A LARGE number of studies* are constantly coming out which deal with question of economic growth, democracy, role of the state and the market, macro and micro economic/industrial policies, and social, cultural and administrative changes in east Asia (South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Philippines) mostly during the post-war era. Quite a few of these books are concerned mainly with the South Korean story.1 Some of these books are edited volumes, covering a wide range of scholarship from both the sides of the pacific. Except the Philippines, the saga of growth of all the other countries has come in for detailed examination from many diverse, including cross-sectional comparative perspectives.