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.
Economists and policymakers have long been perplexed over the way rapid growth appears to conflict with the other common goal of developing nations - more equitable income distribution. But economic expansion need not preclude equity, as demonstrated by the case of Taiwan, which experienced high rates of economic growth between the early 1950s and the late 1970s while simultaneously improving the distribution of income among its people. This book describes how the Republic of China managed this balancing of goals and analyzes the reasons for Taiwan's exceptional performance. The authors illustrate how full utilization of the country's vast human resources through emphasis on labor-intensive production has worked to make Taiwan's products competitive in international markets and to make fiscal redistribution after the fact unnecessary. They also cite Taiwan's early attention to land reform, to productivity in agriculture, and to the spread of decentralized rural industry as important factors in the country's achievements. They point out that, although the specifics may change, strategies and policy implications drawn from the Taiwan experience should be applicable in other developing countries.
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.
Taiwan's upcoming presidential and legislative elections will take place against the backdrop of a struggling economy marred by near-zero growth, stagnant wages, rising prices and the looming threats of an energy shortage, low domestic investment, and overdependence on China. These economic problems, largely at the forefront of the minds of Taiwan's electorate, are expected to be the deciding factors in the January 2016 election. This report's key findings list Taiwan’s economic challenges, the political debates surrounding them, and future policy options to steer Taiwan's economy back toward sustainable growth.
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"--
