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Rapid growth in the East Asian newly industrializing countries depended on institutional innovation. Authoritarian governments like Taiwan faced a dilemma: how to assure investors in a policymaking environment that made commitments difficult to sustain? In contrast to both the early developmental state literature and the new literature on authoritarian institutions, this article shows that 'small' institutions have had an effect on both the credibility of commitments and the composition of the firms that the Taiwanese state sought to assure. In the 1950-1960s, insulated decision-making bodies with strong participation by foreigners and export-processing zones signaled government intent to both foreign and domestic firms. In the 1970-1980s, democratic decision-making structures were more decentralized and state interventions shifted in a more market-oriented direction. Even so, the Taiwanese government continued to use institutions such as the Hsinchu Science Park to extend assurances to domestic investors engaged in risky high-technology ventures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the development of the North Korean penal system in the face of economic change that is largely connected to the technically illegal marketization of the country's economy. The authors explain reforms made to the North Korean criminal code and its use of labor camps, and connect marketization to the collapse of the country's socialist distribution system during a massive famine in the 1990s. They explain the collection of bribes from those involved in the market by corrupt public officials, which allows for the illegal market system to continue in the face of a weakening North Korean socialist economy. It is concluded that the penal system is successful in combating political dissent but not in destroying market activity.

The article focuses on the economic diplomacy of North Korea and the economic inducements and sanctions played by the Six Party Talks under the administration of former U.S. President George W. Bush. It notes how Bush's narrative follows the work of Miroslav Nincic. It also indicates that an extensive body of analysis on North Korea by Leon V. Sigal considers whether inducements and constraints generate cooperative or uncooperative, escalatory responses.

This article discusses North Korea's willingness to engage in diplomatic relations with members of the United Nations Security Council. The author notes that after North Korea's second nuclear test in 2009 and the tightening of United Nations sanctions, North Korea increased its relations with partners who are not interested in the sanctions. It has also drawn back from economic reform. This article notes that concerns over the government's weakening control over the economy have caused it to turn to a stricter control policy. The article also notes that a shift in trade patterns has made it difficult for an effective sanctions strategy.

The article compares Latin America to Central and Eastern Europe, all of which underwent a wave of democratization which started in the 1980s. It focuses on how these regions differ in terms of social justice and welfare policies. Latin American reforms have typically involved the dismantling of inequitable systems of privilege. It is argued that such reforms have not often provided the poor with an avenue into productive employment. Central and Eastern European programs, on the other hand, have tended to focus on solidarity among the working poor. However, these are said to have retained many of the flaws of the communist systems they were intended to replace.

The year 2007 witnessed a gradual rapprochement between North Korea and the world, reflecting changes both in the country's external environment and domestic political economy. Key markers were the resumption of the Six- Party Talks and the second North-South summit. Whether these developments will endure depends largely on North Korean intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Institutions have played a central role in political economy explanations of East Asia's growth, from the developmental state to the micro-institutions of industrial policy. A review of these institutional explanations finds that few if any of the postulated institutional explanations involve either necessary or sufficient conditions for rapid growth. This finding suggests two conclusions. First, there are multiple institutional means for solving the various collective action, credibility, and informational problems that constitute barriers to growth. The search for a single institutional ‘taproot’ of growth is likely to be a misguided exercise, and more attention should be given to understanding the varieties of capitalism in East Asia. Second, institutions are themselves endogenous to other political factors that appear more consequential for growth, including particularly the nature of the relationship between the state and the private sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explanations of the growth of the newly industrializing countries (NICs) by neoclassical economists and dependency theorists neglect the role of politics in shaping development strategies. Different social configurations, state structures, and ideas about development help explain the divergent policy choices made by the export-oriented East Asian NICs—Korea and Taiwan—and the more "inward-looking" countries of Latin America, particularly Mexico and Brazil. These different strategic choices, in turn, account for variations in the patterns of external "dependency" that characterize countries in the two regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]