ABSTRACT
In the previous chapter we defined the key characteristics of the traditional Korean economic system – or ‘Korea Inc.’, based on the nexus between the state, banks, and the chaebols – and discussed its strengths and weaknesses as a catching-up system. This was done from a historical-comparative perspective, which allowed us to evaluate the relative merits and demerits of the Korean model in a more balanced way than is possible under the common practice of benchmarking it against some theoretical ideal or an idealised version of the Anglo-American model.
