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This paper expands the research on how shared prosperity is achieved in East Asian countries (regions). Based on welfare production regime theory, this paper advances a theoretical framework to link economic growth to income distribution. The main argument is that the match between the skills developed by social protection systems and the needs of product market strategies is key to economic progress. The skills and the social protection systems could also influence income allocation through distribution and redistribution. The net effect of the two channels determines the result of income equality. A longitudinal exploration of Japan, Taiwan and Korea in the export-led growth period (1961–1979) and the knowledge economy period (1980–1996) supports the argument. A policy implication of the argument is that China could strategically adjust its welfare production regime to achieve shared prosperity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A well-developed services supply chain is crucial for regional integration. In the context of East Asia and ASEAN, it will allow countries at varying development stages to effectively participate in regional as well as global supply chains. This paper examines services from a supply chain perspective and discusses policy implications for liberalization of the sector in East Asian economies. In particular, the study focuses on global value chain (GVC) activities for services that are independent of linkages to the manufacturing sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Colombia Internacional is the property of Universidad de los Andes and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

It is notable that the trade in East Asian countries has increased more than proportionately to the growth of economy. This paper tests the hypothesis that the recent trade expansion is induced by development of international fragmentation of production. This paper constructs an index of vertical intra-industry trade (VIIT) to measure the fragmentation of production, and finds that the share of VIIT has been rising in East Asia as well as in NAFTA and the EU using the gravity equation. It also establishes that a rising share of VIIT is an important factor in explaining the recent expansion of trade with East Asia. The results suggest that an agreement to remove and harmonize institutional impediments among East Asian countries is important for further expansion of trade within the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yeung H. W.-C. Regional development and the competitive dynamics of global production networks: an East Asian perspective, Regional Studies. The debate on the nature and dynamics of regional development in both academic and policy circles has now moved on from the earlier focus on endogenous regional assets to analysing the complex relationship between globalization and regional change. This position paper attempts to engage with this debate through the experience of regional development in East Asia. The paper shows that regional development cannot be understood independently of the changing dynamics of global production networks. While the existing literature on East Asia tends to focus on the state as the key driver of economic development at the national and regional levels, it is argued that the developmental state is a necessary but not sufficient condition for regional development to take place. Instead, one needs to study the complex strategic coupling of those economic actors, particularly large business firms, operating in specific regions in Asia with their lead firm counterparts orchestrating production networks on a global basis... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the beginning of the latest and most convincing phase of transition, Myanmar has emerged as the new possible frontier of economic development in Southeast Asia. Investors, political analysts, businessmen and NGOs alike have all rushed to the country in search of a new El Dorado. Are these hopes justified? Can Myanmar—one of the poorest countries in Asia—start a new phase of economic development which would not only benefit the owners of global capital, but also lift Myanmar's population from poverty? Drawing on the literature on the political economy of institutions and some field research, the paper assesses whether policy choices made by the new government are heading the country in a direction which could generate a ‘new miracle' in East Asia. To this purpose, domestic institutional constraints and the system of patronage are examined. Looking beyond the democracy vs dictatorship debate, the paper finds that Myanmar could well start a new phase of economic growth, provided that the government builds a strong vertical and horizontal institutional capacity. However, a more open political environment, and the consequent multiplication of economic interests, could hijack the reform plan the government has adopted, unless these stakeholders are inserted into a coordinated framework revolving around a transformational project of national development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the changing governance of economic development in a globalizing era in relation to the dynamics of global value chains and global production networks. Based on recent development in such East Asian economies as South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, I examine how, since the 1990s, the embedded relation between one variant of state institutions, known as the developmental state, and national firms, well integrated into global chains and networks spanning different territories and regions, has evolved. Because of the deepening strategic coupling of these national firms with lead firms in global industries, the developmental state's attempt to govern the market and to steer industrial transformation through direct policy interventions has become increasingly difficult and problematic. Through this process of strategic coupling, national firms have been gradually disembedded from state apparatuses and re-embedded in different global production networks that are governed by competitive inter-firm dynamics. While the state in these East Asian economies has actively repositioned its role in this changing governance, it can no longer be conceived as the dominant actor in steering domestic firms and industrial transformation. The developmental trajectory of these national economies becomes equally, if not more, dependent on the successful articulation of their domestic firms in global production networks spearheaded by lead firms. In short, inter-firm dynamics in global production networks tend to trump state-led initiatives as one of the most critical conditions for economic development. This paper theorizes further this significant role of global value chains and global production networks in the changing international political economy of development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Noting that the demand for overseas emergency relief increased, the Korean government ambitiously launched disaster-management diplomacy in the 2000s. This paper argues that the Korean government promoted disaster-management diplomacy in connection with other policies: the official development assistance (ODA) policy and middle-power diplomacy. First, disaster-management diplomacy emerged in the broader context of changes in ODA policy in Korea. After acceding to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's Development Assistance Committee (OECD DAC) in 2010, those in favor of grant aid stressed that the Korean government should actively embrace international norms to upgrade the ODA policy. Disaster management provided them with a rationale for embracing the international norms of humanitarian assistance. Second, disaster-management diplomacy was combined with middle-power diplomacy. Despite substantial signs of progress, East Asia as a whole still faces daunting challenges in solidifying the regional cooperation for disaster management. The Korean government identified disaster management as one of the promising areas for middle-power diplomacy, thinking that a rapid increase in demand for disaster management requires a more active role of middle powers, such as Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1990s, Malaysia, along with other East Asian countries, achieved rapid economic growth rates. Research has yet to ascertain the extent to which this rapid economic growth was due to the development of global production networks. The main objective of the paper is to examine the impact of international production fragmentation on productivity growth. The paper hypothesises that international production fragmentation increases productivity growth through trade and foreign direct investment, and that productivity growth increases due to skill-intensive industries producing within an international production network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade the world economy has been characterized by escalating global current account imbalances between the United States and East Asian states. This paper argues that US structural power in the global monetary system allowed the consolidation of a finance-led growth regime in the US based on massive capital inflows, asset inflation and consumption growth while inducing East Asian emerging market economies to establish export-led growth regimes. The global credit crisis has clearly uncovered the boundaries of US monetary hegemony, imposing severe adjustment throughout the global political economy. I analyse the political economy of global economic adjustment and argue that the crisis of US monetary hegemony is based domestically on the crisis of the finance-led growth regime and globally on the shortage of global demand. On the basis of an analysis of the impact of the crisis on the models of capitalism of the US, the Eurozone, and China, this paper shows that global demand deficiency will persist in the short to medium term. Durante la última década, la economía mundial se ha caracterizado por el aumento de los desequilibrios de cuentas corrientes globales entre los Estados Unidos y los estados del Asia oriental. Este artículo sostiene que el poder estructural estadounidense en el sistema monetario global permitió la consolidación de un régimen de crecimiento impulsado por las finanzas en Estados Unidos, en base a las entradas masivas de capital, inflación de los activos y crecimiento de consumo, mientras inducían a las economías de mercado emergente de Asia oriental, a establecer regímenes de crecimiento impulsado por las exportaciones. La crisis de crédito global ha puesto claramente al descubierto los límites de la hegemonía monetaria estadounidense, imponiendo un ajuste severo a través de la economía política global. Analizo la economía política del ajuste económico global y sostengo que la crisis de la hegemonía monetaria estadounidense está basada – domésticamente – en la crisis del crecimiento del régimen impulsado por las finanzas y – globalmente – en la escasez de la demanda global. En base a un análisis del impacto de la crisis en los modelos del capitalismo de los Estados Unidos, la Eurozona y la China, este artículo muestra que la insuficiencia en la demanda global persistirá en el corto y mediano plazo. 过去的十年，世界经济的一个特征一直是不断升高的美国与东亚国家之间的全球经常账户不平衡。本文认为美国在全球货币体系中的结构性权力使得美国基于大规模资本流动、资产膨胀、消费增长的金融业领导的增长机制得到巩固，同时诱使东亚新兴市场经济建立出口领导的增长机制。全球信贷危机已经清楚地揭示了美国金融霸权的范围，这一霸权通过全球政治经济强加严酷的调整。笔者分析全球经济调整的政治经济学，并且认为美国货币霸权的危机在国内是因为金融业领导的增长机制的危机，而在全球（国际）则是因为全球需求的短缺。基于危机对美国、欧元区和中国的资本主义模式的冲击的分析，本文认为，全球需求不足将在近中期持续。 اتسم الاقتصاد العالمي على مدى العقد الماضي بتصاعد أشكال الاختلال في الحسابات المالية الجارية على المستوى العالمي بين الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية ودول شرق آسيا. وترى هذه الدراسة أن النفوذ الهيكلي للولايات المتحدة في النظام النقدي العالمي قد أتاح ترسيخ نظام نمو ترتكز على العنصر المالي في الولايات المتحدة، وهو يقوم على أساس من التدفق الكبير لرؤوس الأموال، وتضخم الأصول ونمو الاستهلاك، بينما يغري اقتصاديات السوق الناشئة في شرق آسيا بإقامة أنظمة نمو ترتكز على التصدير. وقد كشفت الأزمة المالية العالمية بوضوح حدود الهيمنة النقدية للولايات المتحدة، والتي تفرض تكيّفاً شديداً في مجمل الاقتصادر السياسي العالمي. وتحلل الدراسة الاقتصاد السياسي للتكيّف الاقتصادي العالم&#x6 지난 십여 년에 걸쳐 세계경제는 미국과 동아시아 간에 확대되는 지구적 무역 불균형에 의해서 특징지어진다. 이 논문은 지구적 금융체계 내에서 동아시아 신흥 시장경제가 수출주도형 성장체제를 확립하게 하면서, 미국의 구조적 권력이 대규모 자본 유입, 자산 인플레와 소비 증가에 기초한 미국의 금융 주도 성장체제를 공고하게 했다는 것을 주장한다. 세계 금융위기는 분명히 전지구적 정치경제를 통해서 커다란 조정을 강요하면서 미국의 금융 헤게모니의 경제를 드러내게 했다. 나는 지구적 경제조정의 정치경제를 분석하여 미국의 금융 헤게모니가 국내적으로는 금융 주도 성장체제의 위기에 근거하고 있고, 지구적으로는 지구적 수요부족에 근거하고 있다고 주장한다. 위기가 미국, 유럽과 중국 자본주의 모델에 가한 충격 분석에 근거하여, 이 글은 지구적 수요 부족이 중단기적으로 지속될 것이라는 것을 보여준다. В прошлое десятилетие мировая экономика была охарактеризована эскалацией глобального дисбаланса текущего счета между государствами Восточной Азии и Соединенными Штатами. В данной статье утверждается, что американские власти, в структуре мировой валютной системы, позволили консолидацию финансово-экономического режима роста в США на основе массивного притока капитала, инфляции активов и роста потребления, вызывая в Восточной Азии, с формирующейся рыночной экономикой, создание экспортно-ориентированного режима роста. Глобальный кредитный кризис ясно показал границы американской валютной гегемонии, вводящей жесткое регулирование во всей глоб& [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There is a fear among East Asian governments that China's rapid export driven growth is significantly impairing the export performance of their own countries. The common belief among East Asian economies is that to remain competitive they must improve the quality of their exports relative to those of China. In this paper, we show how the emergence of China has affected the quality of its exports and imports to and from Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Specifically, we combine a measure of marginal intra-industry trade (IIT) concerned with the adjustment implications of changes in matched trade, a measure of vertical and horizontal intra-industry trade concerned with the differences in product quality and a new dynamic measure of quality differentiated IIT. Our results suggest that Singapore and Malaysia have managed to maintain and even improve their position as the exporter of high quality varieties in bilateral trade with to China despite China's rapid development and export orientated growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taiwan has been referred to by the World Bank as one of the East Asia's "economic miracles". Many quantitative models on Taiwan's economic growth have been conducted by neo-classical mainstream economists. However, none of them investigates in detail the thinking of those policy-makers who work behind the economic success of Taiwan. Li Kuo-Ting is generally regarded as the architect of Taiwan's economic "miracle". In this paper, an evolutionary perspective has been used to understand the economic management of Li Kuo-Ting in particular and the learning government in Taiwan in general. It will be argued that a policy change is a matter of learning, experimenting, and a process of trial and error, involving subjective aspects such as the policy-makers' perception, vision and experiences, and objective factors such as environmental, geographical or international constraints. Furthermore, Taiwan has been able to succeed because its policy-makers are willing to learn and unlearn. Though the right policy has not always been adopted, Taiwan's policy-makers are willing to experiment with a new policy in a pragmatic way. Policies that did not work were either modified or abandoned. Policies that did work were adopted. This paper concludes that Taiwan's economic "miracle" has been the result of a long-term evolutionary process of entrepreneurial vision by the government, careful policy experimentation and market selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses regime-switching techniques to examine the similarities of GDP growth-cycle features of 10 East Asian countries. A third regime of rapid growth is relevant for most countries. In Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, there was no secular slowdown in growth since the rapid-growth regime re-emerged at some stage. Japan is special since it shares each of its features with different countries, while China shares almost all its features with most countries. Finally, the same countries that were correlated with Japan in the 1980s have been linked with China since the 1990s. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the relative merits and demerits of different East Asian models by placing them in a historical perspective. It re-interprets Gerschenkron's model of late industrialization, and extends it to compare East Asian economies in view of substituting and complementing models, ft then explains divergent performances among East Asian economics from the late 1990s by examining the different Challenges they faced as their economies became mature and more fully open to forces of globalization. fn conclusion, the paper discusses the applicability of the East Asian models for today's developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seaweed farming is widely expected to transform the way we approach sustainable developments, particularly in the context of the 'Blue Economy'. However, many claims of the social and ecological benefits from seaweed farming have limited or contextually weak empirical grounding. Here we systematically review relevant publications across four languages to form a comprehensive picture of observed--rather than theorised--social and environmental impacts of seaweed farming globally. We show that, while some impacts such as improved water quality and coastal livelihoods are consistently reported, other promulgated benefits vary across cultivation contexts or are empirically unsubstantiated. For some communities, increasing dependence on seaweed farming may improve or worsen the cultural fabric and their vulnerability to economic and environmental shocks. The empirical evidence for the impacts of seaweed farming is also restricted geographically, mainly to East Asia and South- East Asia, and taxonomically. Seaweed farming holds strong potential to contribute to sustainability objectives, but the social and ecological risks associated with scaling up global production remain only superficially understood. These risks require greater attention to ensure just, equitable, and sustainable seaweed industries can be realised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Business & Global Economy is the property of Jagiellonian University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper analyzes the economic integration of the East and South Asian economies in the global economy. East Asian economies are shown to be achieving much more of their potential trade than South Asian economies, both in terms of intra-regional trade and in trade with the rest of the world. Examination of the China- Japan, India- Pakistan and Taiwan-mainland China bilateral relationships shows that integration of these economies into the global economy has allowed economic relations to dominate and constrain difficult bilateral political relations in East Asia while in South Asia adverse political relations have hampered development of bilateral economic relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political stability is an important precondition for economic development. While political stability cannot be created by laws alone, an effective legal framework for political governance, such as a constitution, can facilitate political stability. Political stability is not synonymous with democracy; while civil liberty is often considered a key ingredient for prosperity, it has been historically observed that promotion of democracy, while an important value, does not necessarily lead to economic development. Successful economic developments in the East Asian countries, such as South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan from the 60s to the 80s and in contemporary China show the importance of political stability in achieving economic progress albeit with certain democratic deficits. The system of political governance that creates political stability may differ from one place to another, depending upon political needs, cultural priorities, historical contexts, and popular aspirations. This paper considers these elements and also examines, based on local conditions and priorities, the kind of political leadership that has brought political stability and economic development, the question of democracy, and the legal frameworks conducive to sustaining political stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s, Asia has begun the race for economic supremacy at the global level. The so-called "Four Asian Tigers" are those countries which have continually experienced rapid and significant economic growth over the last half of century and comprise the high growth and income economies of Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan. These East Asian countries were largely considered as economic models since their growth rates of real per capita gross domestic product in the period 1960-1995 reached around 6% per year. As economic growth represents the outcome of specific issues, the paper aims to identify and present the main factors that contributed to the meteoric growth of the Asian Tigers by focusing on the economies of three of them, namely Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea. The methodological approach was based on a quantitative method. The paper argues that important lessons related to economic growth could be drawn from the valuable experience of these countries. Also, it identifies and presents some of the most important factors, such as the developmental state and the rapid industrialization, that highly contributed to their impressive economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents analyzes of how the rise of global value chains (GVCs) has changed the patterns of trade in East Asia. It is mentioned that export (measured in value-added) is increasingly sensitive to the capital-labor ratio and high-skilled labor productivity. The article discusses the twin-hub trade regime since the beginning of 21st century is empirically reconfirmed using our modified hub index and identify the rising China-hub along with a declining Japan-hub.

Large-scale foreign investment in Africa's abundant but largely underutilized arable land has been criticised by international NGOs and social movements as ‘land grabbing’, which limits access of smallholder farmers to land, deprives local people of their livelihoods and threatens local and national food security across the continent. By way of contrast, many host governments and some leading international development agencies regard land-based investments as beneficial for development in terms of providing the necessary capital and technological know-how for modernising the region's neglected agriculture including take-off in agribusiness and agro-industrialisation, which is vital to much needed economic diversification in many African countries. East Asia's participation in the global land rush on Africa is examined from the standpoint of these two different perspectives: while China's growing presence and involvement in trade and investment in mining, energy and infrastructure in Africa is well known, less recognised is its involvement and those of other East Asian countries such as South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam in agriculture through large-scale land acquisitions. The development consequences and policy implications of these foreign land-based investments are analysed from a political economy perspective, which identifies motives, interests and benefits of the different actors and addresses the question of governance in terms of transparency and appropriate institutional arrangements to safeguard land rights and food security. In the bigger picture, the paper argues that the negative consequences of land grab has to be seen alongside the benefits flowing to Africa from growing economic relations with China and other dynamic East Asian economies and learning from the development experiences of those countries. African countries however need to re-assess the current approach and relationship with foreign land-based investors and decide how best this trend can be used to forward their economic and social agendas. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the rapid growth of the Chinese economy, which he describes as one of the fastest in the world. It offers information on the gross domestic product of the economy rising annually by 10% or more in recent years. It offers a full range of topics on the contribution and response of municipal engineers to the growth of China covered by publications. It concludes that providing an overview of recent practice in the Far East country somehow engages the interest of readers in the development of its economy.

The growth of projects translating the concept of eco-city into practices has accelerated during the last fifteen years, making the eco-city a global phenomenon. Asia in particular has witnessed notable developments, characterized by strong governmental intervention and national initiatives to create model eco-cities. In Japan, the central government launched an “Eco-Model Cities” program in 2008 and has designated twenty-three model cities. In China, hundreds of municipalities have pursued plans to become an eco- or low-carbon city following the government’s demonstration projects. Across East Asia, the eco-city is promoted as an innovative urban policy capable of advancing the agendas of sustainable urbanization and the realignment of the post-industrial urban economy. This paper compares the policies and strategies of developing eco-cities in Japan and China using Kitakyushu and Tianjin Eco-city as case studies. It examines these cities’ common and contrasting approaches to ecological urbanism, their respective technological and urban design strategies, the relationship between eco-city building and local economic development, and the roles played by different stakeholders in this effort. The research focuses on their Key Performance Indicator systems and the spatial qualities they anticipate, which reflect fundamentally different ideas about what societal role an eco-city should best play. The comparative method sheds light on debates around important aspects of planning and managing an eco-city––namely, between new town and retrofit development, between top-down directive and bottom-up force, and between the eco-city as technology and as culture. This paper thus offers critical insight into the changing notions of urbanity within Asian society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that to understand the relevance of developmental states in East Asia and elsewhere, we need to focus on the changing development agenda in the early twenty-first century, especially how this connects with the global challenge of climate change and thereby sustainable, low-carbon development. It combines theories on state capacity and ecological modernisation to form the 'new developmentalism' concept. This is applied to study revitalised and refocused forms of state capacity aimed at realising the transformative economic objectives associated with sustainable development. New developmentalism helps us understand not only current state capacity practice in a climate challenged world but also how we have moved beyond original conceptions of developmental statism. It may be understood in the wider context of the sustainable development agenda and climate interventionism. As is argued, new developmentalism is most clearly evident in East Asia but can be applied in a wider geographic sense where strong forms of developmental state capacity are exercised towards meeting transformative sustainable development goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much scholarship on East Asian development has sidelined the crucial role of geopolitics by insisting that wars such as the Vietnam War had limited effects on industrial development and economic growth patterns. We find such arguments unpersuasive, and also unduly reductionist. The Vietnam War, in particular, had unambiguously powerful effects on industrial development in South Korea; but even in cases where the direct effects of war were somewhat less spectacular, such as Taiwan, the reasons for the differences were themselves deeply geopolitical and expressive of decision-making processes centered on the Vietnam War. In this paper, we explore the differential effects of such geopolitical decision-making by contrasting the development trajectories of the Ulsan and Kaohsiung industrial zones during the war period. We show, in addition, that the subsequent development of industrial projects in South Korea and Taiwan has continued to bear some of the marks of Vietnam War-era geopolitical economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's urban economic transition since the 2000s has garnered considerable scholarly interest. Two distinct bodies of scholarship, namely urban governance and global production networks, have investigated this phenomenon, each offering unique insights either from an endogenous state-centric or exogenous firm-centric approach. The former has justifiably accentuated the centrality of the state in shaping Chinas urban-regional economic reconfiguration but lacks exploration of the multifaceted ways in which state apparatus engages with a spectrum of quotidian firm-level activities and the negotiation power these firms wield. The latter embraces an exogenous firm-centric perspective on the economic transition in East Asia latecomer regions, stressing forces of globalisation, foreign investment, and intra/inter/extra-firm networks, but tends to bracket the state into the institutional background and, therefore, downplays its agentic role. By initiating a dialogue between these two theoretical frameworks, this paper formulates a dialectical state-firm relational approach, offering a revitalised, integrative comprehension of China's urban economic transformation. Employing Dongguan - a globally recognised hub for ICT manufacturing - as an empirical focal point, it elucidates how the relational state-firm dynamics evolve temporally, differ spatially across territories and scales, and display distinct contrasts between high-value-added and labour-intensive sectors within the ICT industry. • Sets a research agenda which promotes theoretical dialogues between urban governance and global production networks • Develops a state-firm dialectical approach to urban economic transition, combining endogenous and exogenous perspectives • Offers an integrative comprehension of China's urban economic transformation through symbiotic state-firm dynamics • Reveals that state-firm relations vary across time and space and differ between high-value-added and labour-intensive sectors [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economics / Ekonomia is the property of Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny we Wroclawiu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper I discuss some of the most important lessons on exchange-rate policies in emerging markets during the last 35 years. The analysis is undertaken from the perspective of both the Latin American and East Asian nations. Some of the topics addressed include: the relationship between exchange-rate regimes and growth, the costs of currency crises, the merits of 'dollarization,' the relationship between exchange rates and macroeconomic stability, monetary independence under alternative exchange-rate arrangements, and the effects of the recent global 'currency wars' on exchange rates in commodity exporters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

East Asia has been considered a latecomer with respect to Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Since the turn of the last century, however, FTAs with East Asian participation have seen an intra- and extra-regional expansion. Many trade initiatives have been proposed, negotiated or even implemented. This introduces interesting perspectives for the analysis of trade agreements regarding their anticipatory trade effects. This paper focuses on the trade impact of FTAs at different stages that East Asian economies participate in. The central part of this study is an econometric analysis that applies panel data to the gravity model of international trade flows. We augment the traditional model with variables to estimate trade effects of bilateral and multilateral agreements and year-to-year changes in the stages of their implementation. Our results reveal that there exist anticipatory effects preceding the actual implementation of bilateral FTAs with East Asian participation. Further, anticipation effects are larger for bilateral than for multilateral agreements, possibly because the realisation of bilateral agreements is considered more realistic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have proved that innovation in a country improves its growth potential. The experience of Japan, Taiwan and other East Asian economies show that given the right interventions and availability of a suitable eco system, developing countries can catch up on technology and innovation. The BRICS countries are often regarded as the next set of emerging economies that are likely to tread a innovation driven high growth trajectory. The paper analyzes the input and output factors for fostering innovation in BRICS countries in 3 time periods; 1995--2002, 2003--2007, 2008--2009 and reports the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foreign direct investment (FDI) has increased rapidly in East Asian countries over the past two decades, and many studies find that it has significant linkages with economic growth. This paper examines the impacts of FDI in groups of 15 East Asian countries classified by level of economic development, using panel data analysis together with cointegration methods. The results show that favourable impacts of FDI on East Asian countries depend on complementary factors, particularly each host country's economic conditions such as levels of financial market development, institutional development, better governance, and appropriate macroeconomic policies. Furthermore, East Asian countries need to increase their investment in fundamental infrastructures, human capital development, and facilities for enhancing international trade and investment climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology transfer from developed countries has been made possible by foreign direct investments (FDI). The East Asian miracle of industrial development with FDI has been led by the governments. The East Asian economies are currently moving from a product economy towards a knowledge- based economy in the post-industrialization period. It is now well established that knowledge created through innovation and technological progress is the long-term driver of economic growth for East Asia. Many East Asian governments have shown remarkable success in creating a knowledge-based economy by attracting a large amount of FDI. It appears that East Asian countries with 'good governance' tend to attract more FDI. FDI is contributing to the development of the a knowledge-based economy, just as it did during the industrialization period. This paper attempts to explain the impact of good governance in attracting FDI to promote a knowledge-based economy in East Asia. In doing so, this paper investigates the good governance indicators and their role in attracting FDI to promote a knowledge-based economy in East Asian countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All economies experience peaks and troughs in their business cycles. This paper examines eight East Asian economies, employing a Bayesian dynamic factor model that allows the decomposition of aggregate shocks into country-specific, regional and world common business cycles. It therefore allows the identification of causes for major events experienced by these countries. Empirical evidences show that country-specific factors are the most important in determining the major events for all the countries examined here, implying the need for each country to rely more heavily on its own independent counter-cyclical policies. Although the regional factor plays a less important role than the country-specific factor, it accounts for a sizeable share in the output fluctuation of the region. The regional factor is most prevalent for Singapore, Korea, Malaysia and Thailand, indicating that a regional coordinated policy is rather more effective for these economies to respond to disturbances. The world factor explains only around 7% of the output variation in East Asia, which might explain why the East Asian economies are relatively insulated from the recent global financial crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a coherent framework to characterize the dynamics of economic development and institutional change in the East Asian Development Model. In the early stage of development, due to market incompleteness, a government with high autonomy and capacity can promote economic development through interlinked and relational arrangements (e.g., industrial policy). In later stages, market completion will usually unravel interlinked and relational contracts, and lead to a rule-based society. The paper shows that the appropriate role of government and institutions are functions of the stage of development. In particular, relation-based governance is suited to investment-led development, while rule-based governance is suited to innovation-led development. The paper ends up with some implications for China's development and institutional change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically examines the role of financial sector development in influencing the impact of exchange rate volatility on the exports of five emerging East Asian countries - China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand - using a GMM-IV estimation method. The results indicate that the effect of exchange rate volatility on exports is conditional on the level of financial sector development. The less financially developed an economy, the more its exports are adversely affected by exchange rate volatility. In addition, a stable exchange rate seems to be a necessary condition to achieve export promotion via a currency depreciation in these economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we argue that the path of economic development for would-be developers has changed fundamentally since the 1980s. Focusing on East Asia, and taking a broad perspective that spans the economic and social dimensions of development, we contend that the path charted by the 'late development' model has become all but impassible. The path is now better conceived as one of 'compressed development.' Key differences are 1) the extent and consequences of compression; 2) the primary mode of engagement with the world economy-via global value chains; and 3) the interaction of these. Compressed development forces states to address a number of simultaneous challenges, resulting in 'policy stretch.' We identify key features of an 'adaptive state' suited to navigating the path of compressed development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth for 11 East Asian countries over the period 1971-2005 by taking into account their strong relationships. Based on fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and dynamic OLS (DOLS) approaches, while there exists a strong relation running from economic growth to energy consumption, it is observed that the strong relationship which runs from energy consumption to economic growth is overwhelmingly rejected for all cases except Indonesia and the Philippines. Moreover the inverse relation between two variables is observed for these two countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the trends in foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into selected South-East Asian and East Asian economies after the Asian crisis. Empirical evidence indicates that South-East and East Asian economies are recovering from the Asian crisis with strong output growth driven largely by export growth. However, output growth in the post-crisis period is also accompanied by rising unemployment rates, growing government deficits, and declining FDI inflows into the South-East Asian region. The declining FDI inflows into South-East Asia after the crisis is of concern, as our empirical results show that FDI is important for output growth in the region. Our results also suggest that there might have been structural changes in the regional economies that could have led to a downward shift in the output growth of Asian economies in the post-crisis period. This raises the issue of the sustainability of their output growth in the post-crisis period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper surveys the literature on the links between education and economic growth in East Asia. It finds that education is important for economic growth but it is not a sufficient condition. The complementarity between education and other factors in enhancing productivity and efficiency is commonly seen as the driving force of economic growth. However, the empirical evidence is ambiguous due to econometric problems. Statistical analysis suggests that education and economic growth in East Asia have two-way causality. Nevertheless, valuing education has been a widely-accepted part of Asian values. As a result, education consistently presents as a significant income determinant and consequentially a growth factor, regardless of whether education can increase productivity. East Asian education systems are also formed and extended in close relation to the stages of their economic development: the higher the level of economic development, the greater the demand for better and higher education systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this paper is to determine the relative position (distances) of East Asian countries (including South East Asia) within their own geographical area and in relation to the rest of the world. For this purpose, Balassa's (1965) 'revealed comparative advantage' (RCA) in exports will be used to assess trade performance and economic growth. We use multidimensional scaling to ascertain our contentions. First, East Asian countries are forming a 'flying geese' formation whose leader is Japan followed by Korea and Taiwan and further behind China and the ASEAN countries. Second, this flying geese flock in terms of RCA ranks is paralleled with a similar flying geese formation in terms of economic development. Furthermore the mapping of 100 countries (and a close-up of 45 countries) tell us as to how all relevant countries are positioned in terms of 14 industrial sectors (here we also used factor analysis to classify these sectors). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business groups played an important role in the economic development of East Asian countries. Yet business groups in East Asia face an uncertain future. Following the Asian Crisis, foreign creditors and investors have demanded that business groups have more transparent operations and stronger corporate governance. At the same time, as governments in East Asia have loosened trade barriers, business groups have become subject to intense competition in domestic markets. This paper argues that business groups can survive or even prosper by taking initiatives in corporate restructuring. This paper also highlights some areas for further research on business groups in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we explore three important areas where deeper trade and financial integration in East Asia can influence: (1) business cycle co-movements in the region, (2) the extent of risk sharing across countries and (3) price co-movements across countries. We find evidence that trade integration enhances co-movements of output but not of consumption across countries. Especially the fact that trade integration does not raise co-movements of consumption as much as that of output is interpreted as trade integration does not improve the extent of risk sharing. Co-movements of price arise most significantly as trade integration deepens, lowering the border effects and allowing better opportunities for resource reallocation across countries. In contrast, financial integration demonstrates much weaker evidence of enhancing co-movements across countries. Deeper financial integration improves price co-movements weakly but does not enhance output or consumption co-movements at all. However, since the current level of financial integration in East Asia is quite low, our evidence is too early to firmly determine the role of financial integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The East Asian region has experienced astonishing economic growth and integration over the past few decades. It is generally believed that a high degree of integration in the region would greatly shape the economic structure of each individual economy and has direct implications for the effectiveness of domestic stabilisation policy and policy coordination. This paper empirically examines the feasibility of forming a monetary union in East Asia by assessing the real output co-movements among these economies. As suggested by the optimum currency area (OCA) theory that losing monetary independence would be the major cost for adopting a common currency, it would be less costly for the economies to form a monetary union if the business cycles are synchronised across countries. The cointegration test and the Vahid and Engle (1993 ) test for common business cycles are conducted to examine their long-run relationship and short-run interactions in real outputs, respectively. Our study found that some pair countries in the region share both the long-run and short-run synchronous movements of the real outputs. In particular, the short-run common business cycles are found in some pairs of ASEAN economies consisting of Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, and in the Northeast Asian region consisting of Hong Kong, Korea and Mainland China, as well as between Japan and Taiwan. These findings have important implications for the economies in terms of adjustment costs when considering the adoption of a monetary union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to make a contribution to the recent search for a suitable assessment of the economic feasibility of a higher degree of monetary cooperation in East Asia. By using a structural vector autoregression approach as well as a generalized purchasing power parity approach, we find that a larger group of appropriately selected East Asian economies does satisfy the macroeconomic conditions for forming an Optimum Currency Area (OCA). The East Asian group consists of four ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand) and four Northeast Asian economies (Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Republic of Korea, and Taiwan). This finding presents a striking contrast to the existing research results whose policy recommendation has generally been that countries in East Asia should start with a smaller subgroup currency area. It is time that many East Asian economies as a region made a serious effort to pursue a higher degree of monetary cooperation among themselves for forming an OCA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the adoption of ‘grow first clean up later’ environmental strategies, governments in the East Asian newly industrializing economies (NIEs) turned to environmental ‘clean-up’ by enacting landmark environmental legislation, creating command and control environmental agencies and promulgating tough air and water emissions standards. Available evidence suggests there is wide variability in the performance of these new environmental regulatory agencies. Most attribute this variability to differences in ‘political will’. However, why have some governments among the East Asian NIEs been able to muster the ‘political will’ to impose duties on industrial polluters while others have not? This paper answers this question by summarizing a larger study (Rock, 2002) which examines the ‘politics of industrial pollution’ control in six East Asian NIEs. Each case study is based on extensive interviews, the collection of data on the effectiveness of pollution management policies, and the integration of both with the political economy literature on each economy. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]