The Five-Phases of Economic Development and Institutional Evolution in China and Japan
Aoki, Masahiko | December 2011
Abstract
Based on the variable rate of gross domestic product per capita growth and its sources, this paper first identifies five phases of economic development that are common to China, Japan, and Korea: M (Malthusian), G (government-led), K (à la Kuznets), H (human capital based) and PD (post demographic-transition). But there are also marked differences in the onset, duration, and institutional forms of these phases across these economies. In order to understand these differences, this paper explores the agrarian origins of institutions in Qing China and Tokugawa Japan (and briefly Chosŏn Korea) and their path-dependent transformations over those phases. In doing so, the paper employs game-theoretic reasoning and interpretations of divergent institutional evolution between China and Japan, which also clarifies the simplicity of prevailing arguments that identify East Asian developmental and institutional features with authoritarianism, collectivism, kinship-dominance, Confucianism and the like. Finally, the paper examines the relevance of the foregoing developmental discussions to the institutional agendas faced by China and Japan in their respective emergent phase-transitions. In what way can China avoid the “middle income trap”? What institutional shortcomings become evident from the Fukushima catastrophe and how can they be overcome in an aging Japan?
Citation
Aoki, Masahiko. 2011. The Five-Phases of Economic Development and Institutional Evolution in China and Japan. © Asian Development Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/11540/3933. License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.Keywords
Development Economics
Regional Economic Development
Economic Impact
Asian Development Bank
Development
Economic Boom
Regional Economic Integration
Good Governance
Governance Approach
Economic planning
Economic structure
Growth policy
Trade relations
Trade policy
Trade policy
Economic development
Economies in transition
International economy
Border integration
Economic integration
Gross domestic product
Trade policy
Institutional Framework
Public Administration
Business Ethics
Regional economics
Economic forecasting
Economic development projects
Success in business
Business
Free trade
Business
Economics
Communication in economic development
Restraint of trade
International economic integration
Trade blocs
East-West trade
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