Racing to the bottom or winners all round? : Southeast Asia’s economic development in the 1990s

Abstract

This thesis examines and compares economic and social development in developing Southeast Asia - Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Lao’s People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar and Vietnam - focusing on the 1990s, and finds that in absolute terms there is no race. That is, whilst competing for foreign direct investments with other developing economies, economic development has not led to a downward pressure on income levels and nor has it increased poverty. This thesis shows that in the 1990s and at the turn of the new millennium there is evidence of declining poverty, improved healthcare and education facilities. It therefore concludes that there is no race tot he bottom in developing Southeast Asia, nor is the economic model of development adopted by the respective governments based solely on free-market economics (Neoliberalism) or is it purely protectionist (Keynesian); instead it has components of both. Importantly, the progress in developing Southeast Asia over the last 30 years, particularly in the 1990s, refutes anti-globalist claims that globalisation always leads to greater impoverishment in the developing world.