The Shrimp that Became a Tiger

Since 1998, South Korea underwent a dramatic change, from a «tiger in trouble» in the wake of the Asian crisis to a showcase of economic development. This book deals not with the causes of the crisis, but rather with the implications for the development of a new economic model in South Korea by applying the theory of economic transformation.

South Korea underwent a dramatic change in the last one and a half decades, from being considered a «tiger in trouble» in the wake of the Asian crisis to a showcase of economic development. The judgment of 1998 was itself a complete reversal of the previous enthusiastic reviews of world record-high growth for several decades, from the 1960s to the 1990s. Korea, once considered a shrimp between two mighty whales, Japan and China, veritably made a jump to become a tiger. And, after the steep decline of 1998, this tiger again showed its claws. This book deals not with the causes of the crisis in retrospect, but rather with the implications for the development of a new economic model in South Korea. It argues that the crisis and the following institutional change can best be understood by applying the theory of economic transformation.

Auteur

Bernhard J. Seliger is the resident representative of the Hanns Seidel Foundation in Korea. In 2007, he habilitated at the University of Witten/Herdecke. From 2004 to 2006 he was guest professor at the Graduate School of Public Administration of Seoul National University and at the Graduate School of International Area Studies of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. From 1998 to 2002 he was Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of International Area Studies of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. He received his doctorate in 1998 at the University of Kiel.

Contenu
Contents: The institutional challenge to transition theory Toward a more general theory of transformation The Korean Financial and economic crisis Central Bank independence in Korea FDI and cognitive models External institutions and the international integration of Korea From Ethnocentrism and Cultural Nationalism to Globalization and Hallyu (Korean Wave).