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Ha-Joon Chang

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Ha-Joon Chang
Born (1963-10-07) October 7, 1963 (age 60)[1]
NationalitySouth Korean
Academic career
Fielddevelopment economics
InstitutionUniversity of Cambridge
Alma materSeoul National University, University of Cambridge
InfluencesRobert Rowthorn
Friedrich List
AwardsGunnar Myrdal Prize 2003, Wassily Leontief Prize 2005
Information at IDEAS / RePEc

Ha-Joon Chang (Korean: 장하준, Hanja: 張夏准, b. South Korea in 1963) is one of the leading heterodox economists and institutional economists specialising in development economics. Currently a Reader in the Political Economy of Development at the University of Cambridge, Chang is the author of several influential policy books, including 2002's Kicking Away the Ladder: Development Strategy in Historical Perspective.[2][3][4]

He has served as a consultant to the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the European Investment Bank as well as to Oxfam[5] and various United Nations agencies.[6] He is also a fellow at the Center for Economic and Policy Research[7] in Washington, D.C.

Chang is also known for being an important academic influence on the economist Rafael Correa, currently President of Ecuador.[8][9][10]

Background

After graduating from Seoul National University Department of Economics, he trained at the University of Cambridge. Chang's contribution to heterodox economics started while studying under Robert Rowthorn, a leading British Marxist economist,[11] with whom he worked on the elaboration of the theory of industrial policy which he described as a middle way between central planning and unrestrained free market. His work in this area is part of a broader approach to economics known as institutionalist political economy which places economic history and socio-political factors at the centre of the evolution of economic practices.

Writing

In his book Kicking Away the Ladder (which won the European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy's 2003 Gunnar Myrdal Prize), Chang argued that all major developed countries used interventionist economic policies in order to get rich and then tried to forbid other countries from doing similarly. The WTO, World Bank and IMF come in for strong criticism from Chang for what he presents as "ladder-kicking" of this type, which he in turn portrays as the fundamental obstacle to poverty alleviation in the developing world. This and other work led to his being awarded the 2005 Wassily Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought from the Global Development and Environment Institute (previous prize-winners include Amartya Sen, John Kenneth Galbraith, Herman Daly, Alice Amsden and Robert Wade).[12][13]

The book's methodology was criticized by Douglas Irwin, Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College,[14] writing on the website of the Economic History Association:

Chang only looks at countries that developed during the nineteenth century and a small number of the policies they pursued. He did not examine countries that failed to develop in the nineteenth century and see if they pursued the same heterodox policies only more intensively. This is a poor scientific and historical method. Suppose a doctor studied people with long lives and found that some smoked tobacco, but did not study people with shorter lives to see if smoking was even more prevalent. Any conclusions drawn only from the observed relationship would be quite misleading.[15]

In contrast, Stanley Engerman, Professor of Economic History at Rochester University praised Chang's approach:

Ha-Joon Chang has examined a large body of historical material to reach some very interesting and important conclusions about institutions and economic development. Not only is the historical picture re-examined, but Chang uses this to argue the need for a changing attitude to the institutions desired in today's developing nations. Both as historical reinterpretation and policy advocacy, "Kicking Away the Ladder?" deserves a wide audience among economists, historians, and members of the policy establishment.[16]

Following up on the ideas of Kicking Away the Ladder, Chang published Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism in December 2008.[17] Chang countered Irwin´s criticisms by arguing that, while state interventionism sometimes produced economic failures, it had a better record than unregulated international trade (free markets) which very rarely succeeded in producing economic development. He cited evidence that GDP growth in developing countries had been higher prior to external pressures recommending deregulation and extended his analysis to what he presented as the failures of free trade to induce growth through privatisation and anti-inflationary policies. Chang's book won plaudits from Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz but was criticised by economist William Easterly, who said that Chang used selective evidence in his book. Chang responded to Easterly's criticisms, asserting that Easterly misread his argument. Easterly in turn provided a counter-reply.[18][19]

Chang's latest book is 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism. Amongst many issues, he controversially claims that "the washing machine has changed society more than the Internet".[20]

Bibliography

  • The political economy of industrial policy (St. Martin's; 1994)
  • Intellectual property rights and economic development: historical lessons and emerging issues (pamphlet) (TWN; 2001)
  • Who benefits from the new international intellectual property rights regime?: and what should Africa do? (pamphlet) (ATPSN; 2001)
  • Joseph Stiglitz and the World Bank: the rebel within (collection of Stiglitz speeches) (Anthem; 2001)
  • Kicking Away the Ladder: Development Strategy in Historical Perspective (Anthem; 2002)
  • Globalization, Economic Development, and the Role of the State (essay collection) (Zed; 2002)
  • Restructuring Korea Inc. (with Jang-Sup Shin) (Routledge; 2003)
  • Reclaiming development: an alternative economic policy manual (with Ilene Grabel) (Zed; 2004)
  • The East Asian development experience: the miracle, the crisis and the future (Zed; 2006)
  • Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism (Bloomsbury; 2008)
  • 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism (Penguin Books Ltd; 2010)

See also

References

  1. ^ CV
  2. ^ "Ha-Joon Chang's home page". University of Cambridge. 19 Oct 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
  3. ^ "Article summarising "Kicking Away the Ladder" book". Post-Autistic Economics Review. 14 Sept 2002. Retrieved 2007-10-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ "A paper by Chang summarising much of "Kicking Away the Ladder"". Foreign Policy In Focus. April 2003. Archived from the original on 2007-10-09. Retrieved 2007-10-19. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. ^ Ha-Joon Chang (November 2005). "Why Developing Countries Need Tariffs? How WTO NAMA Negotiations Could Deny Developing Countries' Right To A Future" (PDF). Oxfam International/South Centre. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-10-19. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. ^ Ha-Joon Chang (July 2006). "Understanding the Relationship between Institutions and Economic Development: Some Key Theoretical Issues" (PDF). The World Institute for Development Economics Research/United Nations University. Retrieved 2007-10-19. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ^ "CEPR Senior Research Partners". Center for Economic and Policy Research. 19 Oct 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
  8. ^ Correa Delgado, Rafael. Ecuador: de Banana Republic a la No República. Debate. Third edition. 2010. Pg. 158
  9. ^ Rafael Correa (20 May 2006). "El sofisma del libre comercio". La Insignia. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
  10. ^ Mónica Almeida (23 Sept 2007). "Ecuador debe planificar su propio modelo de desarrollo". EL Universo. Retrieved 2007-10-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ Bob Rowthorn (July-Aug 1974). "Neo-Classicism, Neo-Ricardianism and Marxism". New Left Review. Retrieved 2007-10-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/about_us/leontief.html
  13. ^ http://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/faculty/chang/cv.pdf#search=%22rowthorn%20%22ha-joon%20chang%22%22
  14. ^ "Blame Game", The Economist, March 24, 2011. Accessed on March 28, 2011 at: http://www.economist.com/node/18438065?story_id=18438065&CFID=166516108&CFTOKEN=23109871
  15. ^ Irwin, Douglas A., "Kicking Away the Ladder: Development Strategy in Historical Perspective". April 2004. EH.net. Accessed on 03/15/11 at: http://eh.net/book_reviews/kicking-away-ladder-development-strategy-historical-perspective
  16. ^ http://economia.ucu.edu.uy/attachments/043_Summary_KAL.pdf
  17. ^ Ha-Joon Chang (July-2007). "Protecting the global poor". Prospect. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Unknown parameter |accessddfakdlfjadslkfadate= ignored (help)
  18. ^ http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2009/oct/08/the-anarchy-of-success/
  19. ^ http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2009/nov/19/the-anarchy-of-success-2/
  20. ^ http://www.odemagazine.com/doc/74/hajoon-chang/
Articles and interviews

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