Book excerpt: The relevance of East Asian development experience to the less developed world crucially depends on whether an identifiable economic model underlies & largely explains the unquestionable economic success of the five nations of East Asia-Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, & Singapore-which are the subject of extensive analysis in this volume. If there is a model, is it transferable? There are two schools of thought on this question. Some believe that the explanation for East Asian economic success lies largely in the cultural realm: in values, institutional structures & social relations. Others maintain that economic success can largely be explained by the economic strategy these countries have adopted.