Economic Reform in Asia compares and analyzes the reform and development patterns of China, India, and Japan from both historical and developmental perspectives. Sara Hsu specifically focuses on China’s reform and opening-up in 1979, India’s accelerated liberalization in 1991, and the outset of the Meiji Restoration in Japan in 1878. This detailed overview of growth patterns in Asia’s largest economies is invaluable, especially in its determination to understand which development policies work, what role institutions play in development, and what issues may arise during said development. The book first provides an overview of the countries’ development trajectories and introduces the theoretical constructs associated with them. The text focuses on key aspects of development for comparison, such as poverty and inequality, rural to urban migration, human capital, and the impact of development on the environment, trade, and economic future of these three countries. The relative success of reforms and their political and economic effects are also discussed. This comprehensive book will be of interest to students, as it provides an impressive overview of three Asian countries’ development, as well as for scholars in the field who are looking for a thoughtful and complex discussion of reform from different perspectives.

If South Asia is to survive and prosper in the global economic environment, its behind-the-border domestic reforms will be even more important than before. However, these reforms are much more difficult and complex than initial market opening. This timely book analyses what lessons can be learned about how South Asia can improve its policy efficiency.

Consisting of theoretical chapters and six country case study chapters, this book sets out some of the principles that are critical to success in regional cooperation and the ways APEC can promote structural reform efforts in APEC economies.

This unique book analyses how further economic reforms and closer relations with East Asian countries could enhance economic growth and integration in South Asia. It makes a powerful and realistic case for a two-pronged strategy in South Asian countries to (i) complete the economic reform process that they had begun in the 1980s and 1990s and (ii) implement the second round of "Look East" policies (LEP2). The book also identifies the unfinished policy reform agendafor each South Asian country and the components of the LEP2 that they should implement.

The countries of Central Asia are increasingly the focus of intense international attention due to their geopolitical and economic importance as well as their unsettled transition processes. The region faced enormous challenges when the Soviet Union disintegrated, and this book focuses on the reforms of the institutional environment that have been largely neglected. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the book explores key aspects of institution building as well as economic and political governance in Central Asia. Contributors from a variety of disciplines, such as economics, political economy, political science, sociology, law, and ethnology, investigate the challenges of institutional transition in a non-democratic region. The book discusses how the lack of effective institution building as well as rule enforcement in the economic and political realms represents one of the key weaknesses and drawbacks of transition, and goes on to look at how crafting market institutions will be of utmost importance in the years ahead. Making an important contribution to understanding of political-economic developments in Central Asia, this book is of interest to students and scholars of political economy, comparative economics, development studies and Central Asian studies.

While South Asia’s economic reform initiatives of the last two decades were often born in crisis, this alone does not account for their occurrence. This book looks at the processes and institutional arrangements behind these reforms, and analyses what lessons can be learnt about how South Asia can improve its policy efficiency. The book develops ideas about how to overcome the political restraints to reform by drawing on recent theories of political economy and policy learning. It tests these ideas against authoritative case studies of actual reform initiatives in South Asia, which illustrate processes and institutional arrangements that have helped South Asian governments to sustain reform efforts, even in the absence of a strong political base. This offers valuable lessons for the global economy as it moves into a phase of rebalancing, with the structural adjustments that this will require. The book goes on to identify weaknesses that could be addressed by South Asian national governments and regional forums. It is an important contribution to studies on South Asian Politics and International Political Economy

This book examines the economic reforms and material progress made since the Central Asian republics became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991. Without some of the neo-liberal reforms recommended by the "Washington Consensus" and with an authoritarian presidency, Uzbekistan, the largest of these countries, has nevertheless achieved modest economic growth, stability, and a relatively impressive degree of income equality. The country has also preserved its economic and political independence from the great powers — Russia, China, and the USA — who are rivals for influence and energy in Central Asia. Human rights have been poorly enforced, though occasional thaws have also taken place. In second half of the book features a comparative analysis of four Central Asian states, all super-presidential authoritarianisms but with very different resource endowments and external commitments. A separate chapter deals with the energy resources of the region and the challenges of bringing oil and gas to the world market, and the question of whether Central Asian states will return to the Russian sphere of influence or seek closer ties with Asia or Europe is examined. The book concludes with prospects for future political and economic progress in the key Central Asian states.