Law and Development in Asia

This book fills a gap in the literature by presenting a comprehensive overview of the key issues relating to law and development in Asia. Over recent decades, experts in law and development have produced multiple theories on law and development, none of which were derived from close study of Asian countries, and none of which fit very well with the existing evidence of how law actually functioned in these countries during periods of rapid economic development. The book discusses the different models of law and development, including both the developmental state model of the 1960s and the neo-liberal model of the 1980s, and shows how development has worked out in practice in relation to these models in a range of Asian countries, including Japan, Korea, China, Thailand, Singapore, India and Mongolia. Particular themes examined include constitutionalism, judicial and legal reform; labour law; the growing importance of private rights; foreign investment and the international law of development. Reflecting the complexity of Asian law and society, both those who believe in an "Asian Way" which is radically different from law and development in other parts of the world, as well as those who believe the arc of law and development is essentially universal, will find support in this book.

Gerald Paul McAlinn is Professor of Law at Keio University Law School in Tokyo, Japan. His books include Japanese Business Law; Comparative Law: Law and the Legal Process in Japan; Introduction to American Law and The Business Guide to Japan.

Caslav Pejovic is Professor of Law at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan. He has published papers in the Journal of Business Law, the Journal of Maritime Law and Commerce, and the Pace International Law Review.

Notes on Contributors. Acknowledgements. Introduction: Law and Development in the 21st Century David M. Trubek Part 1: Law and Development Orthodoxy: Asian Challenges 1. Law and Development Orthodoxies and The Northeast Asian Experience John K.M. Ohnesorge 2. The Resurgence of the Right to Development Muthucumaraswamy Sornarajah 3. Japanese Law and Asian Development Tom Ginsburg 4. The Success of Law and Development in China: Is China the Latest Asian Developmental State? Connie Carter 5. The Politics of Law and Development in Thailand: Seeking Rousseau, Finding Hobbes Andrew Harding 6. Law and Development, FDI and the Rule of Law in Post-Soviet Central Asia: The Case of Mongolia Sukhbaatar Sumiya Part 2: Special Topics: Institutions and Areas of Law 7. Echoes of Through the Looking Glass: Comparing Judicial Reforms in Singapore and India Arun K. Thiruvengadam and Michael Ewing-Chow 8. Japanese Long-Term Employment Caslav Pejovic 9. Non-Economic Criteria in the Formulation of the World Trade Regime: From Social Clause to CSR Shin-ichi Ago 10. China’s Antimonopoly Law and Recurrence to Standards Steven Van Uytsel 11. The Privatization of Investor-State Dispute Resolution Gerald Paul McAlinn 12. Thailand and Legal Development Lawan Thanadsillapakul. Index