Professor: Dr.

Feng Xiao
Office: SGMH 3329; Office Tel #: 657-278-8229
E-Mail: fxiao@fullerton.edu
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:30–3:45pm, or by appt.

ECON 332 (Section 2; Schedule #: 12585)

ECONOMIES OF THE PACIFIC RIM
11:30am–12:45pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays, Fall 2019
SGMH 2501

COURSE OVERVIEW:
This course studies the trajectory of economic development in the Asia-Pacific region including
Japan, the four newly industrialized economies (NIEs) (South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and
Singapore), the four member countries of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN)
(Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines), and the region’s most important transitional
economy – the People’s Republic of China. The main objective is to understand the “Asian Growth
Miracle” and identify a number of successful developmental strategies. In addition, we also
evaluate the economic impact of the Asian Financial Crisis, analyze the current challenges facing
the region, and discuss the future growth outlook of the region.

Principles of Microeconomics (Econ 201) is the prerequisite for this course and it is highly
recommended that you also take Principles of Macroeconomics (Econ 202) before taking this
course.

Note: This course meets the General Education (G.E.) requirement in category D.5 (Explorations in
the Social Sciences). It includes the following goals for student learning: (a) To examine problems,
issues, and themes in the social sciences in greater depth; in a variety of cultural, historical, and
geographical contexts; and from different disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives; (b) To
analyze and critically evaluate the application of social science concepts and theories to particular
historical, contemporary, and future problems or themes, such as economic and environmental
sustainability, globalization, poverty, and social justice; (c) To analyze and critically evaluate
constructs of cultural differentiation, including ethnicity, gender, race, class, and sexual orientation,
and their effects on the individual and society; and (d) To apply theories and concepts from the
social sciences to address historical, contemporary and future problems confronting communities at
different geographical scales, from local to global. The course includes a writing component for
students to improve their writing.

TEXT & READINGS:

There is one required textbook for this class: Chowdhury and Islam, Handbook on the Northeast
and Southeast Asian Economies (henceforth referred to as “Handbook”), Edward Elgar
Publishing, 2007 (ISBN-10: 1843769891 and ISBN-13: 978-1843769897).

The publisher of “Handbook” has agreed to provide a special price of $85 (retail price between
$163 and $217) for our students. You will have to purchase it directly from the publisher’s Web
site: http://www.e-elgar.com/Bookentry_Main.lasso?currency=US&id=3555 and the promotion
code to be entered in order to receive the $85 price is “CALSTATE”. There is also an e-book
version which you can purchase on Google Play for $48:
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Anis_Chowdhury_Handbook_on_the_Northeast_and_S
outh?id=N9p4enw-rmkC.

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In addition, a number of other required readings have also been listed and some supplemental
readings on the most recent developments in the region may also be handed out in class from time
to time.

Moreover, you should try to regularly read at least one of the following publications: Morgan
Stanley Research (http://www.morganstanley.com/what-we-do/research/index.html), The Economist
(http://www.economist.com), the Wall Street Journal (http://www.wsj.com/), the Financial Times
(http://www.ft.com), and the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com).

GRADING:
Midterm exam: 30%;
Cumulative final exam: 40%;
Term paper (details to be provided in the fourth week of the semester): 15%;
Two short quizzes (announced 1 class in advance): 10%;
An oral presentation (details to be provided in the third week of the semester (right after the last day
(September 10th) to add with a permit or drop without a grade of “W”)): 5%.

Note: Based on university policy, you are REQUIRED to attend ALL lectures. Although
attendance will not be taken, you are responsible for everything we cover in every class. If
you miss any classes, please do NOT ask me to repeat the material I covered (as well as any
announcements I made) in lecture.

Also note: during each class, please turn off your cell phone and/or any other sound-
generating/photo-taking device.

TERM PAPER:
You are required to write a short (three to five pages long) paper, analyzing some aspects of one of
the Pacific Rim economies discussed in this class. Detailed instructions for writing the term paper
will be provided in the fourth week of the semester.

EXAM FORMAT:
Both the midterm and the final exam have the same basic format: multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank,
true or false, and short answer/listing questions.

EXAM/QUIZ POLICY:
Missed exams or quizzes CANNOT be made up unless you contact me PRIOR TO the exam or the
quiz and then present me with LEGITIMATE written documentation.

GRADING POLICY:
In accordance with the University/College policy, plus/minus grades will be assigned. I reserve the
right to curve the grades at the end of the semester. However, grades are generally based on the
following scale:
A range: 90 and above;
B range: 80 – 89;
C range: 70 – 79;
D range: 60 – 69;
F: below 60.

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Please be advised that the plus/minus grades get converted in the following ways in determining
your grade point averages: A+ = 4.0; A = 4.0; A- = 3.7; B+ = 3.3; B = 3.0; B- = 2.7; C+ = 2.3; C =
2.0; C- = 1.7; D+ = 1.3; D = 1.0; D- = 0.7; F = 0.0.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Cheating on an exam (or a quiz) or plagiarism on the
writing assignment will result in an F for the course and other disciplinary action. See the
current (2019-2020) University Catalog for the full university policy on academic dishonesty:
https://catalog.fullerton.edu/content.php?catoid=52&navoid=6277. Or you can read here:
http://www.fullerton.edu/senate/publications_policies_resolutions/ups/UPS%20300/UPS
%20300.021.pdf.

Please note that I reserve the right to use on-line resources (such as www.turnitin.com) to check the
authenticity of your writings.

CLASS SCHEDULE AND READING LIST (subject to change):

This course is READING INTENSIVE (!!!) and you are expected to read (or at the very least,
glance through) the required readings BEFORE coming to each class so that you will be able
to make valuable contributions to the classroom discussions.

Note: Readings with an asterisk are required. All the required readings other than those from
the required textbook have been posted under “Required Readings” on TITANium.

Week 1 (8/27 & 8/29) and Week 2 (9/3 & 9/5): Introduction to Economic Development and
Overview of the Asia-Pacific Region.

* Handbook, Introduction.
* Zhou, Weifeng and Esteban, Mario. “Beyond Balancing: China’s approach towards the
Belt and Road Initiative,” Journal of Contemporary China, Vol. 27(112), July 2018, pp. 487-
501. (A copy can be accessed on TITANium.)

Zhao, Suisheng. “Engagement on the Defensive: From the Mismatched Grand Bargain to the
Emerging US–China Rivalry,” Journal of Contemporary China, Vol. 28(118), July 2019, pp.
501-518.
Kawashima, Shin. “Japan–US–China Relations during the Trump Administration and the
Outlook for East Asia,” Asia-Pacific Review, Vol. 24(1), May 2017, pp. 23-36.

Week 3 (9/10 & 9/12): The Asian Development Model. What is the Asian Growth Miracle? What
Factors were Behind the Rapid Growth in Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia?

* Stiglitz and Yusuf, Rethinking the East Asian Miracle (henceforth referred to as “Stiglitz
and Yusuf”), World Bank and Oxford University Press, 2001, Chapter 2. (A copy can be
accessed on TITANium.)
* World Bank. The East Asian Miracle: Economic Growth and Public Policy, Oxford
University Press, 1993, Overview and Chapter 7. (A copy can be accessed on TITANium.)

Week 4 (9/17 & 9/19) and Week 5 (9/24 & 9/26): What Went Wrong with the Asian Miracle –
understanding the causes and consequences of the Asian Financial Crisis. And What Have We
Learned?
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 * Stiglitz and Yusuf, Chapter 2 and Chapter 1. (A copy can be accessed on TITANium.)
* You may also want to reread Handbook, Introduction.
* Doraisami, Anita. “Macro-Economic Policy Responses to Financial Crises in Malaysia,
Indonesia and Thailand,” Journal of Contemporary Asia, Vol. 44(4), October 2014, pp. 581-
598. (A copy can be accessed on TITANium.)

Pomfret, Richard. “European Crises and the Asian Economies,” Journal of Asian
Economics, Vols. 31-32, April-June 2014, pp. 71-81.
Dixon, Chris. “The Roots of East Asian Resilience to the Financial Crisis,” Journal of Asia
Pacific Studies, Vol. 2(3), January 2012, pp. 374-388.
The New York Times: The Financial Crisis in Asia, available at
http://www.nytimes.com/library/financial/asiamarkets-index.html.
Berg, Andrew. “The Asia Crisis – Causes, Policy Responses and Outcomes,” International
Monetary Fund Working Paper No. 138, October 1999, available at
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/1999/wp99138.pdf.

Week 6 (10/1 & 10/3) and Week 7 (10/8 & 10/10): The Rise and Fall of Japan – the pioneer of the
Asian Model and its longest practitioner.

* Handbook, Chapter 1.
* Sato, Kazuo. “From Fast to Last: the Japanese Economy in the 1990s,” Journal of
Asian Economics, Vol. 13(2), March-April 2002, pp. 213-235. (A copy can be accessed on
TITANium.)
* Lonien, Claude. “What is the Most Likely Future Trend of the Pillars of Japanese
Management?” The Japanese Economy, Vol. 34(3), Fall 2007, pp. 87-113. (A copy can be
accessed on TITANium.)
* Kitaura, Nobutoshi. “The Bank of Japan’s Monetary Policy Lacks a Strong Driving Force
for Building Inflation Expectations,” Asia-Pacific Review, Vol. 23(2), November 2016, pp.
12-36. (A copy can be accessed on TITANium.)

Song, Jiyeoun. “Japan’s Contested Labour Market Reform,” Journal of Contemporary Asia,
Vol. 49(4), September 2019, pp. 650-673.
Chellaney, Brahma. “Japan’s Pivotal Role in the Emerging Indo-Pacific Order,” Asia-Pacific
Review, Vol. 25(1), May 2018, pp. 38-51.
Honda, Yuzo. “The Effectiveness of Nontraditional Monetary Policy: The Case of Japan,”
The Japanese Economic Review, Vol. 65(1), March 2014, pp. 1-23.

Week 8 (10/15 & 10/17): Review and Midterm Exam.

Tuesday, 10/15: no class; reading day. Please utilize the time productively in order to go over
the readings, review all the material, and prepare for the midterm. Note that I will still be in
SGMH 2501 during the regular class time to answer any questions you may have.

MIDTERM: In Class, Thursday, 10/17.

Week 9 (10/22 & 10/24) and Week 10 (10/29 & 10/31): South Korea – how did Korea grow so
rapidly and why was Korea affected so severely by the crisis? What’s the Future of the Korean
Economy?
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 * Handbook, Chapter 2.
* Stiglitz and Yusuf, Chapter 9. (A copy can be accessed on TITANium.)
* Park, Juyoung and Mah, Jai S. “Neo-liberal Reform and Bipolarisation of Income in
Korea,” Journal of Contemporary Asia, Vol. 41(2), May 2011, pp. 249-265. (A copy can be
accessed on TITANium.)

Schwak, Juliette. “Dangerous Liaisons? State-Chaebol Co-operation and the Global

Privatisation of Development,” Journal of Contemporary Asia, Vol. 49(1), March 2019, pp.
104-126.
Kim, Hyun Hak. “Looking into the black box of the Korean economy: the sparse factor
model approach,” Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy. Vol. 23(1), February 2018, pp. 1-16.

Week 11 (11/5 & 11/7): Taiwan – life on the edge.

* Handbook, Chapter 3.

Wang, Chia-Chou. “Primordialism, Instrumentalism, Constructivism: Factors Influencing

Taiwanese People’s Regime Acceptance of Mainland China’s Government,” Journal of
Contemporary China, Vol. 27(109), January 2018, pp. 137-150.
Chu, Wan-wen. “Latecomer upgrading in Taiwan,” Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy,
Vol. 20(3), August 2015, pp. 369-384.

Week 12 (11/12 & 11/14): The City States – Hong Kong and Singapore.

* Handbook, Chapter 4 (Singapore) and Chapter 5 (Hong Kong).

* Leung, Hing-Man. “Two New Lessons from the Asian Miracles,” Journal of the Asia
Pacific Economy, Vol. 12(1), February 2007, pp. 1-16. (A copy can be accessed on
TITANium.)

Week 13 (11/19 & 11/21): Overview of Southeast Asian Countries (Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia,
and the Philippines).

* Stiglitz and Yusuf, Chapter 12. (A copy can be accessed on TITANium.)

* Handbook, Chapter 6 (Malaysia) and Chapter 7 (Thailand).

Handbook, Chapter 9 (Indonesia).

Handbook, Chapter 8 (The Philippines).
Chen, Shaofeng. “Regional Responses to China’s Maritime Silk Road Initiative in Southeast
Asia,” Journal of Contemporary China, Vol. 27(111), May 2018, pp. 344-361.
Andal, Emmanuel Genesis T. “ASEAN centrality amidst economic integration in the Asia
Pacific region,” Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Vol. 22(2), May 2017, pp. 273-290.

November 26th – December 1st: No Classes; Thanksgiving Break.

Week 14 (12/3 & 12/5) & Week 15 (12/10 & 12/12): The Rise of China and Conclusion: A New
Asian Miracle (and an Asian Monetary Union) or the End of the Asian Century? And Review.

* Handbook, Chapter 11.

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 * Bai, Chong-En and Zhang, Qiong. “Is the People’s Republic of China’s current slowdown
a cyclical downturn or a long-term trend? A productivity-based analysis,” Journal of the
Asia Pacific Economy, Vol. 22(1), February 2017, pp. 29-46. (A copy can be accessed on
TITANium.)
* Chen, Ling and Naughton, Barry. “A Dynamic China Model: The Co-Evolution of
Economics and Politics in China,” Journal of Contemporary China, Vol. 26(103), January
2017, pp. 18-34. (A copy can be accessed on TITANium.)

Cai, Kevin G. “The One Belt One Road and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank:
Beijing’s New Strategy of Geoeconomics and Geopolitics,” Journal of Contemporary
China, Vol. 27(114), November 2018, pp. 831-847.
Huh, Hyeon-Seung and Park, Cyn-Young. “Asia-Pacific regional integration index:
Construction, interpretation, and comparison,” Journal of Asian Economics, Vol. 54,
February 2018, pp. 22-38.
Chu, Yun-han, Kang, Liu, and Huang, Min-hua. “How East Asians View the Rise of China,”
Journal of Contemporary China, Vol. 24(93), May 2015, pp. 398-420.
Aldrich, John, Lu, Jie, and Kang, Liu. “How Do Americans View the Rising China?”
Journal of Contemporary China, Vol. 24(92), March 2015, pp. 203-221.
Auslin, Michael R. The End of the Asian Century: War, Stagnation, and the Risks to the
World’s Most Dynamic Region, 2017, Yale University Press.

Thursday, 12/12: no class; reading day. Please utilize the time productively in order to go over
the readings, review all the material, and prepare for the final. Note that I will still be in
SGMH 2501 during the regular class time to answer any questions you may have.

FINAL EXAM: 11 – 12:50pm, Thursday, December 19th (SGMH 2501).

Miscellaneous Important Information (required to be included in every course syllabus)

1. The emergency information for students (and actions students should take in case of an
emergency) can be accessed at: http://emergencypreparedness.fullerton.edu/.

2. For information concerning Student Rights for Special Needs provided by Disability Support
Services, please go to http://www.fullerton.edu/DSS/.

3. The following Assessment Statement is required by the Mihaylo College of Business and
Economics to be included in every course syllabus.

The programs offered in Mihaylo College of Business and Economics (MCBE) at Cal State
Fullerton are designed to provide every student with the knowledge and skills essential for a
successful career in business. Since assessment plays a vital role in Mihaylo College’s drive to offer
the best, several assessment tools are implemented to constantly evaluate our program as well as our
students’ progress. Students, faculty, and staff should expect to participate in assessment activities.
In doing so, Mihaylo College is able to measure its strengths and weaknesses, while continuing to
cultivate a climate of excellence in its students and programs.

For more information on MCBE-based assurance of learning efforts, you can visit the Assessment
and Instructional Support website at: https://business.fullerton.edu/Assessment.
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