thumb|right|250px|Skyline of Central [[Hong Kong's financial centre (viewed from
Victoria Peak,
Hong Kong)]]
right|thumb|250px|Skyline of the Central Business District of [[Seoul,
South Korea.]]
250px|right|thumb|Downtown Singapore skyline before dusk.
right|thumb|250px|The skyline of Taipei, Taiwan's capital city and financial center.
The term
Four Asian Tigers or
Asian Tigers refers to the highly
developed economies of:
They are also known as
Asia's Four Little Dragons in Chinese, as these countries and territories have at various points in history been under the Chinese cultural sphere of influence (Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore have majority Chinese populations while South Korea has absorbed various elements of Chinese culture). These regions were the first
newly industrialized countries, noted for maintaining exceptionally high
growth rates and rapid
industrialization between the early 1960s and 1990s. In the 21st century, all four regions have since graduated into
advanced economies and
high-income economies. These regions are still the world's fastest growing industrialized economies. However, attention has increasingly shifted to other Asian economies which are now experiencing faster economic transformation.
All four Asian Tigers have a highly educated and skilled workforce and have specialized in areas where they had a competitive advantage. For example, Hong Kong and Singapore became world leading
international financial centres, while South Korea and Taiwan became world leaders in
information technology. Their economic success stories became known as the
Miracle on the Han River and the
Taiwan Miracle (see
Sho-Chieh Tsiang) and have served as role models for many
developing countries.
South Korea, the largest by far of the Four Asian Tigers, became the only Tiger to become a
High-income OECD member, join the
G-20 major economies, and be listed among the
Next Eleven countries, while emerging as the world's largest
shipbuilder, the world's fourth largest
carmaker, and creating major global
multinationals such as
Samsung,
LG and
Hyundai-Kia.
Role of traditional philosophies
Economic success in
Japan, followed by the Four Asian Tigers, has been attributed to the existence of harmonious labor-management relations (cf. W. Dean Kinzley,
Industrial Harmony in Modern Japan: The Invention of a Tradition, Routledge, London & New York, 1991). “Industrial Harmony” is this unique “culture of harmony” that was consciously invented and developed over the last century in Japan. A semi-bureaucratic organization called the “Kyochokai” (The Co-operation and Harmony Society) was established in 1919 to meet the needs of an emerging industrial society. The Kyochokai took the lead in trying to define the values which would be suitable for a new Japanese-style industrial society, at the time of great social troubles in industrial Europe. The resulting "invented" tradition has played an important role in the evolution and character of Japanese economic values and behavior of social peace for economic development.
Japanese experience appears to challenge unilinear theories of modernization, and to suggest that Japan’s uniqueness lies in the creation of its own kind of modernity, sharply divergent from that to be found in Western countries, and based paradoxically upon a reaffirmation of ancient
Confucian values and native Japanese traditions of harmony, self-sacrifice and non-individualistic group striving in pursuit of a common cause. Japan’s emphasis on long-term growth, scrupulous market evaluation, and process engineering are all well regarded as important components of its economic development.
These "
Asian values" are the foundations ("Grund" as it used to be) of "Asian political economy". Abandoning
import substitution, the model advocated in the developing world following the two world wars, the Four Asian Tigers pursued an export-driven model of economic development with the exportation of goods to highly-industrialized nations. Domestic consumption was discouraged through government policies such as high tariffs. The Four Asian Tigers singled out education as a means of improving
productivity; these territories focused on improving the education system at all levels; heavy emphasis was placed on ensuring that all children attended elementary
education and compulsory high school education. Money was also spent on improving the college and
university system.
Since the Four Asian Tigers were relatively poor during the 1960s, these nations had an abundance of cheap labor. Coupled with educational reform, they were able to leverage this combination into a cheap, yet productive workforce. The Four Asian Tigers committed to
egalitarianism in the form of
land reform, to promote property rights and to ensure that agricultural workers would not become disgruntled. Also, policies of agricultural subsidies and tariffs on agricultural products were implemented as well.
These places had strong industrial economies which set them apart from all other places in Asia.
See also
