Farrukh Iqbal – författare

This book examines the evolution of intergovernmental relations in postwar Japan. These relations are shown to be both complex and dynamic, and the Japanese model is revealed as one in which aspects of both central control and local autonomy have co-existed with the balance shifting gradually over time towards the latter. The Japanese system has helped to maintain broad-based economic growth since it has at its core a strongly egalitarian fiscal transfer mechanism. At the same time, it has proved to be consistent, to a much greater extent than previously recognized, with political development, or progress in the attainment of such political values as liberty (personal rights) and equality (broad participation in public affairs) for individuals and communities. This is because the national government has proved flexible enough to accommodate, although not always with grace or alacrity, citizen concerns about the quality of life. The Japanese approach to intergovernmental relationships has also been successful in solving coordination problems which often arise between local and central government units and in building capacity to support greater and effective decentralization. Coordination problems have been handled through a variety of mechanisms including the practice of agency delegated functions, while local capacity issues have been addressed through such practices as the exchange of personnel across different levels of government and the use of attractive compensation and training packages to recruit and retain local staff. The Japanese experience thus provides an example of gradual and guided decentralization based on shared responsibilities between local and central governments for mobilizing, managing, and spending public resources in the pursuit of sustainable development.

Of the developing nations of East Asia, Indonesia came relatively late to liberalizing its trade and investment regime. Only in the mid-1980s, when it was clear that oil revenues alone would not suffice and that a new engine of growth was needed, did the country's government swing behind a systematic deregulation effort. Tariffs were cut, non-tariff barriers were lowered, foreign investment restrictions were reduced, export promotion incentives were enhanced, and various financial sector regulations were eased. All this combined to spark a labor-intensive export-led economic boom that was accompanied by an expansion in wages and employment and a boost in productivity. This book documents how Indonesia truly became part of the East Asian miracle story starting in the mid-1980s. Destined to become a leading case study of export-led development in Indonesia, this book grew out of a World Bank/Indonesian Economic Society Symposium held in Jakarta.There was, however, a parallel story as well, of crony capitalism and weak governance, that led to the financial and political crisis of 1997-98. These aspects were reflected in continued protection of certain sectors where the cronies were active, in restrictions on domestic trade and competition that were left in place for their benefit, and in financial manipulations that were conducted to their advantage. These aspects are noted as well in the book and pulled together in the concluding chapter, which takes the story up through the crisis years to the present.

This title presents a collection of papers which examines the evolution of small and medium enterprises (hereafter SMEs) in East Asia since the mid-1970s. East Asia is of interest because this region has experienced, on average, the highest economic growth rates in the world during this period. This has been accompanied by dramatic transformations in sectoral output and employment, in patterns of domestic and international trade and in demographic flows within countries. It is of interest to see to what extent these transformations have affected, or have been influenced in turn by, industrial structure as reflected in the evolution of small firms. At the same time, not all countries in East Asia have grown at similar rates nor has there been uniformity in public policies across the region. So there is a background of diversity in both performance and policy. How smaller firms have coped with the different policy environments and patterns of economic transformation that have characterized the region in the recent past could be of potential importance to the formulation of public policy in other developing countries. Small firms are important instruments for economic development.This book examines the factors that influence their evolution and performance.

Indonesia experienced strong economic growth at greatest risk, that too would be useful for strategy formulation purposes, especially in cases in the 1970s with the help of high oil prices, a where employment protection is an important period of stagnation in the 1980s when oil prices declined and another period of strong economic objective. Finally, to the extent that policies can growth after 1986 when substantial trade and alter the probability ofsuccess or failure in coping investment liberalization enabled a dramatic with shocks, it would be useful to know which of policies is most effective and under what surge in labor-intensive manufacturing export set production. Recently, the regional financial crisis conditions. of 1997-1998 dealt Indonesia a severe shock The recent crisis in East Asia provides an from which it has not yet fully recovered. How opportunity to examine the link between industrial structure and economic resilience. The relative have its SMEs done through the twists and turns of the economy in the past quarter century? impact of the crisis by size of firm can be judged Unfortunately, the data needed to track the per­ in part by the effects on capacity utilization and formance of the SME sector are not as good for employment. The table below summarizes some Indonesia as for many of the other countries in results from a survey sponsored by the World East Asia.