This lecture examines the factors behind the remarkable economic recovery of South Korea from the Asian financial crisis that had gripped the country during late 1997. It examines the restructuring efforts undertaken by the Korean government in the corporate, financial, labor market, public enterprise, and foreign investment sectors, and evaluates the results as well as the effectiveness of such reforms.
The paper concludes that the Korean structural reforms yielded positive economic results by stabilizing the currency and banking markets, and by substantially improving economic growth in Korea. However, Korea faces many challenges, including geopolitical risks, export dependence on the U.S. market, and sustaining the pace of corporate reform over the long term.
Anindya Bhattacharya is an Associate Professor of Business in the Department of Economics at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. He is also an Adjunct Professor of International Business at the Stern School of Business, New York University. He holds a B.A. from Cambridge University and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.
Professor Bhattacharya’s research has focused on the Asian Dollar Market, the Asian Financial Crisis, and Outsourcing to Asia. Professor Bhattacharya has published several books such as The Asian Dollar Market and numerous articles in a variety of scholarly journals, including International Journal of Business Research, Journal of International Selling and Sales Management, Asia Pacific Business Review, and Journal of International Business Studies.
Professor Bhattacharya has extensive experience teaching International Business, Management, Marketing, Finance and Economics at the MBA and BBA levels. In addition, he has U.S. Government experience, having worked for the General Accounting Office (GAO) for more than a decade. He has served as a Consultant to the United Nations in New York and Bangkok. He is a frequently-invited speaker at national and international conferences. He is fluent in several foreign languages and has extensive overseas living experience.
