Cotton Processing Activities in Pakistan

The importance of cotton and its products for the economy of Pakistan is obvious enough. Cotton is the main cash crop of Pakistan. In fact, it is one-fourth of the value of the major crops of Pakistan and provides income to about 5 million people. It is a raw material for the textile industry which is die single largest industrial activity accounting for 48 % of the value-added of the large-scale manufacturing and 27% of its employment. The value of the installed textile machinery complex is around 15% of the total industrial investment in the country. Exports of cotton and its products constitute about a half of the total export proceeds of Pakistan. The final products of cotton, cloth and garments also play an important part in planning for a better standard of living in Pakistan. After food and shelter,1 this is the most essential item of consumption and hence adequate domestic availability of cloth assumes an important role in public policy. Cotton and its products have also been a majo