This book focuses on the understanding of factors and mechanisms involved in the development of agency mainly in three related contexts --- participatory development, extension work, and service transactions. The research has its starting point in the recognition of the critical role played by “agency” (commonly understood as want/will for and practice of self-determination and self-management) on the part of intended beneficiaries of services and projects for effective implementation and sustainability. It is designed to address this subject matter with its principal focus on inner capacities and orientations of human beings, posing questions as to how such capacities and orientations could be enhanced and activated in practice by external actors in the field of public policies for socioeconomic and international development. The project is organized transcending traditional disciplinary boundaries --- combining anthropological, psychological, and economic approaches and perspectives.
The remarkable economic growth achieved by Japan and Korea makes analysis of the style of economic management practiced in each of special interest. Some similarities emerge, specifically a strong partnership between government and the private sector, an export-oriented development strategy, and emphasis on education and the development of skills. The policies differed in that government became the more senior partner and the apparatus of planning and policy making was more centralized and streamlined in Korea, and Korea relied much more on foreign trade. Although the experience of these two countries in general confirms that prices, markets, and outward orientation can play a significant part in economic development, their styles of economic management do not fall neatly into the conventional pigeonholes in economics. No definitive conclusions as to transferability of the Japanese and Korean techniques emerge, but some important inferences can be drawn from the experiences of Japan and Korea regarding the power of prices and role of competition, both internal and external.
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