Southeast Asia’s economic development over the last decades has been impressive. Most of the region has achieved consistently high growth rates accompanied by significant structural transformation and industrialization, poverty alleviation and improvements in the overall standard of living as indicated by such social indicators as greater longevity, more widespread delivery of basic education and lower infant mortality rates. However, the crisis that struck Southeast Asia in 1997 had severe economic, social and political consequences for many countries in the region, particularly in the hardest-hit economies of Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. It also threw into doubt the future economic prosperity of countries in the region and raised intriguing questions about the quality of their institutions and their approach to economic development.