W. G. Huff

The developmental state, government, and Singapore's economic development since 1960

Abstract Government interventionism is widely acknowledged to characterize less-developed countries, but consensus is lacking as to whether it promotes economic development, and if so, how. The present article analyzes the nature of government involvement in the Singapore model of economic development, and emergence of a developmental state closely associated with this model. It compares Singapores experience with South Koreas and Taiwans, where government also contributed to development success, and with other Asian countries where government failed to play a strong developmental role.

Singapore's economic development: Four lessons and some doubts

This paper uses a variety of data to take a close look at what lessons can be adduced from Singapore, often regarded as the worlds most successful economy or even a miracle. There are indeed lessons from Singapores remarkable growth, but the most interesting are those rarely, if ever, identified as such, which stem from governments central role in the economy. Although Singapores economic record makes it a model to which many countries aspire, total factor productivity growth has been low. That finding, together with the particular nature of Singapores state-directed economic growth, create some doubts as to whether an economy able to sustain high living standards in the long term has yet been fashioned.

Hypergrowth in an East Asian NIC: Public policy and capital accumulation in Singapore

Abstract Singapore has produced the worlds highest investment ratios, known to account for growth more rapid than in any other less-developed country over the past three decades, but such high investment needs explanation. We trace Singapores public policy of increasing tax concessions and infrastructural spending—in effect subsidies to private firms—and use an open-economy, neoclassical model to show how, by attracting “footloose” foreign capital and raising investment levels, these policy measures can drive growth. The consequent transformation of living standards in Singapore suggests, in accordance with theory but contrary to most practice, that for some less-developed countries effectively zero tax on foreign direct investment may be a beneficial strategy. Yet for both Singapore and other would-be late industrializers, major issues of development strategy arise from the kind of input-driven growth analyzed in this article.

Boom-or-Bust Commodities and Industrialization in Pre–World War II Malaya

This article links the terms of trade, money supply, labor market, and money and credit markets to explore a puzzle in Malayan economic history: why, despite rapid growth and high per capita income, did pre–World War II Malaya industrialize so little? A range of data is drawn together to show how for Malayan manufacturers economic boom was accompanied by precipitate deterioration in the real exchange rate, while in a slump credit contracted sharply and with it the size of the Malayan market for manufactures. Analysis of Malayan experience may be relevant for understanding slight industrialization elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

Credibility and Reputation Building in the Developmental State: A Model with East Asian Applications

Abstract We use a game-theoretic model to analyze the role of credibility, reputation and investment coordination in a developmental state. Our model focuses on why a “soft” state serving narrow social groups so often obtains in less-developed countries and under what conditions a “hard” or developmental state can emerge. The model highlights the dilemma that although state and private sector alike may want economic growth, both must simultaneously invest to achieve it. But the equilibrium outcome—analogous to the prisoners dilemma—is investment by neither. Even when initial conditions are favorable and a state is potentially developmental with the genuine capability to elicit private sector investment, this may not materialize and an equilibrium of low, or no, investment will prevail. To avoid this deadlock and foster growth, the successful developmental state must demonstrate commitment by promoting its “developmental” credentials through a process of reputation building. A consequent incentive to act “tough” together with seeming advantages of authoritarianism in implementing the developmental state may help to explain why it is often associated with an authoritarian political system.

The Economic Growth of Singapore: Trade and Development in the Twentieth Century.

Introduction Part I. Themes and Beginnings: 1. Patterns in the economic development of Singapore, 1870-1990 2. Singapore in the late-nineteenth century Part II. Development as a Staple Port, 1900-1939: 3. Trade, finance and development 4. Ocean-going shipping, the port and regional transport 5. Immigration, population and employment 6. Rubber: the twentieth-century innovation 7. Rubber, industrialisation and the development of Chinese banking 8. Petroleum and tin: the twentieth century boom commodity and a staple in decline 9. The trade in imported manufactures Part III. Staple Port and Rapid Growth, 1947-1990: 10. The staple port resurgent: development to 1959 11. Markets, government and growth, 1960-1990 12. Conclusion.