Development, Discernment, and Death: Dore on the South Korean Economy

2019 ◽  
Vol 92 (4) ◽  
pp. 715-728
Author(s):  
Hyung-Gu Lynn

Ronald Dore's 1977 article in Pacific Affairs, "South Korean Development in Wider Perspective," is a rare example of the scholar known for his writings on Japan applying his analytical lens on South Korea. What were some of this article's most notable areas of foresight and elision related to development studies? This essay answers this question by interpreting connections to publications before and after 1977 to analyze areas of insight under the rubric of "discernment" and overlooked subjects under "death." On one hand, Dore's essay was ahead of the curve in its deft foreshadowing of post-developmentalist, varieties of capitalism, and developmental state approaches to economic development. On the other, Dore sidestepped the effects of death on economic development in three forms: literal— effects of changing mortality rates on investments in education and human capital; industries related to death—wars, munitions production and arms expenditures; and the aftereffects of the death of a scholar—the revisiting and renewal of debates that can sometimes emerge as a result.

2012 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ki Su Kim

This paper explores two inter-connected issues – the state’s role in educational development and educational contribution to economic development – in the policy processes entailed by the South Korean state’s pursuit of economic development during the Park Chung Hi era, 1961-1979. It disputes the statist view that South Korea’s economic development was the outcome of a strong state’s imposition of developmental policies. It also denies the human capital account that central to the South Korean state’s education policy was the skills formation agendum. In this paper’s process analysis, educational contribution to economic development was made most importantly in the entrance competition-swept schools by virtue of their equipping South Koreans with basic knowledge and intellectual skills and the most important educational asset for economic development was those schools’ explosive growth. The latter took place as an unexpected effect of the state’s developmental policy of containment which aimed to secure scarce funds for strategic developmental projects. This policy intensified entrance competitions, boosted demand for education, and provoked public call for state commitment to educational expansion. The legitimacy-deficient regime responded politically and compromised on the developmental education policy from one level of formal schooling to another. The image of the developmental state thus portrayed is quite contrary to that provided by the statist-human capital perspective.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 865-885
Author(s):  
Yong-Shik Lee

Abstract South Korea is one of the most successful economic development cases in history. This country, stricken with crushing poverty and torn by a disastrous war two generations ago, rose from the ashes of the war and underwent unprecedented economic development for over three decades. By the mid-1990s, South Korea had built an advanced economy with world-class industries and also achieved a liberal democracy based on the rule of law. Since its 1997 financial crisis, however, Korea’s economic growth has been continually slowing down with widening income gaps among its populations. The Korean economy has also faced increasing external pressure, which has recently been dramatized by Japan’s export restraint measures on some of the key materials used to produce semiconductors, one of the most important export products for the Korean economy. This note discusses structural issues in the Korean economy, such as its over-dependency on a small number of conglomerates (“chaebols”) and the weakness of its SMEs, which cause the Korean economy to slow down and render the economy vulnerable to external pressure. This note examines these issues from a legal and institutional perspective and offers proposals to remedy some of the problems in the Korean economy.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-218
Author(s):  
Alicja Olejnik ◽  
Agata Żółtaszek

Abstract Diseases of affluence (of the 21st c.) by definition should have higher prevalence and/or mortality rates in richer and more developed countries than in poorer, underdeveloped states (where diseases of poverty are more common). Therefore, it has been indicated that it is civilizational progress that makes us sick. On the other hand, substantial financial resources, highly qualified medical personnel, and the cutting-edge technology of richer states, should allow for effective preventions, diagnostics, and treatment of diseases of poverty and of affluence. Therefore, a dilemma arises: is progress making us sick or curing us? To evaluate the influence of country socioeconomic and technological development on population health, a spatial analysis of the epidemiology of diseases of affluence and distribution of economic resources for European NUTS 2 has been performed. The main aim of this paper is to assess, how regional diversity in the prevalence of diseases of affluence is related to the regional development of regions.


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 250-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Seungeun Lee (李承恩)

This article explores three Chinese immigrant groups in South Korea. South Korean society characterizes itself with a long-held traditional myth of being a homogenous society. Two waves of migrants from China, however, challenged this myth. The earlier wave took place in the late 19thcentury. The recent, new, wave of Chinese migration took place in the last three decades and coincidently right before and after the normalization of relations between the People’s Republic of China (prc) and South Korea in 1992. Due to the rise of China and the changing dynamics of inter-Asian migration, new migrants from theprcsince the 1990s have changed the demographic composition of foreign citizens in Korea.These new migrants from theprcare mostly ethnic Han (prcChinese), but some are ethnic Korean (Korean Chinese) who holdprccitizenship. Most previous studies have focused on either old (earlier) Chinese immigrants or new (later) Chinese immigrants separately. This paper, in contrast, comparatively investigates these groups utilizing statistics and secondhand source data. This study contends that the mechanisms of institutional exclusion and inclusion in Korean immigration policies, put forward by the policies’ citizenship, legal and economic aspects, produce both new multiculturalism and ethnonationalism. This paper also contends that mechanisms of institutional exclusion and inclusion are a result of the interplay between citizenship and ethnicity.本文對韓國華僑(“舊華僑”)、持中國國籍的中國大陸漢族和朝鮮族(“新華僑”)進行比較。長久以來,在韓國社會裡“單一民族”一直是一個很普遍的傳統現象。但兩波從中國到韓國的華人華僑移民潮卻反駁此現象。早期的移民潮發生在十九世紀末,在此期間移居到韓國的華人一般稱之為韓國華僑(簡稱為“韓華”)。最近這一波新移民潮則是發生在最近30多年,恰好是在發生在中華人民共和國和韓國建交的一九九二年前後。從一九九零年代開始,因中國崛起和亞洲移民的動態變化帶動的中國“新”移民到了韓國,也改變了在韓國社會裡外國剬民的國籍與種族結構。這些來自中國的新移民大部分都是漢族(簡稱為“漢族”),有些則是朝鮮族,這兩個不同的民族都持有中華人民共和國的國籍。已經有許多研究關注移居韓國的華人,但比較不同時代移居至韓國的華人的討論卻非常少見。這個研究便以統計和二手資料為主,特別針對這些在不同時期來到韓國的華人進行比較。本論文分析了在韓國移民政策裡頭制度排斥和包容的機制,筆者分析了這些政策裡的剬民權、法律和經濟等不同層面,發現韓國的一系列移民政策造成了新的多文化主義和民族國家主義。此外,本研究也發現產生制度排斥和包容機制是剬民權和種族性之間的相互作用的結果。 (This article is in English).


Author(s):  
Grażyna STRNAD

This article aims to show the process of formation and operation (functioning) of the changing political system of South Korea. It is undertaken for the analysis of the process of the collapse of the former authoritarian political system and formation of South Korean democracy. Indicated in this article are the roles and participation of political leaders (Chun Doo Hwan, Roh Tae Woo, Kim Young Sam, and Kim Dae Jung) in the process of intense political change that took place in South Korea from the 1980s to the late twentieth century.During the authoritarian regimes of South Korea, the nation recorded spectacular economic development, but without political development. Political leadership in the democratization of the country was still authoritarian. Core values and attitudes of politicians pointed to the presence of the cultural heritage of Confucianism in politics.


2021 ◽  
Vol .4 (4) ◽  
pp. 54-61
Author(s):  
Dong-Ching Day

Developmental state used to be and is still regarded as a very practical theory to explain why Four Asian Tigers-Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore enjoyed almost averagely double-digit economic growth rate each year from 1970 to 1990 as well as East Asian economic development. However, developmental state theory couldn’t tell why South Korea and Singapore’s economic development had done much better than Taiwan and Hong Kong’s in terms of GDP per capita after 2003 and 2004 respectively. The aim of the study is trying to use national identity perspective to explain why it happens like this, since Four Asian Tigers’ economic development more or less was troubled by national identity issue. The major difference between these two groups is that South Korea and Singapore have done better in dealing with national identity issue than Taiwan and Hong Kong.


2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-409
Author(s):  
Hak-Kyum Kim ◽  
Hee-Joon Ahn

This study empirically examines whether there are any issuance premia for Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) bonds, using the data from the South Korean bond market from May 2018 to December 2020. We classify SRI bonds into three types: green, social, and sustainability. We divide the sample period into pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 to understand how the pandemic has impacted the pricing of SRI bonds. We employ two empirical approaches: a matching sample analysis and a regression analysis that controls various bond and market characteristics. We find the following. First, significant issuance premia of at least 8bp existed for our sample of social bonds. However, we do not find any evidence of an issuance premium from the other two types of bonds. The premia on social bonds decreased significantly after the outbreak of COVID-19. As most studies have focused on green bonds, the literature on SRI bonds has largely been silent about social bonds and sustainability bonds. By focusing on these two less researched SRI bond types in addition to green bonds, we help expand our knowledge on SRI bond markets. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the SRI bond market in South Korea.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Hyeong-ki Kwon

This chapter explores key questions of this book, including not only why Korea was able to achieve such sustained economic success from the 1960s to the 2010s, but also to what extent and why the Korean economy has changed. After critically reviewing prevalent theories including neoliberalism, the Global Production Networks, and the institutionalist developmental state (DS) theory, this chapter proposes a theoretical alternative by emphatically reviving the politics among diverse actors. In order to better account for endogenous changes and sustained economic success over a long period, this chapter suggests institutional adaptability and endogenous changes through elite competition.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiaoling He

Purpose – Why is the “education to industrial innovation” equation not working in China? Why has education development contributed to South Korea’s success but not promoted technology development and industrial upgrading in China? The purpose of this paper is to compare South Korea and China and try to address that puzzle. The author will also identify which mediating factors are crucial in linking education development to industrial innovation and industrial upgrading. Design/methodology/approach – This study will use the historical comparative method to compare South Korea and China. The author will try to explore the differences in education and industrial upgrading in the two countries, and identify which factors are producing different educational development effects, mainly by narrative comparison. Data will mainly come from online databases such as Statistics Korea, the Center on International Education Benchmarking, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, China Education Statistics and the World Bank, as well as from second-hand resources. Findings – In summary, this research has revealed that education itself or the production of human capital may not be sufficient conditions for technology innovation or industry upgrading. For human capital to affect industrial upgrading positively, it is not enough for the Chinese government just to invest in education. Other intermediating market and social contexts are crucial too, especially the allocation of resources between the private and the public sectors, and the existence of a proper employment structure. Originality/value – The role of education in economic development for the developing world is debated a lot. However, there is little development study research which directly explores the relationship between education and industrial upgrading via macroeconomic analysis. In a globalized world, the situation of international industrial value chains is an important element for sustainable long-term development. Industrial structures and their transformation are becoming more and more important for developing countries. While most past research has treated the absorbing economy’s structure as a condition that determines education’s contribution to development, this paper will treat the industrial structure as the dependent variable, and analyze how education would contribute to the upgrading of industrial structure and, in turn, be of benefit to sustainable economic development.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Soyon Kim

This article examines the effects of global capitalism and state coordination on the financial behaviour of <em>chaebol</em> (business conglomerates) in South Korea. This study focuses on the evolution from controller to coordinator in the post-developmental South Korean state. In recent times, the Korean government has been studied as the exemplar of the Asian newly industrializing economies (NIEs) based on its ability to <em>control</em> economic development. As civil society pressures outgrew government control in the 1990s, the government’s mission shifted from control to <em>coordination </em>– the state sought to accommodate newly emerging or enlarged bargaining domains of key political-economic actors. However, the emergent post-developmental state is buffeted by the growing strength of the private sector, domestically and transnationally. While civil society strived to mobilize mass movements to further social democracy, the neoliberal evolution of capitalist class interests generated institutional configurations favouring the hegemony of finance capital.


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