ABSTRACT
The ‘growth with equity’ said to characterise East Asia has been explained by various factors. These include regime initiatives to secure greater political support and legitimacy (such as land reforms and rural development efforts), human resource development (HRD) efforts (especially meritocratic publicly funded education to the tertiary level) as well as significant household savings (‘forced’ or otherwise). Rapid economic growth in much of the region has undoubtedly raised living standards through various means. For example, ‘trickle-down’ inducements to increase labour productivity as well as tight labour markets have pushed up real incomes despite repressive labour policies, especially in Korea and Southeast Asia, and the declining terms of trade of manufactured exports from the South generally. Hence, any considerations of the distributive implications of growth as well as liberalisation must consider both inherent consequences as well as redistributive policy mechanisms.
