Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T00:41:17.277Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

7 - Growth and Globalization Phases in South East Asian Development

from Part I - Regional Developments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2021

By
Gregg Huff
Edited by
Stephen Broadberry  and
Kyoji Fukao
Stephen Broadberry
Affiliation:
University of Oxford
Kyoji Fukao
Affiliation:
Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo
Get access

Summary

This article identifies two phases of rapid South East Asian economic growth and argues that both were linked to new opportunities in the global economy. During the first phase, stretching from the 1870s to 1929, South East Asia grew through vent-for-surplus trade in resource-intensive primary commodities. Just four of these – rice, rubber, tin, and sugar – accounted for most exports. In a second phase, under way by the early 1970s, a shift in factor endowments from surplus land to abundant labour attracted foreign multinationals in search of cheap labour and manufacturing for export, mainly to advanced economies. Through both phases of globalization-induced growth, trade served as its engine, but in neither did this lead to technical change becoming the chief source of expansion. Even in Singapore, low TFP growth is a chronic problem, while wealthier South East Asian countries like Malaysia and Thailand are in danger of being stuck in a middle-income trap.

Keywords

Economic growthglobalizationSouth East Asiatrade and developmentvent-for-surplustechnical changemiddle-income trap.
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Economic History of the Modern World , pp. 176 - 212
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ammar, S. (2011). ‘Thailand after 1997’, Asian Economic Policy Review, 6, 68–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bastin, J. and Benda, H. J. (1968). A History of Modern Southeast Asia, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Benda, H. J. (1958). The Crescent and the Rising Sun: Indonesian Islam under Japanese Occupation 1942–1945, The Hague: Van Hoeve.Google Scholar
Benda, H. J. (1967). ‘The Japanese Interregnum in Southeast Asia’, in Goodman, G. K. (ed.), Imperial Japan: A Reassessment, New York: East Asian Institute, Columbia University, 65–79.Google Scholar
Broek, J. O. M. (1944). ‘Diversity and Unity in Southeast Asia’, Geographical Review, 34(2), 175–195.Google Scholar
Brown, I. (1997). Economic Change in South-East Asia c.1830–1980, Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Burma. (1951). The National Income of Burma, Rangoon: Ministry of National Planning.Google Scholar
Caves, R. E. (1965). ‘“Vent for Surplus” Models of Trade and Growth’, in Baldwin, R. E. et al. (eds.), Trade, Growth and the Balance of Payments, Chicago: Rand McNally, 95–115.Google Scholar
Cheeseman, H. R. (1947). Annual Report on Education in the Malayan Union, 1946, Kuala Lumpur: Malayan Union Government Press.Google Scholar
Coxhead, I. (2018). ‘Vietnam in 2017: Flying Fast into Turbulence’, Asian Survey, 58(1), 149–157.Google Scholar
Crafts, N. F. R. (1973). ‘Trade as a Handmaiden of Growth: An Alternative View’, Economic Journal, 83, 875–883.Google Scholar
Del Tufo, M. V. (1949). Malaya: A Report on the 1947 Census of Population, London: Crown Agents for the Colonies.Google Scholar
Felipe, J. (2018). Asia’s Industrial Transformation: The Role of Manufacturing and Global Value Chains, Part II, Manila: Asian Development Bank working paper 550.Google Scholar
Findlay, R. (1970). Trade and Specialization, Harmondsworth: Penguin.Google Scholar
Findlay, R. and O’Rourke, K. H. (2007). Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium, Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fukao, K., Bassino, J.-P., Makino, T., Paprzycki, R., Settsu, T., Takashima, M., and Tokui, J. (2015). Regional Inequality and Industrial Structure in Japan: 1874–2008, Tokyo: Maruzen Publishing.Google Scholar
Furnivall, J. S. (1948). Colonial Policy and Practice: A Comparative Study of Burma and Netherlands India, Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hill, H. (2018). ‘Asia’s Third Giant: A Survey of the Indonesian Economy’, Economic Record, 41(307), 469–499.Google Scholar
Hlaing, U. A. (1964). ‘Trends of Economic Growth and Income Distribution in Burma, 1870–1940’, Journal of the Burma Research Society, 47, 89–148.Google Scholar
Huff, G. (2003). ‘Monetization and Financial Development in Southeast Asia before the Second World War’, Economic History Review, 56(2), 300–345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huff, G. (2007). ‘Globalization, Natural Resources and Foreign Investment: A View from the Resource Rich Tropics’, Oxford Economic Papers, 59(5), 127–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huff, G. (2011). ‘Finance and Long-Term Development Issues in Southeast Asia’, Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, 25(1), 56–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huff, G. (2012). ‘Export-Led Growth, Gateway Cities and Urban Systems Development in Pre-World War II Southeast Asia’, Journal of Development Studies, 48(10), 1431–1452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huff, G. (2019). ‘Causes and Consequences of the Great Vietnam Famine, 1944–1945’, Economic History Review, 72(1), 286–316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huff, G. (2020). World War II and Southeast Asia: Economy and Society under Japanese Occupation, Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Huff, G. and Caggiano, G. (2007). ‘Globalization, Immigration and Lewisian Elastic Labor in Pre-World War II Southeast Asia’, Journal of Economic History, 67(1), 33–68.Google Scholar
Indonesia [Department of Economic Affairs, Batavia]. (1947). ‘The economic condition of Indonesia in mid-1947’, Economic Review of Indonesia, 1(8), 117–130.Google Scholar
Ingram, J. C. (1971). Economic Change in Thailand, 1850–1970, Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
International Labour Organization. (2016a). ‘Wages and Productivity in the Garment Sector in Asia and the Pacific and the Arab States’, research note, Bangkok: ILO.Google Scholar
International Labour Organization(2016b). ‘Wages, Productivity and Labour Share in China’, research note, Bangkok: ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.Google Scholar
Knowles, L. C. A. (1928). The Economic Development of the British Overseas Empire, London: George Routledge & Sons.Google Scholar
Larkin, J. A. (1993). Sugar and the Origins of Modern Philippine Society, Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Lee, K. Y. (1998). The Singapore Story, Singapore: Times Editions.Google Scholar
Lewis, W. A. (1978a). Growth and Fluctuations, 1870–1913, London: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Lewis, W. A. (1978b). Evolution of the International Economic Order, Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Lim, L. Y. C. (2014). ‘Singapore’s Success: After the Miracle’, in Looney, R. E. (ed.), Handbook of Emerging Economies, London: Routledge, 203–226.Google Scholar
Maddison Project Database, version 2013. Bolt, J. and van Zanden, J. L. (2014). ‘The Maddison Project: Collaborative Research on Historical National Accounts’, Economic History Review, 67(3), 627–651.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mieno, F. (2013). ‘Toward Myanmar’s New Stage of Development: Transition from Military Rule to Market’, Asian Economic Policy Review, 8, 94–117.Google Scholar
Myint, H. (1954). ‘The Gains from International Trade and the Backward Countries’, Review of Economic Studies, 22(2), 129–142.Google Scholar
Myint, H. (1958). ‘The “Classical” Theory of International Trade and the Underdeveloped Countries’, Economic Journal, 68, 317–337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Myint, H. (1965). ‘The Inward and Outward-Looking Countries of Southeast Asia’, Malayan Economic Review, 12(1), 1–13.Google Scholar
Nurkse, R. (1959). Patterns of Trade and Development, Stockholm: Almqvist and Wicksell.Google Scholar
Perkins, D. (2013). East Asian Development, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Perkins, D., Rasiah, R., and Thye Woo, W. (2018). ‘Explaining Malaysia’s Past Growth and Future Prospects’, JCI working paper 2, Jeffrey Cheah Institute on Southeast Asia.Google Scholar
Rasiah, R. (2009a). ‘Expansion and Slowdown in Southeast Asia Electronics Manufacturing’, Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, 14(2), 123–137.Google Scholar
Rasiah, R. (2009b). ‘Garment Manufacturing in Cambodia and Laos’, Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, 14(2), 150–161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sicat, G. P. (2015). ‘The Philippine Economy during the Japanese Occupation, 1941–1945’, in Boldorf, M. and Okazaki, T. (eds.), Economies under Occupation: The Hegemony of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in World War II, London: Routledge, 191–204.Google Scholar
Tigno, J. V. (2018). ‘The Philippines in 2017: Popularity Breeds Corruption’, Asian Survey, 58(1), 142–148.Google Scholar
Tran, V. T. (2013). ‘Vietnamese Economy at the Crossroads: New Doi Moi for Sustained Growth’, Asian Economic Policy Review, 8, 122–143.Google Scholar
Twomey, M. J. (2000). A Century of Foreign Investment in the Third World, London: Routledge.Google Scholar
van der Eng, P. (1991). Indonesian National Income, unpublished data made available by the author.Google Scholar
van der Eng, P. (1992). ‘The Real Domestic Product of Indonesia, 1880–1989’, Explorations in Economic History, 29(3), 343–373.Google Scholar
van der Eng, P. (1994a). Thailand Estimates of GDP Based on Sompop’s Work, unpublished data made available by the author.Google Scholar
van der Eng, P. (1994b). Historical Estimates of GDP in Malaysia/West Malaysia, 1910–1960, unpublished data made available by the author.Google Scholar
van der Eng, P. (2002). ‘Indonesia’s Growth Performance in the Twentieth Century’, in Maddison, A., Prasada Rao, D. S., and Shepherd, W. F. (eds.), The Asian Economies in the Twentieth Century, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 143–179.Google Scholar
Warr, P. and Kohpaiboon, A. (2017). ‘Thailand’s Automotive Manufacturing Corridor’, working paper 519, Manila: Asian Development Bank.Google Scholar
Williamson, J. G. (2011). Trade and Poverty: When the Third World Fell Behind, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Bank. (2017). World Development Indicators, 2017, Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×