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Exporter's price-setting behaviour and currency invoicing play a key role in the literature on the new open-economy macroeconomics. This paper estimates exchange rate pass-through coefficients for the exports of four ASEAN countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. In addition, previous estimates of pass-through as well as invoicing behaviour in East Asia are discussed in the context of regional integration. The new pass-through coefficients are estimated under two alternate specifications for up to 34 goods for each of the four ASEAN countries destined for up to 13 major markets. The results suggest: (a) little pass-through is occurring in Southeast Asia and (b) this lack of pass-through is more likely attributable to the fact that they are small countries in a relatively integrated market, rather than evidence of pricing to market. The implications for regional monetary integration of this apparently low degree of pass-through are detailed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper undertakes an exploratory study on determining capabilities of international franchising within East Asia. There is a need to develop a deeper understanding in franchising within East Asia as much of the franchising literature is based on the U.S. experience. Findings from this paper indicate that international franchisors use a combination of mechanisms to prevent franchisee opportunism in East Asia. They include ex-ante bonds, performance schedules and formal controls in brand management. However, the effectiveness of these mechanisms depend on the capabilities of the franchisor to negotiate a high initial franchise fee, select the right franchisee and make adaptation but still maintain brand integrity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses major conceptual and empirical issues relevant to the exchange rate policies of East Asian ecnomies. Given the high degree of economic integration, intraregional exchange rate stability remains an important objective in East Asia. But the current uncoordinated practice of each economy managing exchange rates or maintainging a de facto dollar peg is not optimal for this purpose. The paper suggests that the region's governments take a coordinated action to shift the anchor of nominal exchange rate policy from the US dollar alone to a common basket of the US dollar, The Japanese yen, and the Euro, Which would be more reflective of the average structure of foreign trade and direct investment. At least initially, each economy is gree to choose its own formal exchange rate arrangement, be it a fixed exchange rate regime, a crawling peg or a managed float with wide margins, as long as it chooses the common basket as the reference. Such an arrangement is a pragmatic policy option for East Asia until greater political and institutional development create an environment condcive to a more robust framework of monetary and exchange rate policy coordination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The debates on regional trade arrangements in East Asia focus on whether the RTAs can be net trade creating or diverting, and whether they impede multilateral trade liberalisation or not. This paper attempts to answer these questions by quantitatively estimating the economic impact of possible East Asian free trade areas based on a bilateral gravity model, and evaluating the main characteristics of the proposed FTAs. We find that the trade creation effect expected from the proposed East Asian FTAs such as a China-Japan-Korea or an ASEAN plus three (China, Japan, Korea) FTA will be significant enough to overwhelm the trade diversion effect. We also judge that East Asian FTAs will likely be a building block for a global free trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent developments in the relationship between East Asian countries and prospects for further cooperation are discussed, together with analysis of the driving forces for proliferation of free trade areas (FTAs) and preferential trade arrangements(PTAs), as well as the different types of arrangements. The evolution of the key features of such economic cooperation agreements are outlined and the challenges and issues facing more extensive East Asian economic integration are reviewed. The paper concludes with recommendations for bringing about a viable, effective East Asian economic community that will benefi t member countries and contribute positively to global trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In our study, we introduce indicators that quantify the influence of each country in complex trade scenarios involving the exchange of raw materials, intermediate goods, and final products across multiple countries. We systematically employ an agent-based model to simulate the propagation of failures from one node to the entire network. This approach allows for the assessment of the impact of each country and the identification of patterns of interaction in the multi-step trade network. Unlike conventional analyses of trade networks, which depict straightforward single-step import/export transactions, our approach captures the intricate realities of processes like raw material procurement, production, and sales in numerous countries from a macroscopic perspective. The findings of our analysis of trade data spanning from 1990 to 2022 reveal several key insights. Firstly, sensitivity to changes in trade volume leading to global failures within interconnected networks has intensified over time. The potential of failure propagation across countries has increased over time, as has the interconnectedness of countries in the global trade landscape. Secondly, despite the increased sensitivity to changes in global trade volume, many countries have become less vulnerable to the influence of others within their multi-step trade networks. This trend aligns with deglobalization, which is evidenced by events such as Brexit and the surge in protectionist measures; these changes indicate a shift in the balance of influence within global trade networks. Thirdly, the results of our analysis of the relationship between load changes and global failures from a regional perspective reveal an intriguing phenomenon: despite limited direct trade connectivity, the interaction between the Latin American and Sub-Saharan African regions is considerable. This suggests the existence of hidden connections between intermediary countries, such that one region's actions can alter the load sensitivity of another, impacting them in unforeseen ways. Furthermore, intra-regional interactions are diminishing in East Asia, while Europe is experiencing a gradual increase in interactions. These trends reflect evolving regional influence, the dynamics of geographic proximity, and the results of economic integration efforts. Additionally, even though the observed period was not long enough to confirm a long-term trend, the previous trend direction was affirmed to persist despite a temporary decrease in trading and reduced sensitivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our study highlights the complexity of global trade dynamics and the need to consider multi-step trade networks and their potential cascading effects when analyzing trade patterns and vulnerabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the impact of exchange rate changes on trade flows among East Asian countries spanning 1990-2021, using pooled mean group estimator, within the framework of panel data analysis. Findings indicate that world income, trade openness, and the real effective exchange rate strongly affect trade balance, and that the real depreciation of exchange rate exerts strong positive benefits on trade flows in the long run. The study also infers that trade openness and real effective exchange rate had strong influence on exports and imports for Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea in the short run. However, the depreciation of their currencies discouraged imports in the long run. More so, world income strongly affects the exports and imports of Hong Kong and Japan, while trade openness is advantageous for all the countries. The study recommends the continuation of the prevailing tradegrowth pattern, and the existing bilateral pegged exchange rate policy with their trading partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the stability of the steady-state growth process in East Asian region using a novel panel stationarity test, which allows us to control for (a) unobserved heterogeneity in form and date of potential structural breaks in a trend function, (b) the cross-sectional dependence among countries in the panel bootstrapping methods, and (c) the serially correlated errors. Evidence shows that a large majority of countries exhibit slowdowns in economic growth after their structural breaks and thus could not recover from negative shocks and return original balanced growth path. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: Proliferating regional trade agreements (RTAs) in East Asia since the region's financial crisis in 1997 have been hotly debated. To date, however, no research has comprehensively examined the desirability of East Asian RTAs based on such factors as membership and evolutionary paths. Purpose: We assess, retrospectively and prospectively, East Asian countries' efforts to liberalize the regional market through co‐operation. We investigate (i) why RTAs have proliferated in East Asia; (ii) the main characteristics of East Asian RTAs; (iii) whether East Asian countries are desirable trading partners for one another; and (iv) the prospects of East Asian RTAs. Approach and methods: We conduct a qualitative analysis on the desirability of East Asian partnership and examine quantitative studies of the likely impacts of East Asian RTAs on members, non‐members, and the global economy. Findings: We verify that East Asian neighbours are appropriate trading partners for the formation of RTAs. Policy implications: We recommend that East Asian RTAs should follow an expansionary path such as the five ASEAN+1 RTAs to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to the Free Trade Area of the Asia‐Pacific (FTAAP). Moreover, the region must co‐operate with major external trading partners by forming cross‐regional RTAs with the European Union (EU) and United States (US). Two priority changes must also be implemented: the harmonization or simplification of the rules of origin and cumulation of value contents among East Asian RTA members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protectionist measures often have target countries, and public support for such measures depends on who the targets are. We identify such target effects on protectionist sentiments and examine the effects of information in tempering protectionist sentiments in East Asia. Using an original survey experiment in China, Japan, and South Korea, we test how providing information about the costs of protectionism changes public attitudes toward targeted protectionist measures. We found that providing a target country identity increased public support for protectionism by 8.6%. Providing cost information, on the other hand, reduces support for protectionism by 10%. We also found that information and target effects persist in the presence of the other: Receiving cost information reduces support for both general and targeted protectionism but does not necessarily mute the target effect. Similarly, when reputation and retaliation costs are associated with protectionism, knowing a target country identity still increases public support for protectionism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In the Ministerial meeting of ASEAN held in 1998, the devastation caused by Asian financial crisis remained the point of contemplation. The participants enthusiastically discussed the need to establish common currency and exchange rate system in order to counter any financial crisis anticipated. The ever-growing financial crisis threatening every region in the world has compelled the economists to acknowledge the elevating need of financial cooperation in their respective territories. This is certainly meant to ensure economic stability at both economic and political level. The authors, in the course of this paper, have focused the need to materialize the ideal of promoting monetary integration in the major economies of South, South East, and North East Asia. Calculating Optimum Currency Area (OCA) Index, the authors in a way present costs and benefits associated with the adoption of this currency union. Demand and supply sides of each economy are tested as a pre requisite of OCA in order to provide a good rationale in favor of selection of regions. For this purpose, Structural VAR Analysis (SVAR) method was employed and innovation accounting is done through variance decomposition of forecast errors, impulse response function and correlation matrix. The theory of OCA has been tested by (i) calculating the OCA index estimated by simple OLS method and (ii) following Bayoumi and Eichengreen extrapolating the variability of exchange rate data. The common consensus drawn from the two approaches adopted implies that there is a good potential in the region excluding China to construct a currency union particularly amongst South and North East Asian economies. It is worth mentioning, however, that some of these will have to work harder to join and become an effective member of this currency merger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The composition of Greater China among the PRC, Hong Kong and Taiwan entails an emerging form of micro governance where an ecological evolution of sub-group interaction and crossover of economic and social activities has been generating a dynamic of change within the East Asian region. The constitution of Greater China by social, economic, political, business and even daily commuting creates some soul searching questions about the possible outcomes of their intense interaction. To what extent has integration been made within Greater China through these interactions? Is China the economic linchpin or does China need to cooperate in one way or another to facilitate the modes of economic development? What are the attitudes and strategies used by Hong Kong or Taiwan when confronted with such an economic cum social entity? More importantly, where, and, under what conditions, will the interactions among the PRC, Taiwan and Hong Kong lead to? In this paper, I am going to use a conceptual model which includes four interactions: integration, interdependence, identity and independence (Four Is) to capture the catalyst of change that collectively entails these intermingled economic, social and cultural elements. People who live in the vast context of this geographical region experience the change. Through daily interaction, they help write the context of change through business activities, investment, migration, trade, culture, academic exchange, political and social development along the Four Is. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past decade East Asia has taken steps to increase regional integration. This paper examines the vogue for Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) currently raging in China and Japan. After mapping the regional links that knit East Asia together during the 1990s and 2000s, the focus then shifts to the specific trade agreements that China and Japan have signed. Both countries exhibit a particular FTA “style;” Japan has adopted a more orthodox and comprehensive approach to its treaties, while China has shown greater flexibility and gradualism when dealing with FTA partners. It is still unclear whether these efforts will lead to a region-wide FTA, or a continued crisscrossing of bilateral arrangements. In either case, China's eagerness to adapt to partner country expectations likely gives it an edge in becoming the regional hub of East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

East Asia is catching up with the rest of the world in establishing regional trade arrangements (RTAs). This region is responding to pressures from globalization, regionalism in the Americas and Europe, the rise of China and India, improved political relations in the region with the end of the Cold War, as well as market-driven trade and investment integration and the emergence of production networks. ASEAN formed the first RTA in 1992, and by the turn of the decade, ASEAN was signing or negotiating free trade agreements (FTAs) with Japan, China, South Korea, India, Australia-New Zealand, and the European Union. It also entered into bilateral FTAs with the United States and countries in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. ASEAN is also considering an East Asian FTA. Can ASEAN remain in the driver's seat of regional integration and be an effective hub? The FTA proliferation also has important consequences and effects for East Asia and the world trading system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information about the role of East Asian markets on the forest industry of Canada. The second half of the 20th century saw a consolidation of western Canada's forest industry. Japan's forest product market had a strong influence on the development of the coastal industry of British Columbia. The economic downturn in Asia that occurred in 1997 and 1998 has limited the potential of western Canada to export forest products to the East Asia region, and therefore, there has been a decline in Asia's influence on the industry in that area.

After the Asian currency crisis in 1997, the monetary authorities of East Asian countries have been strengthening their regional monetary cooperation. In this paper, we propose a deviation measurement for coordinated exchange rate policies in East Asia to enhance the monetary authorities’ surveillance process for their regional monetary cooperation. We calculate an Asian Monetary Unit (AMU) as a weighted average of East Asian currencies following the method used to calculate the European Currency Unit (ECU). Also, we calculate AMU Deviation Indicators which show how much each of the East Asian currencies deviates from a hypothetical benchmark rate in terms of the AMU. Furthermore, we investigate relationships between the AMU Deviation Indicators and the effective exchange rates, which mean international price competitiveness in terms of international trade. We found strong relationships between the AMU Deviation Indicators and the effective exchange rates except for some currencies. The results suggest that monitoring the AMU Deviation Indicator will be useful for the monetary authorities’ surveillance in East Asia in order to stabilise their effective exchange rate or price competitiveness among the East Asian countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the late 1990s there has been a rapid proliferation of bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) projects in East Asia and the Asia-Pacific, regions previously largely devoid of FTA activity by comparison to others. As this trend has intensified, so have discussions on whether it will help advance regional co-operation and integration. This paper examines the nature of FTAs themselves and the main causes of East Asia and Asia-Pacific FTAs. The 'lattice regionalism' hypothesis is considered: whether dense economic bilateralism provides a sub-structural foundation on which economic regionalism (i.e. co-operation and integration) can build. Closely related is the issue of competing FTA models and modalities in the Asia-Pacific, and special attention is afforded to the 'asymmetric neoliberal' FTA model of the United States and the 'developmental–industrial' FTA model championed by Japan. It is argued that the contrasts between these make the emergence of an Asia-Pacific FTA unlikely in even the distant future. Japan's FTA model is also considered relative to perhaps East Asia's most important FTA project, the ASEAN–China FTA (ACFTA), and we discuss how bilateral FTA developments in the region more generally may or may not lead to enhanced regional economic co-operation and integration in East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies an economic approach to empirically investigate differences in inward foreign direct investment (FDI) patterns between East Asia and Latin America and discusses the implication of regional trade arrangements. International production/ distribution networks in East Asia effectively utilize the new economic logic of fragmentation, agglomeration, and optimal internalization and seem to greatly contribute to economic development. The paper examines statistical data for international trade as well as the activities of Japanese and U.S. multinational enterprises (MNEs) and argues that international production/distribution networks, particularly in machinery industries, are extensively developed in East Asia while remaining immature in Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rivalry in trade between China and its regional neighbours in ASEAN has become a major preoccupation for many regional policy-makers. For these reasons, strengthening the basis of empirical evidence on regional trade relations is especially important, and this paper does so in two ways. Using very detailed historical trade data, we combine econometric and trade flow analysis to elucidate patterns of export competition and underlying comparative advantage for ASEAN and China. Our findings indicate that the potential exists for both export rivalry and more extensive trade complementarity, but so do many challenges for policy makers who seek to mitigate adjustment costs and facilitate long term efficiency. Our econometric results indicate that, in the short run at least, ASEAN and China are experiencing intensified export competition in prominent third markets such as Japan and the US. More extensive trade flow analysis reveals, however, that in the long run globalisation can accommodate export growth by all the economies of East Asia, if aggregate growth can be sustained to facilitate the structural adjustments necessary for an optimal regional division of labour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores how competition from international trade affects gender wage discrimination in two open economies. According to neoclassical theory, if discrimination is costly, then increased industry competitiveness from international trade lessens the incentive for employers to discriminate against women. This effect should be stronger in concentrated sectors, where employers can use excess profits to cover the costs of discrimination. Alternatively, increased international trade may reduce women's bargaining power to achieve wage gains. Results for Taiwan and Korea indicate that, in contrast to neoclassical theory, competition from foreign trade in concentrated industries is positively associated with wage discrimination against women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the large exchange rate depreciations following the 1997 East Asian crisis, export volumes from East Asian countries responded with a notable lag. Two main explanations for this lag have been proposed: that contraction in domestic credit affected supply of exports and that "competitive depreciation" by other countries neutralized the effects on demand for exports. This paper considers the plausibility of these two mechanisms using a new monthly database of exports of selected industries. The results indicate that "competitive depreciation" played an important role in the propagation of the East Asian crisis through the trade channel, even at a monthly frequency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper gives an overview of the progress of regionalism in East Asia and examines the background of the recent embrace of trade agreements by China, Japan, and South Korea. It discusses the progress toward free trade agreements (FTAs) within East Asia and offers reasons for their slow development. The impacts of eight hypothetical East Asian FTAs are estimated using a computable generalized equilibrium model. The model predicts that countries will benefit from both bilateral FTAs and regional FTAs (such as a Northeast Asian FTA and an East Asian FTA); however, greater economic benefits would be gained under regional FTAs than under bilateral FTAs. Although the simulation used in the study estimates that a Northeast Asian FTA and an East Asian FTA would bring a similar level of economic benefits, results indicate that greater benefits would accrue under an East Asian FTA. Discussions of a Japan-ASEAN FTA are under way, after talks of an FTA between ASEAN and China blossomed in late 2000. China and Japan are competitively promoting bilateral FTAs with ASEAN. As discussions of an FTA with ASEAN heat up in China and Japan, South Korea has also begun reviewing the economic feasibility of an FTA with ASEAN. If China, Japan, and South Korea competitively pursue bilateral FTAs with ASEAN, this may result in several important problems, including spaghetti bowl effects, a hub-and-spoke dilemma, or struggles for regional leadership. This paper tries to show that an East Asian FTA covering the whole region is economically desirable and stresses that East Asian countries should introduce a regionwide FTA, rather than multiple bilateral or subregional FTAs. An East Asian FTA can be realized only in the long term because of economic, political, and social obstacles. East Asia, which already lags behind other regions in terms of regionalism, should not passively wait for the establishment of an East Asian FTA, which is likely to take some time to be established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a general perception particularly among the developing countries of East Asia that China's WTO membership would spell bad news for their exports. The ASEAN countries in particular are quite concerned about its likely negative impact on their export and growth potentials. In this light, the main objective of this paper is to empirically assess the trade implications of China's WTO membership for these countries. Only few studies, using a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) approach, have addressed the issue of China's WTO membership trade implications. Further, these studies have not adequately addressed the issue from the perspective of the developing countries of East Asia, particularly the ASEAN countries. Using the latest version of the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model and based on the latest tariff reduction commitments by China, the results showed that, contrary to the current perception and previous studies, almost all of the developing countries of East Asia are likely to benefit from China's WTO membership overall, after allowing for anticipated price adjustments. Without the price adjustments, the Philippines and Singapore would have come out as net losers. These findings have confirmed the need for economic and export restructuring among the ASEAN countries and the importance of accelerating their economic integration. They have also highlighted the importance of promoting trade and investment cooperation between China and ASEAN countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastlines have always played a major role in Europe's history. From antiquity through the early stages of colonialism and the advent of the Industrial Revolution, seashores were the economic centres of the continent. Though industrialization marked the beginning of the decreasing importance of these areas, it has been in recent decades that the significance and economic structure of coastal regions has changed completely. The importance of fisheries has declined, the hubs of the marine trade have moved to the Far East, and the significance of the tourism has increased. This article examines how the social and economic role of the European seashores--which used to have a central role in trade and the world economy--has changed in the last 10-15 years. In addition, the article studies the differences between the coastal and terrestrial regions of the European Union based on existing literature and statistics. Finally, the paper analyses some coastal areas, and examines what has led to increases or decreases of population and the economy in certain regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two of the most interesting facts of the postwar international growth experience are (1) the conditional convergence finding that, after controlling for measures of education and government policies, poor countries tend to grow faster than rich ones; and (2) a small group of export-oriented economies in East Asia have been able to grow at rates that are so high that they defy historical comparisons. This paper shows that it is possible to explain these facts by combining a weak form of the factor-price-equalization theorem of international trade with the Ramsey model of economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a summary of discussion regarding the evolution of machinery production networks in North America and East Asia. These include Shigeyuki Abe's opinion that the quality of trade-related infrastructure is a key determinant of trade in parts and components, Prema-chandra Athukorala's suggestion of a possible aggregation bias in the estimated trade equations and Chalongphob Sussangkarn on the impact of North American Free Trade Agreemnt (NAFTA) on trade in East Asia.

The article summarizes the discussion on East Asia's production networks and trade patterns as regionalization or globalization. Siow Yue Chia says differences in the degree of network trade exist in the study's industries, like more network trade in electronics than in motor vehicles. Shigeyuki Abe believes that a study of the extent and causes of differences in network trade between industries would be an interesting research. John Knight thinks that low labor costs has made China the main center for assembling which could end in the next decade.

The author presents a response to an article by Fung, Iizaka and Siu on trade integration and production fragmentation in East Asia. The author cites issues on foreign direct investment (FDI), product cycle, and activities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are addressed in the article. The impact of the global financial crises on the trade patterns in East Asia is also cited by the author.

Since the ]9903, East Asia-including Northeast and Southeast Asia-has led the world in adopting a task-by-task international division of labour or international production networks (IPNs), the core of which consists of niachinery industries. In this regard, how far has India integrated with East Asia? Using international trade data for comparison from multiple perspectives, this article gives an overview of the current position of India with respect to machinery IPNs and information and communication technology (ICT) services. The article shows that India has not yet participated in machinery IPNs in the East Asian region. We argue that ICT services are a source of strength for the Indian economy, and its competitiveness could be utilized effectively by combining new technologies with traditional industries such as manufacturing. India still has huge untapped opportunities for utilizing the mechanics of a new international division of labour to accelerate economic growth, innovation and poverty alleviation. And economic integration with East Asia could work as a trigger to redirect India's industrialization strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author comments on Prema-chandra Athukorala's study on the right model or framework for analyzing fragmented trade. The study also discussed the implications of product fragmentation for policy design. The preferential regional trading arrangements can end up weakening the advantages East Asia can gain from producing sharing because the rules of origin control trade in components.

There have been two related trends shaping global trade during the past couple of decades: the increasing role of international supply chains and the rise of China. Increased complexity in global trade has generated a need to construct more processed trade data — trade in value added — in order to deepen our understanding of trade relations between countries. In this article, we present a broad picture of trade in value added between the EU28 and East Asian countries. We find that East Asia is important as a final demand and supply chain export destination, especially for Northern European countries, while for CEE countries it is more important as an import source for both final demand and supply chain trade. Trade with East Asia is least important for Southern European countries. The production structure of an EU country seems to be one of the main factors explaining the importance of supply chain trade with East Asian countries. The data also suggest that supply chain trade could support the growth of domestic value-added exports to the supply chain trade partner country as well as to other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We investigate how trade patterns – institutionally intensive exports (IIX) – affect institutional quality in East Asia compared to the rest of the world, and whether the effect changed due to the Asian financial crisis. To examine this, we use panel data of 117 countries for the period 1988–2007. Our fixed effect model estimation reveals that the effect of IIX on institutional quality is negative and significant for East Asia, while the effect is insignificant for the rest of the world. The negative effect in East Asia is more pronounced for the five East Asian countries that were strongly affected by the crisis – South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand – than for other East Asian countries. Furthermore, our results reveal that the negative effect for East Asia does not change significantly after the crisis, both in the short and long term, and that improvement in institutional quality after the crisis is not different from that of the rest of the world. This suggests that the crisis had no significant impact on East Asia's institutional quality or on the effects of IIX on institutional quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the causal relationship between the Internet and economic factors in Asian economies between 1997 and 2017. The economic factors consist of gross domestic product (GDP), foreign direct investment (FDI), imports, and exports. A comparative analysis of East, South, and Western Asia was conducted using a panel vector autoregressive model. The findings show bidirectional causality between FDI and Internet use in South Asia, unidirectional causality from Internet use to FDI in East Asia, and unidirectional causality from FDI to Internet use in Western Asia. Moreover, the findings indicate unidirectional causality from exports to Internet use in East Asia and unidirectional causality from Internet use to exports in South Asia, but no impact in Western Asia. Finally, the results show unidirectional causality from Internet use to GDP in Western Asia. As these results suggest that Internet use has boosted economic performance in Asia, policy makers in the region should improve Internet use with a focus on economic growth, improving transaction efficiency, and facilitating foreign investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been two related trends shaping global trade during past couple of decades: the increasing role of international supply chains and the rise of China. Increased complexity in global trade has generated a need to construct more processed trade data - trade in value added - in order to deepen our understanding of trade relations between countries. In this article, we present a broad picture of trade in value added between the EU27 and East Asian countries. We find that East Asia is important as a final demand and supply chain export destination, especially for Northern European countries, while for CEE countries it is more important as an import source for both final demand and supply chain trade. Trade with East Asia is least important for Southern European countries. The production structure of an EU country seems to be one of the main factors explaining the importance of supply chain trade with East Asian countries. The data also indicate that supply chain trade could support the growth of domestic value added exports to the supply chain trade partner country as well as to other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines a hitherto neglected aspect of the expansion of international trade in nineteenth-century East Asia—that of how ordinary people understood changing trade patterns. Rather than the political debates and imperial competition that have been the focus of existing research, I use the diary of Sim Wŏn'gwŏn (1850–1933), a farmer from Ulsan, southeastern Korea, to assess how knowledge shaped Sim's perception of, and response to, the international grain trade. Sim used his diary to develop an economic world view based on his observation of cyclical, seasonal changes in the weather, harvests, and prices. While this enabled Sim to anticipate some fluctuations, the international rice trade posed a challenge as local market prices began to reflect events beyond Sim's sphere of information. I argue that uneven access to knowledge influenced Sim's participation in international trade, which in turn cannot be understood without reference to Sim's existing understanding of the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the "Belt and Road" Initiative, air transport has become the second largest mode of transport after ocean shipping and has contributed more and more to international trade between the countries. To explore the hierarchical characteristics of the aviation network of the "Belt and Road," analyze the relationship between levels, and identify the core layer of the network, k-core analysis based on the "degree" value was designed and performed; the data of airports and air routes were collected to construct the "Belt and Road" aviation network model; then, k-core decomposition was conducted to reduce the size of nodes layer by layer from the outside to the inside, and a network structure model with 19 levels was obtained; the relationship between the coreness and centrality of nodes in the network was investigated, and the changes in the attribute of networks at different levels and the connection between networks were explored; according to the structural characteristics of the network, the "Belt and Road" aviation network was divided into three categories: the core layer, the middle layer, and the detail layer. The results showed that the highest-level network obtained by k-core decomposition was used as the core layer of the "Belt and Road" aviation network, including 53 airports in 37 countries, all of which have high degree centrality and eigenvector centrality; the core layer network exhibits strong "small world" characteristics; there is little difference between the degree values of nodes, and the network has high stability. The status of China's airports in the core layer network is not prominent; the four regional sectors such as East Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East are closely connected regarding air transport. Europe is relatively weakly connected with three sectors: East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia; geographical factors are still the dominant factors determining the status of hub airports along the "Belt and Road." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine statistical importance of a number of institutional factors, which have been alleged by market investors and policy commentators as significant barriers on cross-border portfolio investment in East Asian economies, but never been put to empirical tests yet. Taking advantage of the novel data set constructed by the ABMI-GoE, we empirically investigate the explanatory power of such institutional factors as market access-hindering regulations, foreign exchange controls, credit controls, taxation and inefficient post-trading infrastructure. We find that these alleged barriers indeed have significantly negative impacts on cross-border portfolio investment in East Asian economies. In addition, we find some support for the "pecking order" hypothesis in barriers on cross-border portfolio investment in the sense that barriers on post-trading efficiency and cost barriers are not effective unless barriers on market access are significantly lowered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper has improved the basic method to measure the domestic technological contents of export products. By using data in the input-output table and the export trade data on the SITC REV.2 level, it counts the whole technological contents, the domestic technological contents and the index of the domestic technological contents of export products in several years of East Asian economic bodies like China, Japan, Korea and Indonesia. The result shows that China's export products' domestic technological content is going through an upward trend since middle 90s, 20th century. Also, the short term impact of China's entrance into WTO on China's export products' domestic technological contents is greater than long term impact. Though Japan ranks the top in East Asian on domestic technological contents, its downward trend is obvious in recent years. The Korea's export products' domestic technological contents raises greatly and convergence to Japan. Indonesia failed in improving its export products' domestic technological contents. Finally, in combination of the evolution trend of export products' domestic technological contents in China and other three East Asian countries, the article proposed some relevant policy recommendations under the background of further opening up and involving in regional economic integration in East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: For a long time, the Russian government has aimed to diversify gas exports to East Asian countries. This gearing of Russia towards Asia will have great consequences on world energy, the global economy, and geopolitics in the coming years. This paper analyzes the growth potential of Russia''s diversification strategy and the impact this policy would have on sales to Europe. As the most likely scenario is for total gas exports to grow at a moderate rate from 2010 to 2030, any increase in sales to Asia could make difficult the raising of exports to Europe. Our thesis is that this trade-off will depend primarily on domestic consumption trends, geographic targeting of investments, and commercial and financial alliances with foreign partners. However, imports from Central Asia, declining exports to Ukraine and Belarus, and Gazprom investments in other gas-producing countries could also affect gas exports and gas distribution among different markets. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

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The generation, diffusion, absorption, and application of new technology, knowledge, or ideas are crucial drivers of development. The authors examine the exceptionally fast growth in domestic innovation efforts in Korea, Taiwan (China), Singapore, and China, drawing on information about R&D as well as patent and patent citations data. They also use the World Bank Investment Climate Surveys to investigate sources of technological innovation in the other middle- and low-income East Asian economies. They then evaluate the role of three main channels for knowledge flows to East Asia—international trade, acquisition of disembodied knowledge, and foreign direct investment. Results from estimating an international knowledge diffusion model using patent citations data show that, while East Asian innovations continue to draw heavily on knowledge flows from the US and Japan, citations to the same or to other East Asian economies are quickly rising, indicating the emergence of national and regional knowledge stocks as a foundation for innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]