Asian economic development: A primer

During the post-World War 11 era, the process of economic transformation in Asia has been more rapid and extensive than in any other region in the world. With the Asia-wide embrace of market-oriented policy reforms and following the meteoric rise of China and India’s awakening from economic slumber, the twenty-first century has come to be labelled the ‘Asian Century’. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the nonspecialized reader to a selection of published papers that provides a comprehensive picture of economic policymaking and performance of these countries. The compilation of the collection was motivated by both the economic significance of the region in the global economy and the pivotal role played by Asia-focused research in the enrichment of the subject area of development economics. The papers have been carefully selected to help the reader to understand political and economic underpinnings of the Asian economic dynamism in general and notable differences in economic progress among the Asian countries.