Globalization, Economic Development and the Role of the State From Ha- Joon Chang

This book was written by Ha-Joon Chang, who is now Reader in the Political Economy of Development at Cambridge University. The author explores many ways to neoliberalism, which has failed, producing not growth, but slows down activity in economics. The essays in this volume are some results of attempting to construct a theoretical alternative to neoliberalism. They are a diverse collection in the sense that some are highly theoretical while some are focused on more empirical issues. The issues covered concern a rather wide range of domestic and international policy issues. Besides, the author also tries to construct a credible alternative theoretical framework to neoliberalism informed by a balanced understanding of empirical evidence. The issues covered concern a rather wide range of domestic and international policy issues, including trade policy, intellectual property rights, and transnational corporations with some important common theoretical threads running through them, which he calls the institutionalist political economy approach. In the content of this review, there are 3 parts all together. Part 1 describes about three essays which provide the Historical and Theoretical Backgrounds to a more concrete policy issues that are discussed in Part 2 on Domestic Policy Issues and Part 3 regarding the New Global Context.

Part 1 looks at the debate on the roles of the state and at state interventions in the process of change, criticizes neoliberal theories of the market and pointing out that markets are no more natural than any other human institution. It had pointed out the most neoliberal theories do not take into account the complexity of human motivation which differs across agents, societies and time. Who is the principal and who is the agent, doomed to fail because of information costs and uncertainty? Besides, talking about the role of the state as the entrepreneur and the conflict manager will be constrained by many factors. Why are all selfish entrepreneurs, but no public servants, supposed to be good for society? Moreover, the author also discusses the issues of institutional diversity, understanding the role of the state is critical, international differences and exact institutional form of saying corporate governance or labor representation. Part 2 explores about industrial policy, regulation and privatization, which talks about forms of state, unregulated market and to other forms of state intervention. It discusses the political economy of industrial policy where possible problems occurs, problem of information, politics and institutions are examined. Meanwhile, it describes about the conceptual difficulties involved in defining regulation which the evolution of perspectives on regulation and deregulation to mesh with economics and political development in the real world which affected and were affected by this evolution. Besides, the author reviews about publics enterprises in developing countries and economics efficiency. He express about the Preliminary Considerations, theoretical Perspectives, assessment of empirical evidence on relative efficiency of public enterprises. How can Public Enterprise Performance be improved? Part 3 stated the issues of economic development and state intervention in the new

global context which towards of globalisation, transnational corporations and economic development, intellectual property rights, constitutional foundations for effective design and implementation selective trade and industrial policies. It also discusses about more specifically myths about the growing importance of Transnational Corporations by presenting some basic but often neglected facts. Therefore, the author also has examined the desirability of the currently dominant intellectual property rights regime from historical, theoretical and contemporary points of view. It also discusses about the importance in implementation of selective industrial and trade policies and what ways these institutions matter and how exactly they should be designed.

From my opinion, this book attracts me as it is written clearly and literate. The core of this book, I think, is in the first six chapters where it talks about globalisation. The focus on the role of the state certainly, but the good things they have to say about that are not more important, maybe even less, than the insights regarding markets. It is also very rational and fair minded and the whole review was on analysis process and not ideology. It discusses about the failure of neoliberalism especially in developing countries. Defining the entire economic, state intervention and free markets are not some polar opposites where other institutions are part of the process too, e.g. business cartels, consumer groups, organised labor, etc. Neoliberals have every right to consider more of welfare economics that governments saw as a place of guiding wisdom but the author has no problem with on giving up that or do I. However, based on group of the operations as what referred to as Free Markets is set up by some sinister agency called The State which I found ridiculous. Throughout the research, have found that a plenty of cases which the two have worked together successfully. Besides, the surveys through a worldwide record of public enterprises, test the findings against popular, and if it is slightly superficial, then they are less efficient. It is not appeared to be the case, but to get the issue clearer whereby it is necessary to compare like and avoid the temptation to relate effects to things that were not really their causes. One of the most useful things about this book is whereby it essentially gives warning from page after page about the danger of dealing in generalisation. Im thinking that the statement uttered by Senator Phil Gramm, was that history has taught that government is not the solution but part of the problem. Meanwhile, some of the commentators seem to neglect from what the human understanding with everything they say. One of the most interesting perception in this book is, it suggests that the individual which is more likely a spin off from some kind of group than like a basic molecule from which groupings and associations are constructed. To my mind these two topics, the individual and the free market are the basic issues of this whole book. By reading this book, I hope that it will help those who are try to build up at the theoretical level or practical level and some credible alternatives to neoliberalism.