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Paths to Economic Development in Southeast Asia
Quick questions on Import substitution versus export orientation explained: H2 History
6short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is two strategies for industrialising?Show answer
Newly independent states that wanted to industrialise faced a basic strategic choice about how to build manufacturing. The two principal options were import-substitution industrialisation and export-oriented industrialisation. They start from opposite premises about the role of the world market, and the contrast between them is one of the central themes in the economic history of independent Southeast Asia, because the choice powerfully shaped how fast and how sustainably economies grew.
What is import substitution?Show answer
Import-substitution industrialisation aims to build domestic industries that produce goods the country currently imports, replacing foreign products with home-made ones. The state typically protects these new industries with tariffs and import controls, shielding them from foreign competition while they grow. The appealing logic is the infant-industry argument: new industries need temporary protection to reach the scale and efficiency at which they can compete. In practice, however, import substitution ran into serious limits.
What is export orientation?Show answer
Export-oriented industrialisation takes the opposite approach: it aims industry at world markets rather than at the protected domestic market. The state encourages firms to produce for export, often supporting them with incentives while exposing them to international competition. The strengths of this strategy explain its success. World markets are vast, so they free industry from the constraint of a small domestic market and allow firms to reach economies of scale.
What is q1?Show answer
Explain the difference between import-substitution and export-oriented industrialisation. [4 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
Explain why import-substitution industrialisation tended to stall. [12 marks]
What is q3?Show answer
"Export orientation was bound to outperform import substitution." How far do you agree? [20 marks]
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