Catch-Up Sustainable Economic Growth and Education Stock in East Asia

Abstract

This paper provides nearly 100 years of detailed estimates of education stock in Japan, Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, and the United States. Examining this, the paper studies the role of education in terms of catch-up economic development and shows that Japan, Korea, and Taiwan achieved economic growth with a smaller education stock than the United States during their miraculously high economic growth periods. In that sense, these three countries enjoyed the latecomer advantage. Simultaneously, this paper argues that Japan’s poor economic performance, since around 1990, is attributable to its insufficient investment in tertiary education. It also points out that the primary school education completed in the Philippines may be suitable for those wishing to be hired as unskilled laborers by English-speaking foreigners but unsuitable for promoting the development of domestic industries.