Industrialisation in the Global Periphery: The Significance of the Newly Industrialising Countries of East and Southeast Asia

Despite the benefits of ex post facto reasoning, what remains in dispute is the interpretation of the factors responsible for the emergence of the newly industrialising countries (NICs) of East and Southeast Asia. Here it is argued that the dominant perspective, that deriving from neoclassical economics, is both defective and misrepresentative. In an attempt to overcome these inadequacies recourse is made to radical political economy perspectives to understand better the significance of industrialisation in the NICs.