International Comparisons of the Development Features of the Asian Countries 1960-1972

Abstract The relationship between the size of nation (small, medium and large) and the development features (outward looking, inward looking, and mixed) and that beween the development features and the growth of the economies are analyzed for thirteen Asian countries. Several tests are made to gauge the stage of development for the individual countries. Apart from searching for the causes of aggregate economic growth, the structure of the manufacturing industries, their productivity, and the productivity differentials are also tackled. A scrutiny of the performance of foreign trade reinforces the viewpoint that the Asian countries instead of using import substitution, adopted the path of export promotion which made rapid growth possible during the period under review. Last but not the least, the general trends and the individual development characteristics of the Asian countries can be obtained from the analysis.