ABSTRACT
The book’s concluding chapter summarizes the findings and systematically compares the case study results. It confirms that a variety of Southeast Asian business systems in terms of “ersatz capitalism” exists since innovative firms, entrepreneurship, rational state policies, and internationally competitive corporations are rare. The original conception of “ersatz capitalism” by Yoshihara (1988) was further developed and for the first time applied to country and sectoral studies in Malaysia and Indonesia. The book argues that the institutional constellation of state-business relations in both countries consists of internal and external blockades that cause the emergence of a class of Indonesian and Malaysian capitalists with low levels of productivity and efficiency. Furthermore, it provides empirical evidence for blockades in terms of rent-seeking behavior, cronyism, patronage, policy restrictions by international agreements, and dependence on foreign direct investment and multinational corporations. It also offers observable manifestations in the form of data and statistics that illustrate the low capabilities and inefficiency of autochthonous Southeast Asian firms and state-owned enterprises. This chapter compares all case studies by measuring the amount of ethnic discrimination, technological dependence, and low-skilled labor. Finally, the chapter presents the prospects of further economic development and integration within the East Asian region.
