2023-06-14-清华大学-2023年6月第一期_区域动态_东南亚地区_3页_427kb

区域动态 总第六十一期 2023年6月第1期

区域动态（东南亚）

【区域动态】T.J.彭佩尔《亚太区域政治经济学：繁荣与掠夺的转型》

本期区域动态聚焦于东南亚后发国家经济追赶面临的挑战。当前国际生产高度碎片化与网络化，增长的驱动因素是国内治理问题还是全球治理问题尚无定论。研究关注点分别集中在国内因素如基础设施与经济制度，以及国际因素如跨国企业与国际制度。如何厘清国际与国内因素的复杂关系是研究的核心任务。

彭佩尔的《亚太区域政治经济学：繁荣与掠夺的转型》尝试解答这一问题，书中提出亚太各国因其不同形态的“体制”（regime）而存在巨大发展差异。日本和韩国实行发展型体制，通过政策制定者与商界的联盟实现经济增长；而准发展型体制（如印尼、马来西亚、泰国）依赖外国投资；掠夺型体制（如缅甸、朝鲜和菲律宾马科斯时期）则阻碍经济发展。

本书还指出，美国作为区域枢纽，在东亚影响力兴衰中推动了这三种体制的发展。同时，书籍忽视了后全球化时代的几个重要现象，如亚太地区既是FDI流入地也是流出地，并且东亚跨国公司（包括中国）影响力迅速提升，以及东盟内部FDI总量超过美国和日本。此外，区域一体化趋势加强，准发展型国家在区域内扮演更积极角色，制度化合作成为主要特征。

区域动态 总第六十一期 2023年6月第1期

Southeast Asia Regional Dynamics Issue 1 for 2023

Regional Dynamics Feature: T.J. Pempel's "The Political Economy of the Asia-Pacific Region: From Prosperity to Plunder"

This edition of Regional Dynamics focuses on why later-developing countries in Southeast Asia struggle to achieve economic catch-up. In today's highly fragmented and networked international production, whether economic growth is still primarily a national governance issue or has become a matter of global governance is still open for debate. Studies focusing on domestic factors emphasize that insufficient investment in infrastructure and inclusive economic institutions hinder productivity growth and development prospects in many developing nations. Studies focusing on international factors often highlight the role of rising multinational corporations and restrictive international institutions in shaping the economic structures and development outcomes of these nations. Understanding the complex relationship between international and domestic factors in the process of catch-up is a key challenge for those studying regional development trajectories.

The book under discussion, The Political Economy of the Asia-Pacific Region: From Prosperity to Plunder, published by Cornell University Press in 2021, makes an important contribution to this topic. Economic growth in East Asian countries has long been seen as a model beyond the West. However, there are significant economic performance disparities among these nations. Why did countries like Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines fail to become high-income nations? What domestic political-economic conditions impeded their development? And how do domestic and international factors interact?

T. J. Pempel, a renowned expert in East Asia (currently the Jack M. Forcey Professor of Political Science at UC Berkeley), bases his analysis on the bipolar geopolitical landscape under increasing U.S.-China competition. In the introduction, he asserts, "Current security and defense friction is not unrelated to early growth experiences but a direct product" (p. 4). The book analyzes the economic trajectories of ten countries, classifying them into different regimes to better understand the region's dynamics.

Book Overview

1. Regime Classification System: The book's chief contribution may be its classification of various regimes, offering an insightful framework for analyzing the Asia-Pacific region. Pempel's classification reveals a broad theoretical application where most Asian nations, due to strong government activism, adopt development-oriented policy preferences. In his terminology, the regime is defined by the interaction of three components — state institutions, socioeconomic forces, and external factors — shaping distinct political-economies, such as a nation's economic policy paradigm.

   • Developmental Regimes: Countries like Japan and Korea exhibit developmental regimes marked by effective government-local business partnerships that industrialize the country while limiting the political and economic power of domestic challenges.

   • Quasi-Developmental Regimes: Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand are categorized as quasi-developmental regimes. They emulate the activist governments and industrialization policies of developmental states but rely on foreign capital for growth.

   • Rapacious Regimes: Characterized by highly extractive political economies, repression, and developmental stagnation, this category includes Myanmar, North Korea, and Marcos-era Philippines.

2. Examination of U.S. Influence: Pempel details how U.S. influence in East Asia contributed to the formation and evolution of these regimes. However, in discussions about the post-global recession era, the book is inconsistent. It overlooks several landmark developments affecting regime types, such as:

   • Rising outward FDI from Asia, where countries like Thailand (part of the quasi-developmental category) have entered the top 20 FDI-sending nations. Moreover, East Asian multinational corporations (including those from China) are gaining global prominence — 133 Chinese companies appeared in Fortune’s 2020 ranking of top 500 firms, surpassing the United States.
   • Growing inward FDI in Southeast Asia, with ASEAN’s inward FDI surpassing Japan and the U.S. between 2000 and 2019, and accounting for nearly triple the FDI from China in the region. This reflects the strengthening regional financial ties that often outpace external flows.

3. Policy Turn toward Regional Integration: The book marks growing regional integration and connectivity mechanisms to respond to globalization, crises, and mutual cooperation. The adoption of the ASEAN Charter in 2007 demonstrates institutionalization, though quasi-developmental states remain responsive to both external and internal pressures.

Critique and Suggestions

Pempel’s broad scope simplifies some trends and neglects certain factors, such as China’s growing economic influence beyond the region. However, the book provides a concise and coherent explanation of complex regional political economies. It serves as a valuable resource for students and researchers interested in East Asia and encourages deeper investigations into the successes and challenges of Asia-Pacific development.

(Darren de la Torre Mangado (2023). "Pempel, T. J. (2021). The Political Economy of the Asia-Pacific Region: From Prosperity to Plunder. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press," Journal of Asian Studies, 82(2), 296–297. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/00219118-10291076)