Evolution of Development Paradigms and Socio-Economic Systems ...

Research Findings
2. Interventionist Government
As the World Bank’s The East Asian Miracle showed, not all of
the Asian governments were interventionist. Indonesia,
Malaysia, Thailand developed with lesser degrees of
government intervention. Japan, South Korea, Taiwan (and
China and Vietnam today) are the leading examples of
successful growth with interventionist governments.
The interventionist state model may not easily be transferred to
Africa as it requires strong capacity and commitment on the
part of the public sector to analyze the development situation,
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formulate interventionist policies, and carry out these policies
in a decisive manner throughout the long process of
development.
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Research Findings
3. Systems Approach
Japan and the other high performing East Asian nations
developed the system/institutions by which,
1. private and public sectors cooperated to attain (shared) development
goals,
2. business conglomerates and business groups acted together to
mitigate business risks and to obtain support from the public sector,
3. public sector promoted the market system to suit the needs of
business investors, and
4. government was able to exercise macroeconomic management to
preserve a healthy investment environment.
In Africa, economic systems and institutions are still
underdeveloped or new and unstable. This undermines policy
predictability and policy decisiveness.
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Research Findings
4. Governance
On governance, unlike what The East Asian Miracle praised, most
Asian economies have developed without high marks in
governance indicators (such as, macro-management, democracy,
accountability, transparency, political participation) as
preconditions for growth. Strong and stable bureaucracy laid the
path for economic growth in Asia. In fact, bureaucracy
constituted the core of the Asian ‘developmental state’, either
under autocratic/charismatic leaders or under more democratic
governments.
Governance in Africa has been characterized by a ‘patronage-
driven model’. Or if I may beg your indulgence and use a bit
stronger terminology, a ‘vampire state model’. Such governments,
and more importantly the bureaucracy that supports these types of
governments, cannot easily be transformed into
‘developmentalists’.
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Strategies for Mutual Learning?
(from TICAD IV discussions)
1.
a. Needs of Africa should be identified by Africans.
b. Given the identified needs, Asians should try to collect
cases/policy experiences they feel could be relevant.
c. From the cases and policy experiences suggested by the Asians,
Africans then evaluate applicability and manageability, and
make their own selection of cases/policies.
2. Asians should study the strengths of local African
systems/institutions, rather than continuing to focus on missing
elements.
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