Growth with Equity: A Test of Olson's Theory for the Asian Pacific-Rim Countries
| DOI | 10.1177/002234338702400204 |
| Published date | 01 June 1987 |
| Date | 01 June 1987 |
| Author | Steve Chan |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Growth
with
Equity:
A
Test
of
Olson’s
Theory
for
the
Asian
Pacific-Rim
Countries*
STEVE
CHAN
Department
of
Political
Science,
University
of
Colorado
In
the
past
quarter
of
century,
the
countries
located
along
the
Asian
side
of
the
Pacific
Basin
have
achieved
impressive
economic
growth
and
socioeconomic
equity.
Conventional
economic
theory
and
dependencia
perspectives
are
poorly
equipped
to
account
for
the
simultaneous
achievement
of
these
desiderata.
In
this
analysis,
Mancur
Olson’s
theory
of
distributional
coalitions
is
employed,
with
considerable
success,
in
analyzing
this
phenomenon.
It
is
hypothesized
that
countries
that
have
undergone
more
severe
forms
of
civil
war
and/or
foreign
occupation
have
weaker
distributional
coalitions,
and
hence
are
more
likely
to
be
able
to
achieve
rapid
economic
growth
and
equitable
distribution
of
income
and
social
welfare.
The
hypothesized
relationships
are
generally
supported
by
the
experience
of
the
Asian
Pacific-rim
countries.
ISSN
0022-3433
Journal
of
Peace
Research,
vol.
24,
no.
2,
1987
1.
Introduction
In
the
past
quarter
of
century,
the
Asian
Pacific
region
has
distinguished
itself
as
the
most
dynamic
economic
area
in
the
world
(Benjamin
&
Kudrle
1984;
Hofheinz
&
Calder
1982;
Linder
1986;
Yoffie
1983).~
Japan’s
postwar
economic
recovery
and
expansion
have,
or
course,
been
widely
recognized
(e.g.,
Johnson
1982;
Vogel
1979).
It
has
consistently
achieved
one
of
the
highest
GNP
growth
rates
among
its
peers
in
the
Organization
for
Economic
Cooperation
and
Development
(OECD).
During
1973-
83
(a
period
that
included
two
worldwide
economic
recessions
and
energy
crises),
Japan’s
average
annual
rate
of
increase
in
GNP
was
3.7%
in
comparison
with
the
OECD
average
of
2.1 % .2
More
recently,
there
has
been
increasing
media
and
scholarly
attention
directed
to
the
’economic
miracles’
of
several
’little
Japans’
(e.g.
Haggard
1986;
Hofheinz
&
Calder
1982;
Yoffie
1983).
Taiwan,
Singapore,
and
South
Korea
(as
well
as
the
British
colony
of
Hong
Kong)
have
scored
truly
remarkable
gains
in
domestic
growth
and
export
expan-
sion,
even
though
they
lack
natural
resources
that
command
a
premium
in
the
world
mar-
*
An
earlier
version
of
this
paper
was
presented
at
the
1986
annual
meeting
of
the
American
Political
Science
Association
in
Washington,
D.C.
I
thank
Aran
Park
for
her
assistance
in
the
data
preparation
for
this
research.
ket
(as
was
the
case
of
oil
for
the
petroleum-
exporting
countries)
and
even
though
they
are
extremely
dependent
on
foreign
markets
and
raw-materials
supplies.
The
GNP
growth
rates
for
these
countries
during
1973-
83
were
7.9%, 7.9%,
and
7.4%
respectively.
By
comparison,
the
average
GNP
growth
rate
for
the
developing
world
as
a
whole
(including
members
of
the
Organization
of
Petroleum-Exporting
Countries)
was
only
4.6%
during
the
same
period.
Even
the
slower-growing
economies
of
the
Asian
Pacific
region
have
had
above-average
performance
in
light
of
the
developing
world’s
norm
just
cited.
Although
their
accomplishments
have
received
much
less
publicity,
the
average
annual
rates
of
GNP
growth
(during
1973-83)
of
Malaysia
(6.9%),
Indonesia
(6.3%),
Thailand
(6.2%),
Burma
(5.8%),
and
the
Philippines
(5.1%)
compare
favorably
with
most
of
their
Third
World
counterparts.
Furthermore,
the
economic
dynamism
of
the
region
has
not
been
restric-
ted
to
the
capitalist
countries.
The
two
com-
mand
economies -
that
of
China
and
North
Korea -
have
also
had
the
highest
GNP
growth
rates
in
the
socialist
world.
These
rates
were
6.0%
and
6.4%
respectively
in
comparison
with
an
average
of
2.4%
for
all
the
Warsaw
Treaty
Organization
members.
Significantly,
the
only
economic
laggards
in
the
region
have
been
the
two
developed
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