[Citizen College Season 8] Lecture4. The Origins of Developing and Plundering Nations – A Comparison of South Korea and the Philippines

Since World War II, countries like South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and the Philippines have experienced different levels of economic development. What is the cause of this difference?

Professor Jaehyuk Shin, who gave this lecture, traces the difference between the former and the latter to the difference between developmental and predatory states. According to his lecture, developmental states emerge when state leaders with systemic weaknesses are forced to engage in policy confrontations with political rivals, while predatory states emerge when they are forced to engage in self-serving confrontations.

He supported this argument with case studies of Park Jung-hui of South Korea and Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines. Throughout the lecture, Prof. Jae Hyeok Shin presented the aspect of political competition among elites within a country as an important factor that leads to developmental states, which provides another perspective on why many underdeveloped countries in the world have not been able to escape poverty.

Date and Time : 16th, May, 2024. 15:30 ~ 17:30
Venue : Room 521, Korea University SK Future Hall
Speaker : Professor Jae Hyeok Shin (PSIR, Korea University)