21st-century political economy in East Asia

This chapter offers a brief look at national innovation systems and their part in East Asia’s 21st-century political economy. Governments uniformly accept the idea that a combination of research and commercialization are key elements in national prosperity. Today, many countries highlight scientific and technological innovation as the cornerstone of long-term economic success and as an appropriate locus for government engagement. Japan, China, Taiwan and South Korea are all characterized by strong central governments that have the authority and predilection to impose dramatic policies on the country. Japan, China and South Korea demonstrated to domestic and international audiences their belief that science, technology and innovation will be the bedrock of their 21st-century economies. Japan was early to peg its economic future on science and technology, proclaiming itself to be a science and technology nation in the mid-1990s. National governments cannot support all emerging technology sectors.