Globalisation, Economic Development & the Role of the State - Softcover

Ha-Joon Chang

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1842771434 ISBN 13: 9781842771433

Publisher: Zed Books, 2003

Synopsis

The role of the state in the economy has always been a controversial issue in public debate, but it has become more so in the last quarter of a century with the rise of neoliberal thinking that preaches the virtues of unregulated markets and recommends de-regulation, opening-up, and privatisation. This push for a minimal, pro-business state, especially in developing countries, has been further intensified with both the rise of globalisation and the many radical neoliberal 'reforms' implemented,often under pressure from multilateral agencies (such as the IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO). In this book, the author highlights the failure of neoliberalism, especially in developing countries, or what he terms 'the intellectual bankruptcy of neoliberalism', which, he believes, 'stems ultimately from its failure to base its discourse on a balanced and sophisticated theory of the inter-relationship between the market, the state, and other institutions'. He also tries to construct a credible alternative theoretical framework to neoliberalism, informed by a balanced understanding of empirical evidence. The issues covered concern a rather wide range of domestic and international policy issues - including trade policy, privatisation, transnational corporations, and intellectual property rights - with some important common theoretical threads running through them, which he calls 'the institutionalist political economy approach'. It is the author's hope that this book will help 'those who are trying to construct, either at the theoretical level or at the practical level, some credible alternatives to neoliberalism - even if their alternatives are significantly different from mine'.

About this title

About the Author:

Dr Ha-Joon Chang is Assistant Director of Development Studies in the Faculty of Economics and Politics, University of Cambridge. Born in the Republic of Korea, and educated at the Seoul National University and subsequently at Cambridge, he is the author of The Political Economy of Industrial Policy (Macmillan, 1994), Kicking Away the Ladder: Development Strategy in Historical Perspective (Anthem, 2002); Globalization, Economic Development, and the Role of the State (Zed, 2003), and Restructuring Korea Inc. (RoutledgeCurzon, 2003; with Jang-Sup Shin); editor of seven other volumes, and has written numerous scholarly journal articles. Since 1992 he has also serves on the editorial board of the Cambridge Journal of Economics. He was a member of the Advisory Panel for the Human Development Report, 1999 and has acted as research project coordinator and consultant to numerous UN agencies and international agencies including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the British Government's DfID, the Canadian Government's IDRC, and the South Centre in Geneva.

Synopsis:

The role of the state continues to be a key debate in economics and development studies. Dr ha-Joon Chang has been one of the leading voices questioning the axiomatic wisdom of what is called the Washington Consensus "free market" view that the role of the state should be minimized. In this collection of essays, he reviews theories and practices of state intervention as they have developed over two centuries of modern capitalism. He develops an institutionalist approach to the role of the state in economic change; and examines the issues involved in particular settings including industrial policy, trade policy, intellectual property rights, regulation and strategies towards transnational corporations. He mounts a theoretical and historical case for the essential role of the state in economic development.

About this edition

• Publisher: Zed Books
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1842771434
• ISBN 13: 9781842771433
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 344