EPIK Journals Online Vol. 2 Iss. 01

2011 EPIK Young Leaders Essay Competition Award-Winning Work (2nd Prize)

 

East Asian Development Model and South Korea’s Labor Productivity in the Service Industry

 

Author: Donghyun Kim, New York University

 

Introduction:

Japan and South Korea are among the most successful cases of economic development. Under the strong leadership of President Park Chung-hee, South Korea used the Japanese economy as a model and cleared the path to industrialization in the 1960s. Despite differences caused by initial conditions and external factors, the two countries have same factors in common in their pursuit of rapid economic growth: (1) a major and proactive role of government in the industrialization process, (2) a close business-government relationship, and (3) a well-timed shift of strategy from Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI) to Export Promoted Industrialization (EPI). Followed by many developing countries across East Asia, this state-driven economic development approach is referred to the East Asian Development Model (hereafter EADM).

 

However, all is not well with the EADM. The great emphasis upon manufactured goods exports has made countries following the EADM exceptionally vulnerable to swings in world economic conditions. The appreciation of the yen as a result of the Plaza Accord in 1985 worsened the Japanese trade deficit and caused an asset bubble, which resulted in a serious recession. South Korea and three other newly industrialized countries – Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia – were also hit by the financial crisis of the late 1990s. Although there has been no consensus on the root causes of this crisis, it exposed firms’, financial institutions’, and governments’ lack of resilience in dealing with foreign capital flows. The recent world recession that started with the US subprime mortgage crisis has also caused a loss of economic momentum in the EADM economies in tandem with a significant decrease in exports. In this sense, the EADM seems to have little to offer in times of global economic downturn...(Continued)

 

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EPIK Journals Online Vol. 2 Iss. 02  

 

New Paradigm Economic Policy for Sustainable Future and Prosperity

 

Author: Insung Chung, Washington University in St. Louis

 

Abstract:

Intellectual capital and social capital is gaining attention as key variables for sustainability and prosperity of ‘the next society.’ Despite its economic miracle, the old paradigm manual of Korea has distorted its ability to accumulate intellectual capital and social capital. The unique situation of Korea requires a customized solution in order to obtain future competitiveness. The New Paradigm Economic Policy, concentrating on work-life balance and life-long learning at workplace, may provide a stepping stone for the Korean economy to advance towards knowledge based economy with abundant social capital.

 

Key Words: New Paradigm, Intellectual Capital, Social Capital, Korean economy, sustainability, prosperity, productivity

 

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EPIK Journals Online Vol. 2 Iss. 03 

 

Building A New Environmental Governance for Sustainable Future

 

Author: Sung-gil Lee, Kyung Hee University

 

Introduction:

In order to understand the seriousness of climate change’s impact on human security, it is worth referring to an essay titled, “A Climate Culprit in Darfur” by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Published on the Washington Post one day before the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought in 2007, the essay pointed out that the tragedy in Darfur, Sudan which claimed more than 200,000 lives was a man-made disaster. His opinion was agreed by many because scientific research found that declined precipitation in southern Sudan and the draught and desertification that followed were caused, or at least, accelerated by climate change. According to the UN statistics, average precipitation in southern Sudan has declined some 40 percent since the early 1980s. Scientists at first considered this to be an unfortunate quirk of nature. But subsequent investigation found that it coincided with a rise in temperature of the Indian Ocean, disrupting seasonal monsoon. This suggests that the drying of sub-Saharan Africa derives, to some degree, from man-made global warming.

 

Climate change is not a matter of inconvenience but a matter of survival which poses the greatest threat to our future survival. As we see in the Darfur case, climate change has emerged as one of the major threats that menace humanity in this century. In addition, scientists predict that more catastrophic events are to come in the near future unless we take urgent measures to stop climate change. In this essay, I would like to illustrate how global environmental governance has evolved over the past four decades and to suggest that the current environmental regime requires a completely new perspective in order to better tackle the unprecedented environmental crisis...(Continued)

 

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EPIK Journals Online Vol. 2 Iss. 04 

2011 EPIK Young Leaders Essay Competition Award-Winning Work (2nd Prize) 

 

Spreading Green Growth: Introducing Nuclear Energy in Southeast Asia

 

Author: Taek Jin Han, Seoul National University

 

Introduction:

All human activities are dependent on energy. Regarding the dimension of world’s energy problem, it becomes clear that resolving energy issue is the most challenging issue for sustainable development. The term, sustainable development, was first coined by the Brundtland Report, Our Common Future, published by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987. Introducing the concept of sustainable development, the report addresses “the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (1987:43).” In recent years, there have been a wide arrange of discussion on sustainable development in academic communities but also policymaking communities around the world. It attaches the idea of sustainability to traditional approach to development so as to ensure both economic growth and environmental protection especially in developing countries. However, as Redclift points out, the concept is more charming than meaningful (1987:3). While the concept has successfully framed the ways of understanding development, it has not been able to present concrete roadmap toward sustainable development.

 

The controversy over sustainable development is centered on the absence of sustainable energy. Critics of sustainable development often point out that almost all contemporary forms of energy source inherently leave their footprints on the earth. The most notable example is fossil fuels. The discovery of efficient use of fossil fuels in the nineteenth century brought industrial revolutions to every corners of the world fundamentally transforming people’s standard of living. However, inflating consumption of fossil fuel also began to affect living environments of every species on the earth causing global climate change. The international community became aware of global climate change and drew consensus among the member states that all states eventually have to reduce greenhouse gas emission in order to secure living place for future generations to come. Stern Review warns that that climate change would not only devastate the environment and cause mass migration but also cut the world's annual economic growth by 20 percent (Stern, 5:2006). Nevertheless, the international community still has not found suitable energy sources to replace fossil fuels to reduce carbon emission while scientists strongly urge policymakers to conduct every possible precaution for climate change...(Continued)

 

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