The Flexible Economy: Causes and Consequences of the Adaptability of National Economies

BOOK COVER......Page 1
HALF-TITLE......Page 2
TITLE......Page 3
COPYRIGHT......Page 4
CONTENTS......Page 5
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS......Page 10
CONTRIBUTORS......Page 12
FOREWORD......Page 13
PREFACE......Page 14
I INTRODUCTION......Page 16
Shocks......Page 17
Trends......Page 18
Some examples......Page 20
Types and agents of change......Page 22
Responsive flexibility......Page 27
Innovatory flexibility......Page 30
Defining a flexible economy......Page 32
Adjustment costs......Page 33
Information......Page 34
Market efficiency......Page 35
Political autonomy......Page 37
V SOURCES OF INNOVATIVE FLEXIBILITY......Page 39
Technological capabilities......Page 40
Social determinants......Page 41
VI THE STRUCTURE OF THE REMAINDER OF THIS BOOK......Page 42
NOTES......Page 43
REFERENCES......Page 45
I INTRODUCTION......Page 50
II FLEXIBILITY—A PRELIMINARY DISCUSSION......Page 51
Flexibility of what or whom?......Page 52
Flexibility for what objective?......Page 53
Economic theory......Page 54
Commitments and compulsive sequences......Page 55
Structuralism......Page 56
Disequilibrium and demand effects......Page 57
IV STRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATION......Page 59
Changes in the structures of production and factor use......Page 60
Variations in patterns of resource allocation......Page 64
Time and the horizon......Page 66
Time dependence......Page 67
Initial conditions......Page 68
Path dependence......Page 70
A missing factor—some binary comparisons......Page 71
VI CONCLUDING REMARKS......Page 73
NOTES......Page 75
REFERENCES......Page 76
I INTRODUCTION......Page 80
II THE IDEA OF FLEXIBILITY......Page 81
III FLEXIBILITY AND INFLEXIBILITY IN EVOLUTIONARY GAMES......Page 83
IV NATURAL FLEXIBILITY: A DIGRESSION......Page 86
V ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURES AND THE FLEXIBILITY OF NATIONS......Page 89
VI CONCLUDING REMARKS......Page 91
REFERENCES......Page 92
I INTRODUCTION......Page 94
II ADAPTABILITY AS QUASI-ATTRIBUTE AND AS PROCESS......Page 95
Adaptability as quasi-attribute......Page 96
Marshallian incrementalism: adaptability as process......Page 99
The Hartz thesis......Page 100
Path-dependence and process......Page 101
The case of Japan......Page 104
Abramovitz on catching-up......Page 105
IV MARKET ADAPTATION AND ITS COSTS......Page 107
General matters......Page 112
European industrialisation......Page 113
Later history......Page 118
VI CONCLUDING REMARKS......Page 120
NOTES......Page 121
REFERENCES......Page 122
I INTRODUCTION......Page 126
Some salient structural and behavioural features of planned economies......Page 127
Lack of signalling......Page 128
Adjustment patterns of state-owned enterprises with soft-budget constraints......Page 129
Modified central planning as an attempt to introduce flexibility......Page 130
Adaptability of economic agents in rigid structures......Page 131
A framework for analysis......Page 133
Adaptability of preferences and behaviour in transition......Page 139
Mercantilism versus capitalism......Page 141
Markets without an adequate institutional frame......Page 143
Rational and calculable law......Page 144
Factor market imperfections......Page 145
‘Expert officialdom’......Page 146
The gradualist agenda......Page 147
The radical agenda......Page 149
IV CONCLUDING REMARKS......Page 151
NOTES......Page 152
REFERENCES......Page 163
Prima facie indicators of inflexibility......Page 170
The paradox of responsiveness......Page 171
The ability to take advantage of trading opportunities......Page 173
The ability to take advantage of modern technologies......Page 176
Elasticities of supply in agriculture......Page 181
Interactions......Page 184
Information flows......Page 185
World prices......Page 187
Domestic impairments of producer incentives......Page 188
Weak technological capabilities......Page 193
Unresponsive political systems......Page 195
The effects of political systems......Page 196
The influences of history and social structure......Page 198
IV CONCLUSIONS......Page 200
NOTES......Page 203
REFERENCES......Page 207
I INTRODUCTION: FLEXIBLE RIGIDITIES......Page 214
The inevitability of rigidities......Page 218
Short-run vs long-run flexibility......Page 220
Individual vs national flexibility......Page 222
Increasing the capability of the national economy......Page 224
Systemic view of flexibility......Page 226
The politics of flexible rigidities......Page 227
IV CONCLUDING REMARKS......Page 229
‘Failures’ of East Asian Industrial Policy—a comment on the World Bank’s East Asian Miracle Study......Page 230
NOTES......Page 233
REFERENCES......Page 235
I INTRODUCTION......Page 240
II OIL-PRICE SHOCKS AND FLEXIBILITY: SOME GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS......Page 241
III ENERGY DEMAND AND SUPPLY ACROSS COUNTRIES......Page 246
Energy demand......Page 247
Energy supply......Page 251
Principles of energy pricing......Page 252
Policies and energy demand......Page 254
Policies and energy supply......Page 260
V THE MACROECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE OIL-PRICE SHOCKS......Page 262
VI CONCLUDING REMARKS......Page 268
REFERENCES......Page 270
I INTRODUCTION......Page 274
The standard neoclassical approach......Page 276
The capability approach......Page 278
‘Demand’ factors......Page 281
‘Supply side’ factors......Page 287
Conclusions on determinants of TCs......Page 290
IV GOVERNMENTS AND INDUSTRIAL FLEXIBILITY......Page 291
The East Asian NICs......Page 292
The least industrialised countries......Page 300
NOTES......Page 307
REFERENCES......Page 309
I INTRODUCTION......Page 314
II INFLATION AND DEFICIT FINANCE......Page 315
III FINANCIAL RESTRICTION AND LOW REAL INTEREST RATES......Page 318
IV DIRECTED CREDIT POLICIES AND SUBSIDISED INTEREST RATES......Page 321
V GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS......Page 324
VI DISTRESS BORROWING AND HIGH REAL INTEREST RATES......Page 327
VII MARKET STRUCTURE, COMPETITION AND FLEXIBILITY......Page 331
VIII NON-PERFORMING ASSETS AND FLEXIBILITY......Page 333
IX THE ANOMALOUS CASES OF KOREA AND TAIWAN......Page 334
X CONCLUDING REMARKS......Page 337
NOTES......Page 338
REFERENCES......Page 339
I ECONOMIC FLEXIBILITY AND POLICY ADAPTABILITY......Page 342
II POLICY ADAPTABILITY: REACTING, RESPONDING OR SHAPING?......Page 345
III THE BASIS OF EFFECTIVE STATE INTERVENTION......Page 351
IV STATE AUTONOMY AND POLICY ADAPTABILITY......Page 358
V CLASS INTERESTS AND THE RELATIVE AUTONOMY OF THE STATE......Page 361
VI THE STATE AND CIVIL SOCIETY......Page 367
VII THE DEVELOPMENTALIST BUREAUCRACY......Page 372
REFERENCES......Page 377
Flexibility in a hierarchy of objectives......Page 382
The determinants of national economic flexibility......Page 384
If flexibility is a useful concept, why is it neglected?......Page 389
The flexibility-development connection......Page 393
Caveats......Page 397
Policy as a decisive factor......Page 398
The case for active state promotion of flexibility......Page 399
The nature of the state as an economic agent......Page 402
Flexibility and ‘structural adjustment’......Page 405
NOTES......Page 408
REFERENCES......Page 409
NAME INDEX......Page 412
SUBJECT INDEX......Page 418