ABSTRACT
The labour market has played a central, but contentious, role in East Asian economic development. There are those who maintain that the state in East Asian NIEs has systematically controlled the labour movement in order to maintain the competitive edge of the NIEs in labour-intensive manufactures. This was primarily done by ensuring a steady supply of low-cost, docile and disciplined workers. Such a view also typically draws attention to pervasive labour market discrimination of female workers in East Asia. The hypothesis of ‘labour subordination’ (Frobel et al., 1980; Deyo, 1987b, 1989) has, however, been challenged by those who maintain that there is no correlation between weak labour movements and export-manufacturing success. Furthermore, given that tight labour market conditions are the norm rather than the exception in the NIEs, deliberate attempts to repress wages or ensure labour peace are prone to failure (Lim, 1989). Those sympathetic to such a view would also maintain that labour markets in East Asia are generally competitive and that this feature, combined with outward-oriented industry and trade policies, have yielded substantial benefits to the working population (Addison and Demery, 1987; Fields, 1985). In addition, it is often claimed that the key reason behind East Asian success is the presence of flexible, hard-working, educated and well-trained workers (Oshima, 1988).
