2009 Annual Edwin O. Reischauer Lectures:
Economic transformations in East Asia

    

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday,
April 15–17, 2009

2009 Edwin O. Reischauer Lectures
Economic Transformations in East Asia
The world’s leading economist on Asia, recently retired Dwight Perkins, will talk about his experiences and insights in dealing with Asia for over the past forty years. Professor Perkins is the Harold Hitchings Burbank Research Professor of Political Economy, Emeritus, Harvard University.

Each lecture will begin at 4pm, and the first lecture will be followed by a reception.
Location: CGIS South Building, Room S020, 1730 Cambridge St., Harvard University

Wednesday, April 15, 2009 Lecture
Economic Transformation in East Asia: Historical Foundations
Much of the Northeast and Southeast Asia has enjoyed long periods of high economic growth. This first lecture will explore the historical foundations of the growth. The countries of the region had diverse experiences with colonialism and imperialism that played an important role in determining when high growth started and how growth was managed once it did start. Pre-modern education levels, for example, varied widely among the countrie, as did the ease with which they were able to create a stable environment for investment. Despite this diversity, a large majority of the population of this region enjoyed two to three decades and more of rapid growth.
Discussant: Andrew D. Gordon, Lee and Juliet Folger Fund Professor of History, Harvard University
Moderator: William C. Kirby, T.M. Chang Professor of China Studies and Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School; Director of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University

Thursday, April 16, 2009 Lecture
Economic Transformation in East Asia: Diverse Models
With a few notable exceptions, most of the countries of Northeast and Southeast Asia were able to achieve substantial improvements in productivity that in turn created high rates of return to investment and hence high economic growth. This second lecture focuses on the way governments in the region managed their economies to achieve this result. One model that involoved a high level of government intervention worked well in Japan and Korea for a time but poorly in much of Southeast Asia. Growth in the latter region, particularly in Indonesia, depended on a very different model for success.
Discussant: David O. Dapice, Associate Professor of Economics, Tufts University
Moderator: Anthony Saich, Daewoo Professor of International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government; Director of Ash Institute at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government

Friday, April 17, 2009 Lecture
Economic Transformation in East Asia: China, Vietnam, and the Future
China and Vietnam began their periods of rapid economic growth from very different starting points, at different times, and in very different international contexts. The result were approaches to managing economic growth that were much more than just a variation on the Korea style interventionist approach. High growth rates of the kind achieved in the first decades after fundamental reform do not go on forever. When and why is there a slowdown in growth? Has this point been reached in much of the region? When will it be reached in those regions still growing rapidly?
Discussant: Regina Abrami, Senior Fellow, Harvard Business School
Moderator: Hue-Tam Ho Tai, Kenneth T. Young Professor of Sino-Vietnamese History, Harvard University

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