Publication

This paper surveys the states goals of East Asian institutions, assesses the quality of these goals in terms of their conceptualization and means-ends relationships, and examines the record of goal accomplishment and employs the insights of sociological institutionalism. The author argues that regional multilateral institutions in East Asia, to varying degrees, approximate to "institutionalized organizations" which depend less on the efficient fulfillment of stated ends and more on the adoption of the rational myths of their environment for legitimacy and survival.