Revisiting the East Asian Financial Crises: Lessons from Ethics and Development Patterns

This book chapter offers a conceptual contribution to the development economics and financial development literature by reviewing the East Asian development patterns through an ethical interpretation. The flight of foreign capital and the financial crises that affected some of the most successful East Asian economies led to a critique of their development pathways. However, Japan and the Asian Tigers displayed a lead role for ethics in both their economic and business historical process, as part of the Confucian capitalism. The Asian miracle carries a strong ethical message, to be kept for policy recommendations. These lessons can be useful for regulation purposes and to smooth the risk of upcoming financial crises.