The economic miracles of southeast Asia

This article analyses the factors which were of particular importance to the impressive economic development in Southeast Asia in the postwar period. The article attempts to answer the following questions: How can the strong economic growth in Southeast Asia be explained? Is it possible to claim that a ''Southeast Asian development model'' can explain the rapid economic growth in the countries of the region? Is there reason to believe that the strong growth in the region will continue? The article concludes that the strong growth in the last decades was the result of an enormous accumulation of factors of production, but that productivity increases have played an increasingly important role from the beginning of the 1980s. It is probable that the countries will continue their strong growth in the future as well, even though the growth rates will be closer to the international average.