The State and Entrepreneurship: Reflections on the Small and Medium Korean Enterprises

Korea is the showcase of the theory of the developmental state in which the state plays an important role in cultivating entrepreneurship. The success of Chaebols serves to vindicate such a claim. Yet the Korean path of Chaebol-centered development has resulted in a relatively weak parts sector, especially among the small and medium enterprises (SMEs). There have been several attempts from the state since the 1980s to develop the SMEs, but with mixed outcomes. If the Korean state is said to have been successful in creating world-class Chaebols to compete internationally, why has the state failed in developing the SMEs? The talk will explore the causes of the underdeveloped SMEs in Korea and address alternative solutions drawing upon comparisons with the case of Taiwan.

Michelle Hsieh is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the Shorenstein Asia Pacific Research Center at Stanford University. She received her PhD in Sociology from McGill University, Canada. Her research interests fall within the areas of economic sociology, international development, and comparative political economy in Taiwan and Korea. She is working on a book manuscript comparing two competing models of late development using Taiwan and Korea as case studies.