Economic Development of Taiwan

Early Experiences and the Pacific Trade Triangle

Taiwan's economic growth since the 1970s has roots in its pre-war development and post-war formation of the Pacific trade triangle. By highlighting the historical perspective of the Japanese linkages and the geographic vantage point of Taiwan–Japan–USA trade triangle, Economic Development of Taiwan features a collection of papers by Frank S T Hsiao and Mei-Chu Wang Hsiao. Published mostly between 1989 and 2002, their analyses on Taiwan's pre-war and post-war early economic history debunk the myth of the country's post-war rags to riches story and revalue the myth of "wise" government policy. Timely and accessible, this unique volume shows how early Taiwanese experiences of economic development can be valuable paradigms for emerging economies of Asian, African and Latin American countries in this age of globalization.

Contents:

• Introduction

• Overview of Economic Development of Taiwan:

  • Taiwanese Economic Development and Foreign Trade
  • Taiwan in the Global Economy — Past, Present, and Future
  • Taiwan in the Global Economy and on the End of its “Miracle”

• Japanese Colonial Linkages:

  • Colonialism or Comparative Advantage? — On Agricultural Development in Colonial Taiwan
  • Colonial Linkages in Early Post-war Taiwanese Economic Development
  • The Historical Traditions of Taiwanese Small-and-Medium Enterprises — Origins of Taiwanese Capitalism
  • The Economic and Cultural Backgrounds of Taiwanese 228 Incident — An Application of Social Expectation Theory

• Early Postwar Economic Development:

  • Product Life-Cycle and Diffusion of Technology — The Taiwanese Case
  • Direct Foreign Investment, Technology Transfer, and Industrial Development — The Case of Electronics Industry in Taiwan
  • Globalization of the Taiwanese Economy and US — Taiwan Trade Relations
  • Japanese Experience of Industrialization and Economic Performance of Korea and Taiwan — Tests of Similarity
  • Economic Liberalization and Development — The Case of Lifting Martial Law in Taiwan
  • Diminishing Returns and Asian NIEs — How They Overcome the Iron Law

Readership: Advanced undergraduates or graduates in political science, sociology and Asian history students, and researchers of Taiwan studies.
Key Features:

• Emphasizes the historical perspective of the Japanese colonial legacy, the geographic vantage point of the Pacific trade triangle, and the social and economic effects of the tragedy of the 2-28 Incident
• Each chapter is self-contained and detailed enough to provide the background materials to those in other fields of study
• This book has well searched references in English, Chinese, and Japanese