State policies and industrial upgrading in East Asia

[eng] The East Asian nations have been labeled "miracle economies" because of their unparalleled record of rapid economic growth and social equity over the past several decades. There has been considerable disagreement, however, over the explanation for this superior performance. While the World Bank now acknowledges the coexistence of activist public policies and rapid growth in the high-performing Asian economies (HPAE's), it gives primary emphasis to East Asia's "market-friendly" forms of state intervention in fundamental policies, such as macroeconomic stability, high saving and investment rates, promoting education, and an early and continuing commitment to the export of manufactures. Critics of the World Bank's interpretation, on the other hand, contend that selective industrial policy may be more important, and exports less important, in East Asia's experience than the Bank suggests. What adherents of both the market and state sides of this debate tend to ignore are the microinstitutional foundations of the macroeconomic basics. A substantial part of East Asian competitiveness drives from its success in industrial upgrading, which requires these economies to move to higher value-added niches on global commodity chains, and to shift from labor-intensive to more technology — and skill-intensive export roles. [fre] Les economies des Nouveaux Pays Industrialises de l'Asie du Sud-Est ont ete caracterisees d'economies miracle grâce a leur taux de croissance economique sans precedent sur plusieurs decennies. Il existe par contre un desaccord profond sur l'explication du phenomene. D'une part, la Banque mondiale reconnait l'existence de politiques economiques agressives mais accorde la priorite aux formes liberales d'intervention publique, limitee aux politiques de stabilite macroeconomique, de haut taux d'epargne et d'investissement, d'education et d'engagement initial et soutenu pour l'exportation. D'autre part les critiques de la Banque mondiale avancent que les politiques industrielles sont des facteurs considerablement plus importants que les exportations dans le developpement des nouveaux pays industrialises d'Asie. Mais les deux protagonistes oublient pareillement l'importance que tiennent les microfondations des comportements macroeconomiques. Une part substantielle de la competitivite de l'Asie vient des performances industrielles qui demandent une mutation des productions existantes vers davantage de valeur ajoutee la long de chaines ou de filieres de production globales et la mutation d'industries intensives en travail vers des industries d'exportation intensives en technologies et en connaissances.