The issue of management of capital flows has been brought into sharp focus by bouts of financial crises in the developing world and emerging market economies. Before the outbreak of the financial crisis in East and South-East Asia in 1997, the newly industrializing economies in the region were considered to be showcase models of development.
Many researchers studied appropriate ways to replicate their performances in other regions. The UNCTAD secretariat also undertook intensive research on what were seen as successful development strategies in East Asia, and reported its analytical findings in the Trade and Development Report (TDR) 1996.
However, as the crisis persisted and its contagion spread, both within and beyond the region, a heated debate emerged about the appropriateness of their development strategies in the context of the increasing international mobility of financial capital.
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