Post-crisis economic performance in East Asia: Recovery or sustained decline?

Abstract

The last 25 years are characterised by a phenomenal growth in East and Southeast Asian countries. In contrast, other countries in Asia performed moderately over this period. In this paper, an attempt has been made to capture the overall economic performance of the countries of the above regions since the 1997 financial crisis. A comparative analysis of various East Asian nations (including countries of Southeast Asia, from now on regarded as East Asia) will be carried out in terms of economic factors such as growth rate, savings, investment, exports and imports over the last 10 years. Social progress will also be analysed. This analysis will at least contribute partly to answer the frequently raised questions in the literature: why have the East Asian countries been continuously growing over such a long period of time? Why were they subject to financial crisis in 1997? Was there a full recovery after ten years of the crisis?