In recent years East Asia has been buffeted by financial shocks, rapid shifts in the competitiveness of major exports, changes in international production networking, and significant reconfiguration in the geographical composition of production systems that have heretofore provided the foundation for the region's growth. These have been coupled with demands generated by the increasing openness of East Asian economies and supported by the emergence of political institutions giving people greater voice. Although many economies have grown briskly in the last few years, future development will depend on the quality and timeliness of policy actions. The East Asian crisis drew urgent attention to a number of areas where region-wide initiatives were needed. These regional initiatives need to be complemented by appropriate and compatible domestic policies. Sustaining dynamism in East Asia requires policy initiatives to contain the risks from shocks and manage the ongoing shifts and changes in ways that enhance both the competitiveness of firms and the stability of the economies.
Global Change in East Asian Policy Initiatives provides specific policy responses that could be employed to navigate successfully through periods of economic, political and technological turbulence by enhancing both the competitiveness of firms and the stability of the economies in East Asia.