The-Confucius-Connection：-From-Cultural-Roots-to-E

ThepowerbehindtherecentsurgeinAsia’seconomymayhavedevelopedfromthetenetsofoneofthatcontinent’searliestphilosophers.TheConfuciusConnection:FromCulturalRootsToEconomicGrowthGeertHofstedeMichaelHarrisBondJn1968,thelateNobel-prize-winningecono-mistGunnarMyrdalpublishedabookentitledAsianDramathatdescribedhisinvestiga-tionsintothefailureofeconomicdevelop-mentpoliciesinSouthandSoutheastAsia.Twentyyearslater,weareexperiencingaverydifferentkindofAsiandrama:Japan,SouthKorea,Taiwan,HongKong,andSingaporearenowoutperformingtheUnitedStatesandWesternEuropeeconomically.Westernmar-ketsarefloodedwithhigh-quality,high-technologyproducts“madeinAsia”;theproductionofcameras,TVsets,anddomes-ticapplianceshasallbutceasedinmanyWesterncountries,theautomobilebusinesshassufferedseverely,andPresidentReaganhashadtoviolatehisfree-tradeprinciplestosavetheU.S.microchipindustry.ItistruethatmostofthecompetitionisfromEast,ratherthanfromSouthorSoutheastAsia;however,someSouthandSoutheastAsiancountriesbesidesSingapore,suchasIndia,Malaysia,Thailand,andIndonesia(theverysceneofMyrdal’sdrama),alsoshowsignsofaneconomictakeoff.WorldBankdataontheaveragean-nualgrowthrateofpercapitagrossnationalproduct(seeExhibit1)confirmtheEastAsianlead.TheFiveDragons,asthesecountriesaresometimescalled,areheadingthelist,withaverageannualsustained-growthpercentagesovera20-yearperiodof7.6%forSingapore,7.2%forTaiwan,6.6%forSouthKorea,6.1%forHongKong,and4.7%forJapan.ThesecomparewithratesforWesternEuropeofbetween3.5%forAustriaand1.6%forBritain;forLatinAmericaofbetween4.3%forBraziland-2.1%forNicaragua;of2.4%forCanada;andof1.7%fortheUnitedStates.5WHYEASTASIA?Feweconomistspredictedthestaggeringeco-nomicriseoftheEastAsiancountries,andmanyfailedtorecognizeitevenwhenitwaswellunderway.Forexample,aneconomicforecastbyHollisB.CheneryandAlanM.StroutpublishedintheAmericanEconomicReviewofSeptember1966didnotevenin-cludeHongKongandSingaporebecausetheywereconsideredinsignificantinthisrespect.ThefutureperformancesofTaiwanandKo-reawereheavilyunderrated,andthoseofIn-diaandSriLankawereoverrated.Fifteenyearslater,Singaporewithapopulationof2.5millionexportedmorethanIndiadidwithapopulationof700million.NotonlywasthesuccessoftheFiveDragonsunpredicted,butevenafterthefacteconomistshavenoexplanationofwhytheseparticularcountriesweresosuccessful.Why,forexample,didSouthKoreaoutperformColombia,whichseemedtobeinabetterstartingposition?In1965,Colombia’spercapitaincome($280)wasabouttwiceSouthKorea’s($150).In1985,SouthKorea’spercapitaincome($2,150)wasaboutone-and-a-halftimesColombia’s($1,320).U.S.garmentbuyers,however,choseSouthKorea-eventhoughColombiaisnearer-becauseofbet-terselection,betterquality,lowerprices,andmorereliabledeliverytimes.Bettermanage-mentwasobviouslyalsoinvolved,butthisistooeasyanexplanationfortworeasons.First,thequalityofmanagementdependsonthequalitiesofthepeopletobemanaged;sec-ond,thequality-of-managementexplanationbegsthequestionofhowanentirenationcancollectivelyproducebettermanagementthananothernation.Fortherealexplanation,wemustturntothedomainofculture.THENEO-CONFUCIANHYPOTHESISFuturologistHermanKahnhaslabeledtheculturesoftheEastAsiancountries“neo-Confucian”-thatis,rootedintheteachingsofConfucius.Kahnsawhimselfasa“culturist”:He,liketheauthorsofthisarticle,heldthebeliefthatspecificnationshavespecificcul-turaltraitsthatare”ratherstickyanddifficulttochangeinanybasicfashion,althoughtheycanoftenbemodified.”Theauthorsliketodefinecultureas“thecollectiveprogrammingofthemindthatdistinguishesthemembersofonecategoryofpeoplefromthoseofan-other.”Thisdefinitionappliestonationalaswellastocorporatecultures,butwewillstayatthenationallevel.Kahn’sneo-ConfucianhypothesisisthatthecountriesofEastAsiahavecommonculturalrootsgoingfarbackintohistory,andthatundertheworld-marketconditionsofthepast30yearsthisculturalin-“FeweconovnisfspredictedGzestaggeringeconomicriseoffheEusfAsiancountries,andnzunyfuiledtorecognizeifevenwhen6ifwaswellunderway.”Exhibit2ECONOMICGROWTHFORSELECTEDCOUNTRIESANDGROSSNATIONALPRODUCT(GNP)PERCAPITA1965’85Ave.AnnualGNP/capitaGrowthRate%Singapore7.6Taiwan7.2SouthKorea6.6HongKong6.1Japan4.7Brazil4.3Austria3.5Colombia2.9WestGermany2.7Canada2.4Netherlands2.0Sweden1.8India1.7UnitedStates1.7GreatBritain1.6Poland1.5Switzerland1.4Nicaragua-2.1Source:WorldDevelopmentReport1987andotherstatistics79651985GNP/capitaGNP/capitaU.S.$andU.S.$and(Rank)(Rank)550(12)7420(10)220(16)3600(12)150(17)2150(13)590(11)6230(11)780(10)11300(5)240(15)1640(15)1180(8)9120(8)280(14)1320(16)1810(5)10940(6)2260(3)13680(3)1520(7)9290(7)2160(4)11890(4)90(18)270(18)3420(1)16690(1)1580(6)8460(9)840(9)2050(14)2310(2)16370(2)330(13)770(17)heritancehasconstitutedacompetitivead-vantageforsuccessfulbusinessactivity.Culturalinheritancesarenotgeneti-callytransferred;theycaninprinciplebeac-quiredbyanyhumanbeingwhoisattherightplaceattherighttime.Webegintoacquirethementalprogrammingwecallculturefromthedayweareborn,andtheprocesscontin-uesthroughoutourlifeinaparticularsociety.Cross-culturaldevelopmentalpsychologistswhohavestudiedthebehaviorofc