Managing Trade Policy for Development

Abstract

The policies which have led to the recent high growth rates of some East Asian countries are not based on a brand new approach to development economics. This paper shows that the basic Japanese contribution to development policy combines two strands of thought from the past with the application of some insights acquired in the 1950s. The ‘productivity’ theory of trade, that can be traced back to Adam Smith, and Hamilton's and List's nationalistic and protectionist recommendations, when combined with the export elasticities analysis of Prebisch and Singer, provide us with the basic ingredients of the export-oriented growth policy and explain a large part of the apparent success of the Japanese and Korean economies.