Order Description
Economics 414: Economic Development in East Asia

Spring 2016 Class: TR 11:40-1:05 LN1120
B. J. Yoon [email protected]
Office hours: TR 2:00 – 3:00 or by appointment
Office: LT 1016 Tel: 777-2987
TA: Alexander Lattanzi, LT 901 [email protected]
Office Hours:

Course Purpose: To study economic development East Asia, specifically Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and China. The course overviews history and performance of East Asian economies and analyzes the factors underlying East Asian economic development.

2 Exams, short papers/presentations, mandatory class attendance.

Prerequisites: Grades of C or better in ECON 360 AND 362; also grade of C or better in college level statistics. Students who have taken and passed ECON 381E cannot take ECON 414. Any student who has taken and passed ECON 381E will receive an F in this course.

Grade:
Midterm Exam (March 8) — 100 points
Final ( ) — 100 points
3 Short Papers — 120 points
Class Participation (Attendance) — 40 points
————————————————————————————————————-
Total 360 pts

Rules
1) Class participation is measured by attendance. Each class attendance counts toward the grade. An absence gets 0 for that class’s participation. Lateness and early departure without prior approval are penalized. For “late add” cases, the count starts from you first attendance.
2) You will be assigned to write 3 papers during the semester. Each student writes independently.
3) Each paper should be 2+ pages, single spaced. You submit it electronically to blackboard/discussions/papers due/ by 11 pm of the due date for class view. You should also email copies to me and TA.
Your Blackboard ID=BU email ID; Password=first two letters of last name and last four digits of SSN.
4) Paper Format.

It should show author name, the title and date followed by
Section I. Introduction.
Section II. “section title”
Section III. “another section title”
Section IV. “another section title”
Section V. Conclusion
References.

Number of sections can be 4 – 7. The paper should give a summary of the reading at the minimum. It may strengthen the main argument with additional reasoning/analysis or with additional sources. Or it may give critical evaluation of the reading with supporting arguments or sources.
5) Presentation.

After your paper presentation, you answer a key question raised by a designated discussant. The presenter responds to the questions from the discussant as well others in the class.

6) No make-up exams are allowed for the midterm or the final exam except under scheduling conflicts as defined by Economics Department.

Required Texts:

E. Vogel, The Four Little Dragons: The Spread of Industrialization in E. Asia, 1990, (Harvard University Press)
G. Chow, China’s Economic Transformation, Blackwell Publishers.

– Books and articles will be on reserve in the Reserve Library for 2 hour checkout, unless freely accessible online.

Readings: additions to be made later.

0. Ideal system for economic prosperity: Free Market.

i. Division of Labor
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Book I, Chapters 1 – 3.
Source: the Library of Economics and Liberty (https://www.econlib.org)
original URL,https://www.econlib.org/library/Smith/smWN1.html.
https://geolib.com/welcome.html

ii. Liberty. John Stuart Mill‘s The Harm Principle of Liberty (posted).
1. How E. Asia got behind the West.

Industrial Revolution: Why IR did not occur in China first?

Justin Yifu Lin, “The Needham Puzzle: Why the Industrial Revolution Did Not Originate in China,”
Economic Development and Cultural Change, Vol. 43, No. 2 (Jan., 1995), pp. 269-292
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1154499

2. Modernization Efforts of E. Asia in 19C.

1) China’s Failed Modernization in 19C.
Gernet: Ch 27; Prologue and Ch 29 (pp 602-625)
“Self-Strengthening Movement and Institutional Reform Movement” (posted)

2) Japan’s Successful Modernization in 19C: Reischauer, Ch. 8

3. Post World War II Industrialization of Four E. Asian Economies

1) Introduction: Vogel, Ch.1

Howard Pack “Asian Successes vs. Middle Eastern Failures: The Role of Technology Transfer in Economic Development”, Issues in Science and Technology, Vol. XXIV Issue 3, Spring 2008. https://issues.org/24-3/pack/
Anthony Elson, “The Economic Growth of East Asia and Latin America in Comparative Perspective: Lessons for development policy,” World Economics • Vol. 7 • No. 2 • April–June 2006.

2) Taiwan: Vogel, Ch.2

Jean Yueh, “Land-to-the-tiller program transformed Taiwan”, Taiwan Today, Republic of China, August 28, 2009. https://www.taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xitem=61405&CtNode=428
Jean Yueh, “Sharing successful land reform with the rest of the world,” September 11, 2009, Taiwan Today. https://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xitem=63286&CtNode=428

3) Korea: Vogel, Ch.3

Agricultural Development:

Park, Si-hyun, “The economic growth and agricultural development of Korea.”
www.kdevelopedia.org/Resources/economy/economic-growth-agricultural-development-korea

Korea Forestry Service, “Lessons learned from the Republic of Korea’s
National Reforestation Programme” Part 1 and 6.
https://www.cbd.int/ecorestoration/doc/Korean-Study_Final-Version-20150106.pdf

The Miracle of the Han River – Park Chung Hee, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA92mb3d3x0

Tiernan Mennen, “Land Reform Revisited: Can Latin America Get It Right and Should It Even Try?” https://www.iar-gwu.org/node/62

Chaebul (Korean Conglomerates): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaebol

Marcus Noland, Six Markets to watch: S. Korea
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/south-korea/2013-12-06/six-markets-watch-south-korea
4) Hong Kong and Singapore: Vogel, Ch.4

John James Cowp01erthwaite and The miracle of Hong Kong

Schenk, Catherine. “Economic History of Hong Kong”. EH.Net Encyclopedia, edited by Robert Whaples. March 16, 2008. URL https://eh.net/encyclopedia/economic-history-of-hong-kong/

Sook Ching(肃清; traditional Chinese: 肅清) and Singaporean Nationalism

Singapore Economic Development: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw2a1h4A0DA

“The genius behind Singapore’s economic miracle: Albert Winsemius — the man who authored Singapore’s economic policies” by Anvar Alikhan, Mar 26, 2015.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/The-genius-behind-Singapores-economic-miracle/articleshow/46695076.cms

Lee Kuan Yew: The man who defined Singapore https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFVDnmjHhAw
5) E. Asian Growth Formula: Vogel, Ch 5;

Chaebol and Robber Barons:
– Family Run Businesses vs Professional Manager Run Businesses
– Greedy capitalists but benevolent (low) price for consumers
Burton Folsom, Jr., The Myth of the Robber Barons.
Land reform and Korean War vs. Vietnam War
Reparation from Japan and Pohang Iron and Steel
New Village Movement and Self Help
Reforestation success of S. Korea, Pohang Iron and Steel
Remove Trade Barriers: Seoul-Pusan Highway; Open Korea-Japan trade
Free Market enforced by Government Coercion?
4. Market and State: China’s Market Reform:

Socialist Market economy: institutional innovation for Chinese development
Order without Law vs Law without Order (China vs India)

0) 大跃进 Dà yuè jìn Great Leap Forward to Great Starvation.
Gene Hsin Chang and Guanzhong James Wen, “Communal Dining and the Chinese Famine of 1958–1961,” Economic Development and Cultural Change, Vol. 46, No. 1 (October 1997), pp. 1-34
1) Planning to Reform: Chow, Chs. 3-4.
2) Liu & Yoon, “China’s economic reform and regional productivity differentials”, JED, Dec. 2000.
3) Legal System: Chow, Ch. 20.
Hayami, Ch. 8;
Kim, Ch. 3, 5;

North Korean Famine (stunted young population)

5. Japanese Economy

Industrial Structure and Policy: Japanese Keiretsu Ito, Ch 7.
Labor Market: Ito, Ch 8
Japan’s Lost Decade: Yoon(2011), “The Great Recession of the US and Lessons from the Past,” SERI Quarterly, January, 2011
6. Growth Pain

1) Environment Chow Ch. 10
2) Population Chow Ch. 11
The peril of One Child Policy – sex ratio (evolutionary biology)
3) Labor Unrest Yoon (2005), “Labor militancy in South Korea.”

7. Is E. Asian Growth Sustainable?

Paul Krugman, “The Myth of Asia’s Miracle,” Foreign Affairs, Nov/Dec 1994, 73(6), 62- 78.
Capital Accumulation versus Productivity Growth Hayami, Ch 5

8. Economic Growth and Convergence: Barro, Ch 1

9. Democracy and Economic Development: Barro, Ch 2.

10. Culture and Tradition

Samuel P. Huntington, “The Clash of Civilizations,” Foreign Affairs. Summer 1993, v72, n3, p22 (28)

References:

Barro, Robert, Determinants of Economic Growth, MIT Press, 1997.
Bloomstrom, Ganges, and La Croix, Japan’s New Economy, Oxford University Press.
Chow, Gregory, China’s Economic Transformation, Blackwell Publishers.
Gernet, Jacques, A History of Chinese Civilization, Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Hayami, Yujiro, Development Economics: from the poverty to the wealth of nations, Oxford University Press, 2001.
Huang, Ray, China: A Macro History, 1997, Sharpe.
Ito, T., The Japanese Economy, 1992, MIT Press.
Kim, E., The Four Asian Tigers, Academic Press.
Reischauer, Edwin, Japan: the Story of a Nation, McGraw-Hill, 1981.
Vogel, E. The Four Little Dragons: The Spread of Industrialization in E. Asia, 1990, Harvard University Press.
Ingyu Oh, “Hallyu: The Rise of Transnational Cultural Consumers in China and Japan,” Autumn 2009, Korea Observer.
David Li (Tsinghua U) and Guan Hanhui, “Why China got behind the West.”