Huang examines a recurring pattern of rapid economic growth in East Asia from 1951 to the present and explores how far a single East Asian Growth model can be said to exist. Assessing the various theories put forward to explain the phenomenon and supported by the most comprehensive data, the book finds that methods of institutional enhancement were at the core of the growth. This institutional enhancement affected state structure and functions, economic policy, corporate arrangements, social structure and relations, individual behaviour, and domestic and international interaction. Each of these elements was a critical aspect of the growth system that defined and propelled the rapid growth.