ABSTRACT
If the countries of the world form a continuum of development in the way in which Berry's analysis has suggested and if their relative positions are not fixed, some countries may at present occupy that indeterminate borderland between less developed and more developed while others may have achieved development goals and status indistinguishable from the industrialized nations of Europe. Hollis Chenery believes industrialization to be the engine which powers economic development and writes, 'successful development in virtually all countries has been characterised by an increase in the share of manufacturing in total output. This structural change is both a cause and effect of rising incomes' (Chenery et aI. 1979). Four countries, all in East Asia, are recognized as having achieved this transition based on industrialization. Called the Newly Industrialized Countries, NICs, they are the two city states of Hong Kong and Singapore and the two former Japanese colonies, South Korea and Taiwan. Not only are these four countries industrialized, they are also among the world's leading exporters of manufactured goods. It is of particular interest to examine why these countries should have been so successful when so many others have not. Are there common characteristics which might afford some explanation of their success or is each distinct, following its own route to industrial affluence? The development history of each will be examined beginning first with Taiwan, then the city states of Hong Kong and Singapore, and concluding with South Korea, the least affluent of the quartet and a World Bank upper middle-income nation.
