The Taiwan economy has undergone a successful transition in the post-war period-transition from agricultural to industrial, from traditional to modem, and from backward to advanced economy. This book explores and illuminates broad dimensions of the transition growth of the Taiwan economy for the period 1951-81. It deals in depth with all major aspects: key issues of the early period; labor absorption and income distribution; trade, prices and external shocks; technical change; and economic policies. The coverage of these topics is extensive, so as to give readers a comprehensive outlook of the development of Taiwan after the Second World War.
Taiwan's Development Experience: Lessons on Roles of Government and Market scrutinizes the main features of the Taiwanese development experience under five interrelated themes and domains: Outward-orientation vs. inward-orientation; Sources of growth; Dynamic balanced growth process: the interaction between agricultural and non-agricultural sectors; The role of government in the transition to a more market-oriented economy; and The potential transferability of the Taiwanese development experience to developing countries. In addition to highlighting the essential contributions of papers, the Editors also bring out the views and contributions, under each of the above headings, of two distinguished former Cornell University colleagues who are honored at the sponsoring conference - T.C. Liu and S.C. Tsiang.
This book tells the story of Taiwan’s economic revolution—how Taiwan transformed itself from a planned economy into a market economy between 1949 and 1965. The authors posit that it was the Kuomintang Government's endorsement of property rights reform and institutional change that enabled Taiwan to transform from an impoverished command economy to one of the fastest growing economies in the world. The book gives special attention to how a small group of political and economic leaders began adopting the new ideas and beliefs that created the vision that enabled them to embrace institutional and organizational innovations, actions which led to the formation of the new market economy. Using first-hand interview material with key government officials from the period, and analyses of hitherto unused Chinese-language archives including: the diaries of Chiang Kai-shek, Kuomintang party archives, and personal papers of Kuomintang leaders, as well as newspaper and journal articles published in Taiwan between 1949 and 1965, this book is both empirically rich, and gives the reader insights into Taiwan's developmental experience and the direction in which, under different circumstances, China's post-war expansion might have proceeded. Taiwan's Economic Transition will be an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the economic and political history and development of Taiwan. More broadly it will also appeal to scholars and students of China's historical and contemporary development, Asian economics, and Asian studies.
First published in 1998, this volume examines the ‘economic miracle’ of Taiwan’s remarkable transition from poverty to one of the world’s most affluent economies, ten years after its emergence from martial law. Gerald A. McBeath explores Taiwan from its time as a country barely recovered from Japanese occupation and wartime damage to a nation filled with new office buildings and skyscrapers where few think twice about frequenting expensive restaurants. Beginning with the State of Taiwan between 1945 and 1986, McBeath progresses through the transformation of the Party-State, the changing status of economic interests, policy-making in the democratic era and Taiwan’s internationalisation campaigns.
This book is about the basis and scope of impact that Taiwan – a democracy with a population of around 23 million – has on China, the most powerful remaining Leninist state which claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has a population of over 1.3 billion. It examines how Taiwan has helped China in its economic transformation, but argues that the former exercises greatest influence through its soft power. The expert and timely contributions in this book demonstrate how Taiwan exerts real influence in China through admiration of its popular culture, be it in music or literature, as well as its reach into politics and economics. As mainland Chinese visit Taiwan, they are most impressed with civility in everyday living based on a modernized version of the traditional Chinese culture. However, discussions in the book also reveal the limits of Taiwan’s impact, as the Chinese government tightly controls the narrative about Taiwan and does not tolerate any Taiwanese posing a threat to its monopoly of power.
A collaborative effort by Western specialists and some of Taiwan's leading social scientists, this timely study addresses the cause and effects of Taiwan's dramatic achievements in economic growth and income distribution as a market-oriented yet highly government-interventionist economy. The relevance of this success could not be more telling for other market-oriented economies as well as for the rapidly decentralizing economies of Russia, Eastern Europe, and China. Using a case-study approach, the contributors examine the transition to export-led growth, foreign trade, investment patterns, the role of financial institutions, fiscal and monetary policy, the educational and agrarian systems, and the role of women and ideology.
Throughout the twentieth century Taiwan was viewed as a model - whether in terms of a model colony, a model China or a development model. This perception was based on the notion of Taiwan undergoing an economic miracle and political developments. Yet much of Taiwan’s history is unique and may not be readily replicable elsewhere. Written by an impressive line up of contributors from the US, UK, Taiwan, France and Hong Kong, this book analyzes Taiwan’s economic and political achievements, and asks whether it is possible to identify through the experience of a single nation – Taiwan – the makings of a replicable model. This book will appeal to students and scholars of Taiwan, political economy, and Asia-Pacific regional development issues.
"Taiwan's emergent nationhood poses a fundamental challenge to the global political order. Following a remarkable transition from authoritarian rule to robust democracy, this island society has become a prosperous but widely unrecognized nation-state for which no uncontested sovereign space exists. Increasingly vigorous assertions of Taiwanese identity expose the fragility of relationships between the United States and other great powers that assume Taiwan will eventually unite with China. Perhaps because of their precarious international position, Taiwanese have embraced cosmopolitan culture and democratic institutions more fully than most Asians. The 2014 Sunflower Movement, in which demonstrators occupied parliament to protest a free trade agreement with China, thrust Taiwan politics into the global media spotlight, as did the resounding victory of the once-illegal Democratic Progressive Party in 2016. Taiwan in Dynamic Transition provides an up-to-date treatment of contemporary Taiwan, highlighting Taiwan's emergent nationhood and its implications for world politics. The book provides a new interpretive framework and series of case studies that together construct a vivid picture of how contemporary Taiwanese think about their nationhood, with specific examples of nation-building and democratization in social practice. The Taiwan case has important implications for broader themes and preoccupations in contemporary thought, such as consideration of why transitions in the aftermath of the Arab Spring have sputtered or failed, while Taiwan has evolved into a stable and prosperous democratic society. Taiwan serves as a test case for nation- and state-building, the formation of national identity, and the emergence of democratic norms in real time"--
