The consensus today is that import-substitution protectionist industri

The consensus today is that import-substitution protectionist industrial policy has not served the developing countries’ growth ambitions well.

This fact proves that policies relying on export-driven growth are the “winning ticket” for these countries.

ANSWER

Although there are many who draw precisely this lesson from the ” East Asian Miracle” of the past half-century, such a conclusion does not necessarily follow logically. Although the four HPAEs succeeded in their economic as well as in their export sector growth, they differed among themselves considerably in the degree and manner with which they abjured protectionist policies. In any case, export-promotion policies may distort relative prices to the same extent as import protectionist policies, and hence may lead to the same waste and misallocation of national resources.