MYTHOLOGIES OF A DEVELOPMENTAL STATE: AMBITION AND ACTION IN NASSER’S EGYPT

by Nimis, Sara Rose

This paper uses an historical analysis of state intervention in the Egyptian economy during the Nasser period (1952-1970) to show how an activist state can help a late-industrializing economy “catch up” to industrialized economies in the global market. The Egyptian case is compared and contrasted with the case of South Korea during the fifties and sixties. The absence of growth-promoting relationships between business and state actors in the Egyptian case was rooted in the suspicion toward businesspeople that characterized the developmental myth of the Nasser government. A case study of the Arab Contractors Corporation further illustrates the importance of such “policy networks”. The developmental myths of the two governments also played into their policy strategies. The Egyptian government espoused an import substitution strategy in line with its emphasis on independence as the hallmark of development, whereas South Korea favored a strategy emphasizing exports.