Within thirty years of its humble beginnings, Taiwan was listed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as one of ten newly industrialized countries (NICs). This book charts how and why such growth took place, and discusses areas of Taiwan's experience that might be useful in helping other countries achieve economic growth and improve their living standards.The second edition includes additional chapters and updated information and statistics.The author, one of the chief architects of Taiwan's economic development, worked with the government for forty years. Here, he draws on his extensive experience. He has held important positions such as Economics Minister, Finance Minister, and Minister without Portfolio dealing with, among other inter-ministerial problems, the Science and Technology Program. Presently, he is the Senior Advisor to the President. He has been involved in the development of economic, fiscal, monetary, industrial, international trade, manpower, science and technology policies.

Throughout the twentieth century Taiwan was viewed as a model - whether in terms of a model colony, a model China or a development model. This perception was based on the notion of Taiwan undergoing an economic miracle and political developments. Yet much of Taiwan’s history is unique and may not be readily replicable elsewhere. Written by an impressive line up of contributors from the US, UK, Taiwan, France and Hong Kong, this book analyzes Taiwan’s economic and political achievements, and asks whether it is possible to identify through the experience of a single nation – Taiwan – the makings of a replicable model. This book will appeal to students and scholars of Taiwan, political economy, and Asia-Pacific regional development issues.

Taiwan's Development Experience: Lessons on Roles of Government and Market scrutinizes the main features of the Taiwanese development experience under five interrelated themes and domains: Outward-orientation vs. inward-orientation; Sources of growth; Dynamic balanced growth process: the interaction between agricultural and non-agricultural sectors; The role of government in the transition to a more market-oriented economy; and The potential transferability of the Taiwanese development experience to developing countries. In addition to highlighting the essential contributions of papers, the Editors also bring out the views and contributions, under each of the above headings, of two distinguished former Cornell University colleagues who are honored at the sponsoring conference - T.C. Liu and S.C. Tsiang.

A collaborative effort by Western specialists and some of Taiwan's leading social scientists, this timely study addresses the cause and effects of Taiwan's dramatic achievements in economic growth and income distribution as a market-oriented yet highly government-interventionist economy. The relevance of this success could not be more telling for other market-oriented economies as well as for the rapidly decentralizing economies of Russia, Eastern Europe, and China. Using a case-study approach, the contributors examine the transition to export-led growth, foreign trade, investment patterns, the role of financial institutions, fiscal and monetary policy, the educational and agrarian systems, and the role of women and ideology.

Using the developmental history of Taiwan as a starting point, Flexibility, Foresight and Fortuna critically examines several prevalent formulations of domestic development and international economy. The authors examine Taiwan's policy performance from, in turn, the developmental, the dependency, the statist, and the trade-off perspectives on political economy. They reject these approaches in favour of the key ideas of flexibility, foresight and fortuna as an explanation of Taiwan's relatively unusual success in achieving domestic development and upward mobility in the international system.

If some institutions undergo change, ask Taiwan economists, how should the other institutions adjust in order to maintain acceptable economic performance. They are particularly concerned with the impact on economic activities generated by political democratization and the changing international trade regimes, and with the necessary responses from the other domestic institutions that will effectively sustain good economic performance. Taking the shifts in domestic political apparatuses and international trade regimes as given, they examine the economic responses to these shifts, the policy reactions, and other institutional evolution. c. Book News Inc.