Economic Development in Asia

York W. Bradshaw and Michael Wallace (95) identified South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong as the "four little dragons" while further characterizing Japan as the quintessential Asian success story and China and Vietnam as awakening economic giants. All of these countries share some characteristics: they either have well-developed or emerging market-driven economies and a group oriented approach to economics and society. This essay will consider characteristics of the four dragons, the degree to which they represent modernization theory, the primary factors contributing to their development, and the inequalities that continue to plague these countries today.

With a population of 2.8 million, a gross national product (GNP) of $19,310 per capita, and an infant mortality rate of 7 per 1,000 population, Singapore is the smallest of the four dragons. Hong Kong has 5.8 million residents, per capita GNP of $17,860, and identical infant mortality rates as Singapore. The dominant ethnic group in both of these countries is Chinese. Taiwan, with a population of 20.7 million, has a per capita GNP of $10,568 and an infant mortality rate of 6 per 1,000. South Korea is the largest of this group with 43.7 million people and has the lowest per capita GNP at $7,760. South Korea also has the highest infant mortality rate of this group at 9 per 1,000 people (Bradshaw and Wallace, 95).

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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 843
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page)

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