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This article is one of very few attempts to empirically measure legal interpretation. It maps the application of eleven interpretation elements (good faith, ordinary meaning, object and purpose, etc.) in Articles 31 and 32 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) across ten International Criminal Court case studies. The elements were coded for identity and sequence of element, and amount of text used in applying each element. The mapping and analysis reveal, among other things, that the application of the VCLT across cases is markedly inconsistent and, in some instances, opaque and arguably unjustifiable. The results suggest, at least based on this small sample, that the ICC’s current practice of applying the accommodating, flexible methodology of the VCLT may be inconsistent with the requirement of strict construction in Article 22 of the Rome Statute, and that even when strict construction does not technically apply, a more systematic, transparent, and robust approach should nevertheless still be followed.

PurposeThis paper identifies the motivations for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) when they undertake greenfield foreign direct investment (FDI) into an emerging market. It elucidates the factors that influence SMEs to choose a fully equity-based investment despite the significant risks and commitments involved with greenfield FDI.Design/methodology/approachThis exploratory study uses case study research based on interviews conducted with managers and founders of 16 German SMEs that have established greenfield operations in Malaysia.FindingsBuilding upon the transaction cost theory, five major motivations are identified that drive greenfield choice among the SMEs. The results imply that SME motivation for greenfield is derived from a combination of strategic asset-seeking determinants and culturally driven reactions to external and behavioral uncertainty. The results also ascertain that these motivations have less to do with the size and revenue of the firm, but hinge on the SMEs’ inner antecedents such as asset specificity, international experience, proprietary knowledge and ownership mode.Originality/valueThe findings clarify the literature on equity-based entry mode for SMEs in emerging economies, enabling a closer understanding of the organizational and dynamic experiences and an overview of the auxiliary competencies these companies have to compete in the global market. The conceptual insights and empirical evidence derived from this study contribute to the intellectual discourse and managerial implications in the field of internationalization strategies of SMEs, particularly from developed countries into emerging markets via greenfield FDI.

Following decades of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation industry, most car companies will stop producing petrol cars and promote the development of new energy vehicles in the near future, even in China. This study is based on energy vehicle exports using China’s 31 provinces’ panel data from 2010 to 2020. Considering that China mainly engages in processing trade, this study analyzes the domestic energy vehicle’s export sophistication after deleting intermediate goods, measuring the relationship between export sophistication and industrial upgrading with static and dynamic panel models. Then, heterogeneity tests were deployed to examine the domestic export sophistication of three major economic belts partition. The results revealed that improving export sophistication is conducive to realizing China’s industrial upgrading. China’s new energy vehicles industry is positively affected by export sophistication, R&D, foreign direct investment, average GDP growth rate, market factors, and human resources over the long run. Regarding regional stratification, domestic export sophistication in the eastern and western regions has more significant effects on promoting industrial upgrading than in the central region. In particular, in western regions, every increase in export sophistication by one unit will bring a significant industrial upgrading effect. Given this, China’s new energy vehicles should increase export sophistication to help the country’s industrial upgrading.

This paper adopts the two-way fixed effect model to analyze the listed enterprises on the New Third Board (NEEQ) from 2014 to 2021. In the process of analysis, to ensure the rationality of the regression results, the missing core data and related data of financial enterprises are excluded. Through empirical analysis, this paper draws the following conclusions: (1) Tax incentives can promote enterprise innovation. (2) Internal and external financing constraints inhibit enterprise innovation. (3) Internal and external financing constraints play an intermediary role in tax incentives and enterprise innovation. (4) The intermediary effect of internal financing constraints is significant in both the fundamental layer and the innovation layer, while the external financing constraints are only significant in the fundamental layer. (5) Compared with state-owned enterprises, the intermediary effect of internal and external financing constraints is more significant in non-state-owned enterprises.

PurposeThis study examines the factors of sustainable technology adoption (STA) in the Bangladeshi’s apparel industry and its impact on the environmental performance and other firm performances. Mainly, this study adopts stakeholder theory and hypothesizes necessary conditions to examine different stakeholders’ roles to facilitate STA and ameliorate firm performances such as environmental, financial and competitive advantages.Design/methodology/approachIt is an empirical study which collected 240 responses from Bangladeshi apparel firms. Garment factories were considered as the unit of analysis.FindingsCustomer pressure, top management, competition among firms and government support significantly and positively impact STA. Surprisingly, regulatory pressure has no significant impact on the Bangladeshi’s apparel industry, which contradicts most existing literature in the field. The findings show that sustainable technology brings increased simultaneously enhances environmental outcomes and enhances financial performances and competitive advantage.Originality/valueThis study fills up the voids that exist in the STA literature in the clothing industry in the clothing industry’s STA literature. Specifically, western buyers have more influence than regulatory pressure to adopt sustainable technology and sustainable manufacturing for the Bangladeshi garments industry. Moreover, it proposes that sustainable technology can enhance firms’ competitive advantage in selling their products in the West besides environmental-friendly apparel manufacturers.

Purpose This paper aims to evaluate the impact of automation on job displacement and reshoring in the apparel industry. It also compares with predictions on the same subject matter by the existing literature and, thus, provides future research agenda for further studies. Design/methodology/approach Primary data were collected through 27 semi-structured in-depth interviews. The grounded theory was used for thematic and network analyzes, which traced the drivers and barriers, as well as the impact of automation and reshoring. Findings Initially, automation decreases human interactions in any specific production section. However, it increases productivity, quality and cost advantages, which invoke growth and further employment in clothing firms. The employment of unskilled workers decreases in the long run when automation is well adopted in the system. Automation does not stimulate reshoring but may support relocation initiatives of production sites around the centers of global value chains (GVCs). This GVC-based relocation may create job displacement in apparel manufacturing nations in Asia while bringing employment opportunities to Sub-Saharan African countries, Europe and North America. Originality/value Little empirical research has been conducted on the impact of automation on the apparel industry. This study predicts that human interventions will dominate the sewing of fashionable and sophisticated apparel products while automation may replace many human workers for basic garment items in the foreseeable future.

Malaysian palm oil mills have lagged behind in the adoption of advanced milling technologies, both to support productivity growth as well as meet sustainable development goals. Using primary data from a simple random sample of 54 mills, this study sought to examine the factors explaining the adoption of advanced milling technologies. The results from the logit regressions deployed show that top management support and mill size act as key drivers of new technology adoption. Importantly, organizational factors were more critical in the adoption of advanced milling technologies than technological and environmental factors. However, financial support and resources, technical skills, complexity, cost, and government support produced negative coefficients among the non-adopters. The results should help mill owners, managers, and policymakers to remove the barriers facing the non-adopters, and to create effective strategies to stimulate the adoption of advanced milling technologies.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the institutional structures and other predictors that determine bilateral trade between Africa and China from 1995 to 2017. Design/methodology/approach In line with the gravity model of trade, institutional, geographical and socio-economic determinants of China’s bilateral trade with 18 African oil/minerals exporting countries are examined by deploying Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood and dynamic bias-corrected least squares dummy variable econometric techniques. Findings The results indicate that China’s oil/minerals imports from Africa are higher than imports of manufacturing and agricultural goods, and institutional structures indicate that a weak politically stable region with less control of corruption has a discernible effect on trade. Research limitations/implications Further insight can be gained if the type of manufactured goods being exported to China is examined; this is necessary given that China crowds out Africa’s manufactured goods. Therefore, this study recommends the need for Africa to continually strengthen its institutional structures to stimulate trade from other regions. Originality/value This study examines the quality of the institutional structures (political stability and corruption) in African oil/minerals exporting countries, considering that China has been alleged for capitalising on Africa’s weak institutional structures to trade with the resource-endowed region. For the first time, the UN COMTRADE HS product-country-partner-year trade data is used to examine on bilateral sector trade China–Africa links rather than proxies used in the studies of Biggeri and Sanfilippo (2009), De Grauwe et al. (2012) and Foad (2011) that did not capture the real trade value.

This paper seeks to assess industrial upgrading in the semiconductor industry in East Asia. Research into 25 firms, and subsequently the entire value chain specialization of these firms, as well as...

Research on the web of technological linkages that stimulate firm performance is still evolving, especially when they differ with industry, timing and location. Generally, firms in emerging nations need technologies to build technological capabilities; however in some cases firms are limited in their capacity to acquire the technology because of their low level of absorptive capability. The rising share of resource-based textile exports, which exceeds clothing exports, demonstrate that little or no functional upgrading has taken place in the clothing and textile industry of Pakistan. Hence, using structural equation modeling we examine in this paper the mediating effect of absorptive capacity on the relationship between technological capabilities and technology transfer, and firm performance in a sample of 503 textile and clothing firms in Pakistan. The results show that, absorptive capacity mediates positively and significantly the relation between technology transfer, technological capabilities and firm performance with the former being stronger than the latter.

Efforts to lower energy intensity increased initially as a result of rising fuel prices following the first and second oil shocks, which subsequently became serious owing to mounting evidence that fossil fuels are a major cause of climate change and global warming. Energy source is a key problem associated with climate change as oil and gas, and coal constitute major components of fossil fuels. However, the extant literature remains divided on the determinants of energy intensity. Hence, using panel annual data from 84 stable and unstable countries from 1980 to 2012, this paper tested the relationship between energy intensity, and trade, FDI, urbanization, industrialization, and institutional quality. FDI in particular showed a highly significant contribution towards lowering energy-intensity, as its coefficients were negative and highly significant at 1% in all three groups of countries. However, urbanization had no impact on energy-intensity levels in all three groups of countries, while industrialization and trade exacerbated energy intensity in the global panel of countries. Whereas trade showed no relationship with energy intensity among stable and unstable countries, industrialization worsened energy intensity among stable countries. Institutional quality had a highly significant (1%) and positive impact on reducing energy intensity in all three groups of countries.

Productivity gains are not only important for competitiveness but also for other welfare gains. And, importantly, industry structure matters in driving the productive gains. This study examines the labor productivity of food manufacturing firms in Malaysia and the effect of capability and human capital on productivity. The findings show productivity heterogeneity among firms, and as capabilities and human capital grow, productivity gains become much higher. Importantly, it shows that bundles of capability, namely, innovation, information and communication technology (ICT) and marketing as well as human capital become more relevant as firms move to the higher end of the productivity distribution. The findings are robust to different measures of human capital and capabilities. Examining the effects separately indicates that innovation matters the most in driving labor productivity. The coefficient of ICT declines as firms move up the conditional productivity distribution. Likewise, market creating capability of the firms enhances productivity, but the coefficient does not vary across the lower and upper productivity quantiles. The study concludes the implications for persistent labor productivity differences across capabilities and human capital by drawing policy implications.

HIV/AIDS is a major health issue faced by the world, generally, but particularly sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria ranked third in the world by number of people living with HIV/AIDS in 2019. Despite prominent HIV counselling and testing (HCT) intervention programmes, Nigeria faces serious challenges, such as inadequate funding and low utilisation rates. Paucity of research into such a critical topic has restricted the capacity of policy makers to address the problem adequately. Consequently, a cross-sectional study was carried out using the contingent valuation method to assess the economic quantum of payment and determining factors associated with people's willingness to pay for HCT services. Data were collected from 768 people selected by convenience sampling of three local government areas - Alimosho, Ikorodu and Surulere in Lagos State, Nigeria. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, chi-square, Mann-Whitney, and general linear regression model analysis. Findings show that 75% of respondents were willing to pay an average fee of N1 291 ($4.22) for HCT services. Significant determinants of willingness to pay were: income; knowledge of someone living with HIV or died of AIDS; worry about HIV infection; and fear of HIV-related stigma. The findings offer vital information germane to co-payment schemes aimed at financial sustainability of HCT and HIV/AIDS programmes in Nigeria.

Human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) counselling and testing (HCT) plays a major role in the continuum of HIV programmes in Nigeria. However, HIV-related stigma (STGM) poses a serious threat to its success. Consequently, a cross-sectional study was carried out to examine whether STGM mediates the relationships between the explanatory variables (HIV-related knowledge, HIV transmission misconception (MSHIV), and perceived seriousness of HIV/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)), and the outcome variable (HCT service utilization). The mediation analysis was undertaken using data from 768 individuals collected through convenience sampling in the Local Government Areas of Alimosho, Ikorodu, and Surulere of Lagos state, and deploying partial least squares–structural equation modelling. The results show that STGM played a mediating role in the relationship between MSHIV, perceived seriousness of HIV/AIDS, and HCT utilization. These findings offer wide ramifications for the intensification and enforcement of Nigeria’s HIV/AIDS Anti-Discrimination Act 2014 to eradicate stigma, which is important to enhance uptake of HCT to achieve the United Nations’ 90-90-90 HIV targets by 2020.

Purpose The gap between the demand and the supply of human organs for transplantation is on the rise in Malaysia, despite the efforts of governments to promote donor registration. Factors affecting willingness to donate are contextual and vary from country to country. This research mainly focuses on the selection of most suitable organ donation system through factors affecting willingness to donate in Malaysia. The objectives of this study are to prioritize those factors acting as the pillars of the organ donation system and further to select the most suitable organ donation system for Malaysia. Patients and methods The data were collected from 35 experts by using a bipolar questionnaire. The study applied an analytical hierarchal process (AHP) for prioritization factors contributing to willingness to donate and then selection of a suitable organ donation system based on prioritized factors. Results Based on the AHP results, it is evident that donation perception (0.36) has the highest priority in influencing organ donation rates, followed by socioeconomic status (0.32), demographic factors (0.23), and financial incentives (0.09). Further, our results challenge the existing opt-in donation system in Malaysia and present a presumptive approach as a suitable system for increasing deceased donation rate in Malaysia. Presumptive approach promotes the role of health-care professionals in securing the family consent. Conclusion This approach is a person-oriented rather than process-oriented strategy and it relies on designated requesters' skills to evoke altruism among bereaved families. Based on results, the authors recommended that relevant government agencies focus on training nurses to discuss donation with bereaved families and raising public awareness.

WecomparePakistan's energy consumption structures toselected East Asian economies with a view towards ensuringan adequate supply ofpowerforeconomic catch-up and,at the same time,meeting the greening goalsenvisioned by the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change. The evidence shows that Pakistan relies significantly lesson non-renewable energy to meet its energy demandscompared to China, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand,while itsdependence on fossil fuels has been rising rapidly.Usingdata forPakistan from 1960 to 2015, we deployed panel co-integration and Granger causality teststo analyse selected East and Southeast Asian countriesbefore exploring what it will takefor Pakistan to develop itsrenewable energy(RE)sector. The evidence showsthat catching up economically with these countriesthrough rapid GDP per capita growthwill exacerbate Pakistan’scurrent energy imbalance,thereby aggravating greenhouse gas (GHG) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.We argue that Pakistan enjoys strong endowments to avert this problem, and hence, it should strategicallyfocus on the development of RE resources, especially solar and windenergy,but only after taking account the relevant costs.

This paper uses systematic panel data methods to scrutinize the impact of China’s foreign direct investment (FDI) on economic growth in eight Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries from 2004 to 2018. The findings indicate a statistically significant causal association between these countries’ economic growth and Chinese investment, which shows that China’s FDI is not a cause but rather a result of the economic expansion. Specifically, the results show that there was a causal chain running from fixed capital to Chinese FDI, through trade openness, in the relatively wealthier ASEAN countries; also, there was a causal chain running from economic growth to Chinese FDI, through trade openness, in relatively poorer ASEAN countries.

This study examined the impact of movement control order (MCO) due to the COVID-19 pandemic on Household Electrical Appliance Consumption Levels [HEACL] across Malaysia before, during and after the MCO, and the likelihood of the pandemic quickening household conduct towards use of energy saving appliances based on a self-reported household survey. The consumption patterns were evaluated based on hours and frequency of use of 29 household electrical appliances. Energy consumption behaviour and energy efficient star label [EESL] appliances questions were also included in the survey to provide insights into energy-efficient behaviour. The survey attracted 1482 responses from 1500 households approached across geographic regions in Malaysia. The findings show significant changes in HEACL across the three periods, viz., (i) before MCO, (ii) during MCO, and (iii) after MCO. There was a significant increase in HEACL during and after the MCO. Also, the low-income group showed the highest shift in appreciating EESL devices over the MCO, while changes in their appreciation was not significant among the medium- and high-income groups. The results imply that energy-wasting habits proved hard to shift across middle- and high-income households. The findings presented herein are unique, which focused on Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide insights for Malaysian policymakers when developing future action plans to stimulate a fall in energy consumption and a shift from conventional to EESL devices over the long-term.

For a relatively successful development model, one would have assumed that there will be enough works to exhaust the political economy of Malaysia. However, this book by Sultan Nazrin Shah surprise...

Much research linking technology and economic growth and what drives innovation tends to be examined in an abstract sense with a number of studies not even justifying the effort taken to explain th...

This paper examines the impact of wealth inequality on education inequality in the sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, including by decomposing inequality across gender. Specifically, it analyzes ...

Indonesia ratified the agreement on the establishment of the World Trade Organization, including its annex agreement, the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in 1995. The ...

Since its formation in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has progressed to become an economic powerhouse. From a loosely formed grouping in the 1960s, its members have since undergone massive integration. A key motive of the Association is to transfer government and public services onto a technology platform, termed e-government. An important concern is whether e-governance can reduce corruption and stimulate sustainable development. Using traditional governance measures and e-governance indices, this paper analyses the state of governance and corruption in ASEAN. While the deepening of e-governance - via government and public participation - has raised the potential for improving good governance practices, that in itself can be counterproductive as socioeconomic agents could broaden corrupt practices by appropriating its public-good-like characteristics. Hence, ASEAN governments have to implement changes in their communications strategies and feedback mechanisms, remove barriers blocking the spread and use of information technology, and promote a collaborative environment with civil society organizations, while considering the use of the "carrot and stick" approach to improve good governance. © 2019 ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute.