Public Enterprise and Economic Development: The Korean Case. By Leroy P. Jones. Seoul (Korea): Korea Development Institute. 1975. xiii+293 pp.

While framing policies for economic development the public authorities-are by and large consciously or unconsciously motivated by their ideological convictions. In a capitalist economy, for instance, the government does not normally resort to socialist techniques even if those techniques promote social welfare. But this general rule, like many others, is not without exception. The book under review gives a clear example of such an exception. Public enterprise, though considered a necessary evil (p. 129), is shown to have performed remarkably well in South Korea. During the short period of ten years-(1968-1972), the performance of the public sector in South Korea has been not only far better than in many other countries but the sector has also emerged as-a leading sector of the economy (p. 202).