Business and Society Relations In Twenty-First-Century East Asia

During the postwar period, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan developed distinctive systems of corporate governance, employment relations, and state-business relations (Evans 1995; Hamilton and Biggart 1988; Jacoby 2005; Kim 1997; Wade 1990). These formal and informal institutions supported the region’s rapid economic growth during the second half of the twentieth century. By the century’s end, however, and especially after the 1997 Asian financial crisis, governments, firms, and other economic actors faced intense pressure to reform allegedly outdated practices and adopt global standards of market-centered economic and corporate governance.

This session examines both historical changes and the current state of business-society relations in twenty-first-century East Asia. It addresses two related questions. First, to what extent have governments and firms embraced global standards and substantively transformed their governance practices? This question has become especially salient as the global legitimacy of market-centered governance has weakened following the 2008 financial crisis, which originated not at the periphery but at the center of the world economy (Tooze 2018). Second, what have been the societal consequences of these changes? A central concern is rising inequality across the region (ESCAP 2024). The papers examine how shifts in economic and corporate governance have reshaped employment relations, contributed to more insecure work, and widened gaps between workers in core and peripheral sectors, while also highlighting the distinct institutional trajectories and continuing diversity of East Asian economies.