ABSTRACT
There is wide variation in the prospects for economic development and poverty reduction among the Buddhist countries of Southeast Asia. Thailand has been the past leader in poverty reduction among these countries. Vietnam is now reducing poverty even faster than Thailand did in earlier decades. Conditions in Burma and Cambodia, however, are getting worse, with Laos only slowly reducing poverty. Earlier comparative-historical research (Kerbo 2005; 2006) has shown these Buddhist countries have several historical legacies that can lead to less corruption and more state efficiency in protecting themselves in the global economy, thus sustaining economic development and poverty 202reduction. However, there are other factors, especially the effects of colonialism, which negatively impact these countries in differing ways.
Despite relatively high levels of gross national product (GNP) growth in recent years, poverty in Cambodia has not been reduced, and inequality and landlessness are growing rapidly. As a follow-up to earlier historical-comparative analysis, two years of fieldwork in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos focused on what was or was not being done to promote economic development and poverty reduction in these countries, and the extent to which governmental institutions are able to carry out policies for economic development and poverty reduction. The present chapter focuses on Cambodia to examine why its governmental institutions are weak and corruption is high compared to the other three countries in the region.
