Modern Economic Growth Theories and the “Miracle” of the East Asian Tigers

This paper gives an overview of the modern economic growth theories and how the neoclassical growth models relate to the four “Asian Tigers” during the period of 1960 – 2000.A review of the literature of growth account exercises relating to the East Asian miraclereveals little consensus amongst economists to the sources of this long episode of high economic growth. In spite of low total factor productivity estimates in comparison with the developed world, it still remains much higher than other newly industrializing countries. Regression analysis of growth rates on capital intensity and educational attainment reveal a significant positive correlation for both factors over the forty year period, indicating that both physical and human capital accumulation can account for the experienced growth levels in the Asian Tigers.