Along a path pioneered by Japan in the 1960s, initial integration into the global economy has been followed by a period of rapid export-led economic growth, which subsequently slows as the economy develops and incomes rise.
In a process that has been likened to the pattern of flying geese, development in Japan pushed more labor-intensive production from Japan into the “Asian tigers” – that is, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan – with that set of countries experiencing rapid growth in the 1970s and 1980s.