ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the relationship between the current development policy debate and the East Asian development experience from a perspective that is significantly inspired by the alternative studies. More specifically, ‘openness’ referred initially to liberalisation of foreign trade — that is, the notion of trade regime neutrality, which essentially asks developing economies to leave their foreign trade, and thus their position in the international division of labour, completely under the regulation of the world market. The World Bank's cautious approach concerning capital account liberalisation, which states that opening the capital account and aiming at integration into the global financial markets should be contingent on adequate domestic institutional development, has also encountered orthodox opposition. Despite recognising that East Asia's unorthodox institutions and policies have played a positive and significant role in the miracle era, they have appeared uncertain about the role of these factors in the 1990s.
