ABSTRACT
Our sample of South and East Asian countries is made up by the two biggest developing countries (China and India) at the rushing starting stage of their catching up, by two transition countries (Malaysia and Thailand) and, finally, by two industrialized countries (Japan and South Korea). According to different historical and cultural roots, a highly centralized government prevails in many of these countries, although recently some trends are moving toward a greater degree of fiscal decentralization. By adding some information presented inside the country chapters, a short synopsis is given in the next section of this chapter.
