| Popis: |
This chapter discusses the Asian path of economic development from a long-term historical perspective. It is an attempt to understand the regionally specific context in which current emerging economies, especially India, Southeast Asia and China, industrialized. The basic demographic regime of monsoon Asia was formed in the early modern period, in which China and India developed a very large population-carrying capacity. The path of economic development was sustainability-driven, rather than growth-driven. In the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century regional integration took place under the Western impact, which led to the growth of intra-regional trade and labour-intensive industrialization. A fully-fledged industrialization, with a rapid rise in living standards, followed in the second half of the twentieth century. In Japan the developmental state promoted national land development plans, and fostered capital- and resource-intensive industries in the seafront industrial complex along the Pacific coast. The development path of the countries in the Western Pacific rim at least partially became resource-intensive and growth-driven. In the most recent period, China extended this seafront model to a more comprehensive resource nexus model, which would enable the integration of the non-maritime parts of the country and the Eurasian continent into its growth orbit. This development requires a fuller mobilization of less tradable resources, such as water and ecosystem services, putting pressure on local resources and raising questions about environmental sustainability. The developmental state seeking both industrialization and environmental sustainability plays a crucial role in determining the future of Asia’s development path. |
