The Asia-Pacific region has produced some of the most striking economic success stories of the modern era. Japan’s postwar transformation, China’s rise to the world’s second-largest economy, India’s emergence as a top-five economic power, and Australia’s sustained prosperity despite its small population all underscore the region’s remarkable dynamism. Central to each of these trajectories has been the capacity to cultivate, attract, and utilize talent—though each country has pursued this goal through approaches shaped by its unique history, culture, and institutions.
This talk draws from a new book that examines how these four “talent giants” have sustained economic growth in the face of new and ongoing challenges, including demographic decline, brain drain, and intensifying geopolitical tensions. At a time of fierce global competition for talent and deeply polarized debates over immigration, the lessons from Asia-Pacific experiences offer important and timely insights—particularly for the United States—into the enduring link between talent and national development.
Members of the China Center community can receive 20% off when purchasing Professor Shin's book with code SHIN20.
Gi-Wook Shin is the William J. Perry Professor of Contemporary Korea in the Department of Sociology and a Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. He founded the Korea Program in 2001, the Stanford Next Asia Policy Lab (SNAPL) in 2023, and the Taiwan Program in 2024 at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC), where he also served as director for two decades (2005–2025). The author or editor of 27 books and numerous scholarly articles, Professor Shin’s research focuses on nationalism, development, democracy, migration, and international relations. He earned his BA from Yonsei University in Korea and MA and PhD from the University of Washington. Prior to joining Stanford, he taught at the University of Iowa and UCLA from 1991 to 2001.