Showing papers on "East Asia published in 2001"

Dividends and expropriation

Abstract: Whereas most U.S. corporations are widely held, the predominant form of ownership in East Asia is control by a family, which often supplies a top manager. These features of "crony capitalism" are actually more pronounced in Western Europe. In both regions, the salient agency problem is expropriation of outside shareholders by controlling shareholders. Dividends provide evidence on this. Group-affiliated corporations in Europe pay higher dividends than in Asia, dampening insider expropriation. Dividend rates are higher in Europe, but lower in Asia, when there are multiple large shareholders, suggesting that they dampen expropriation in Europe, but exacerbate it in Asia. (JEL G34, G35) Failures in East Asian corporate governance have recently attracted wide attention through being blamed for the East Asian financial crisis. Based only on journalistic anecdotes, the accusations of "crony capitalism" met regional scepticism and are now being shrugged off as East Asian economies recover. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the ownership and control structure of East Asian corporations, with West European corporations as benchmarks. We document that the problems of East Asian corporate governance are, if anything, more severe and intractable than suggested by commentators at the height of the financial crisis. These problems we locate in an extraordinary concentration of control, whereby eight groups control more than one-quarter of the corporations in the nine most advanced East Asian economies. This control is obscured behind layers of corporations, hence insulated against the forces of competition on less-thantransparent capital markets. By examining how dividend behavior is related to the structure of ownership and control, we find evidence of systematic expropriation of the outside shareholders of corporations at the base of extensive corporate pyramids. Thus, the controlling share

Palaeovegetation (Communications arising): Diversity of temperate plants in east Asia

Abstract: The exceptionally broad species diversity of vascular plant genera in east Asian temperate forests, compared with their sister taxa in North America, has been attributed to the greater climatic diversity of east Asia, combined with opportunities for allopatric speciation afforded by repeated fragmentation and coalescence of populations through Late Cenozoic ice-age cycles. According to Qian and Ricklefs, these opportunities occurred in east Asia because temperate forests extended across the continental shelf to link populations in China, Korea and Japan during glacial periods, whereas higher sea levels during interglacial periods isolated these regions and warmer temperatures restricted temperate taxa to disjunct refuges. However, palaeovegetation data from east Asia show that temperate forests were considerably less extensive than today during the Last Glacial Maximum, calling into question the coalescence of tree populations required by the hypothesis of Qian and Ricklefs.

Korean Workers: The Culture and Politics of Class Formation

Abstract: Forty years of rapid industrialization have transformed millions of South Korean peasants and their sons and daughters into urban factory workers. Hagen Koo explores the experiences of this first generation of industrial workers and describes its struggles to improve working conditions in the factory and to search for justice in society. The working class in South Korea was born in a cultural and political environment extremely hostile to its development, Koo says. Korean workers forged their collective identity much more rapidly, however, than did their counterparts in other newly industrialized countries in East Asia. This book investigates how South Korea's once-docile and submissive workers reinvented themselves so quickly into a class with a distinct identity and consciousness. Based on sources ranging from workers' personal writings to union reports to in-depth interviews, this book is a penetrating analysis of the South Korean working-class experience. Koo reveals how culture and politics simultaneously suppressed and facilitated class formation in South Korea. With chapters exploring the roles of women, students, and church organizations in the struggle, the book reflects Koo's broader interest in the social and cultural dimensions of industrial transformation.

Diversity of temperate plants in east Asia

Abstract: The exceptionally broad species diversity of vascular plant genera in east Asian temperate forests, compared with their sister taxa in North America, has been attributed to the greater climatic diversity of east Asia, combined with opportunities for allopatric speciation afforded by repeated fragmentation and coalescence of populations through Late Cenozoic ice-age cycles1 According to Qian and Ricklefs1, these opportunities occurred in east Asia because temperate forests extended across the continental shelf to link populations in China, Korea and Japan during glacial periods, whereas higher sea levels during interglacial periods isolated these regions and warmer temperatures restricted temperate taxa to disjunct refuges However, palaeovegetation data from east Asia2,3,4,5,6 show that temperate forests were considerably less extensive than today during the Last Glacial Maximum, calling into question the coalescence of tree populations required by the hypothesis of Qian and Ricklefs1

Posing Problems Without Catching Up: China's Rise and Challenges for U.S. Security Policy

Abstract: Since the early 1990s, American scholars and strategists have debated whether the People’s Republic of China (PRC) will pose a security threat to the United States and its regional interests in East Asia in the next few decades. Although many have focused on intentions as well as capabilities, the most prevalent component of the debate is the assessment of China’s overall future military power compared with that of the United States and other East Asian regional powers. So conferences have been held and papers written discussing whether China would become a “peer competitor” or “near peer competitor” of the United States in the military arena, or a “regional hegemon” towering over its cowed neighbors and threatening American interests in a region of increasing importance to the United States.1 Posing Problems without Catching Up Thomas J. Christensen

Climate Change in China from 1880 to 1998 and its Impact on the Environmental Condition

Abstract: The global mean surface air temperature (SAT) or the Northern Hemisphere mean SAT has increased since the late nineteenth century, but the mean precipitation around the world has not formed a definite tendency to increase. A lot of studies showed that different climate and environmental changes during the past 100 years over various regions in the world were experienced. The climate change in China over the past 100 years and its impact on China's environmental conditions needs to be investigated in more detail.Data sets of surface air temperature and atmospheric precipitation over China since 1880 up to the present are now available. In this paper, a drought index has been formulated corresponding to both the temperature and precipitation. Based on three series of temperature, precipitation, and drought index, interdecadal changes in all 7 regions of China and temperature differences among individual regions are analyzed. Some interesting facts are revealed using the wavelet transform method. In Northeast China, the aridification trend has become more serious since 1970s. Drought index in North China has also reached a high value during 1990s, which seems similar to that period 1920s–1940s. In NorthwestChina, the highest temperature appeared over the period 1930s–1940s. Along the Yangtze River valley in central eastern China and Southwest China, interdecadal high temperature occurred from 1920s to 1940s and in 1990s, but the drought climate mainly appeared from 1920s to early 1940s. In South China, temperature remained at a high value over the period 1910s–1940s,but the smaller-scale variation of drought index was remarkable from 1880 to 1998. Consequently, the quasi-20-year oscillation (smaller-scale variation) and the quasi-70-year oscillation (secular variation) obviously exist in temperature and precipitation series in different regions over China.Climate change and intensified human activity in China have induced certain environmental evolutions, such as the frequency change of dust-storm event in northern China, no-flow in the lower reaches of the Yellow River and the runoff variation in Northwest China. On the other hand, frequent floods along the Yangtze River and high frequency of drought disaster have resulted in tremendous economic losses in the last decade in China. The primary reason for these happenings may be attributed to the evolution of the monsoon system in East Asian.

Monsoon rainfall variations and teleconnections over South and East Asia

Abstract: Seasonal summer monsoon (June–September) data for 120 stations over East Asia (China, Japan, Mongolia, Korea) varying from 1881 to 1998 are utilized to understand their interannual and climate characteristics, and to investigate their teleconnections with South Asian (in particular India's) monsoon rainfall. Contemporaneous relations on an interannual time-scale reveal that the rainfall variations over north China (southern Japan) are in-phase (out-of-phase) with South Asian rainfall. Based on the instrumental data available, regional rainfall anomaly time series for the 118-year period for the two coherent regions, over north China and southern Japan are prepared. All the three series (India, China, Japan) have been subjected to statistical tests. Results reveal that while there are year-to-year fluctuations, the Mann–Kendall rank statistic suggests no significant long-term trends. However, the application of Cramer's statistic to study the short-term climate variability depicts decadal variability with certain epochs of above and below normal rainfall over each region. The epochs tend to last for about three decades over India and China, and about five decades over Japan. The turning points for China follow those of India about a decade later. The relationships of South and East Asian monsoon rainfall exhibit secular variations. The inter-connections between the monsoon-related events (rainfall over South Asia, rainfall over East Asia, Northern Hemisphere circulation, tropical Pacific circulation) appear to strengthen (or weaken) around the same time, implying that the monsoon related events over geographically separated regions seem to get linked (or delinked) around the same time. Copyright © 2001 Royal Meteorological Society

Elections in Asia and the Pacific : a data handbook: 2. South East Asia, East Asia and the South Pacific

Abstract: SOUTH EAST ASIA Brunei Cambodia Indonesia Laos Malaysia Philippines Singapore Vietnam EAST ASIA China Japan Korea (North) Korea (South) Mongolia Taiwan SOUTH PACIFIC Australia Cook Islands Federated States of Micronesia Fiji Islands Kiribati Marshall Islands Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu

Globalization and Regional Welfare Regimes: The East Asian Case

Abstract: This article contributes to the ongoing debate about the impact of globalization on welfare systems across the world. Its argument is that economic globalization alters the global balance of forces compared with the ‘Golden Age’ of welfare capitalism, but that its impact on policies and outcomes is decisively mediated by national and regional ‘welfare regimes'. This argument has been developed in relation to the advanced capitalist countries of the north, but is rarely applied to the south. This article applies the argument to the south through a case study of five economically successful countries in East Asia: Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia. It depicts and analyses their welfare regimes using a new conceptual framework developed at the University of Bath. It then considers the impact of the Asian financial crisis as an example of the new risks faced by exposed countries in the global economy. The conclusion is that, despite common, sudden and decisive macroeconomic problems, th...

Population change and economic development in East Asia : challenges met, opportunities seized

Abstract: What role did population change play in East Asia's rapid economic development? A reliable answer to the question is important because the extraordinary economic record of East Asian countries during their high-growth era (1960-90) is central to current development policy debates. This book argues that previous studies have neglected the fundamental ways in which demographic forces have influenced economic growth and regional economic integration. Consequently, the significance of East Asia's remarkable decline in childbearing, the diminished rates of population growth, and the accompanying changes in age structure are not fully appreciated by policymakers. The fifteen essays in this volume address two broad sets of issues. First, did rapid demographic change contribute to East Asian economic development? Specifically, what aspects of the region's development were influenced by such demographic trends as economic growth, inequality, and the economic status of women? Second, what was the role of population policy in East Asia? What policies and programs were implemented, and which of them achieved their goals? Were demographic outcomes a product only of the region's rapid economic development, or did population policies accelerate the transition to low fertility and slower population growth? These questions are addressed through a detailed examination of the experience between 1960 and 1990 of six East Asian economies: Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia. The essays compare the countries' distinctive approaches to population policies and examine the important channels through which population change has affected economic development. Among the topics covered are the impact of population on productivity and innovation; economic structure; saving, investment, and international capital flows; international labor migration; human resource development; distribution of income; and the economic status of women.

Cardiovascular epidemiology in the Asia-Pacific region.

Abstract: By 2020, non-communicable diseases including cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are expected to account for seven out of every 10 deaths in the developing countries compared with less than half this value today. As a proportion of total deaths from all-causes, CVD in the Asia–Pacific region ranges from less than 20% in countries such as Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia to 20–30% in urban China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Malaysia. Countries such as New Zealand, Australia and Singapore have relatively high rates that exceed 30–35%. The latter countries also rank high for coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality rate (more than 150 deaths per 100 000). In contrast, death from cerebrovascular disease is higher among East Asian countries including Japan, China and Taiwan (more than 100 per 100 000). It is worth noting that a number of countries in the region with high proportions of deaths from CVD have undergone marked declining rates in recent decades. For example, in Australia, between 1986 and 1996, mortality from CHD in men and women aged 30–69 years declined by 46 and 51%, respectively. In Japan, stroke mortality dropped from a high level of 150 per 100 000 during the 1920s–1940s to the present level of approximately 100 per 100 000. Nonetheless, CVD mortality rate is reportedly on the rise in several countries in the region, including urban China, Malaysia, Korea and Taiwan. In China, CVD mortality increased as a proportion of total deaths from 12.8% in 1957 to 35.8% in 1990. The region is undergoing a rapid pace of urbanization, industrialization and major technological and lifestyle changes. Thus, monitoring the impact of these changes on cardiovascular risks is essential to enable the implementation of appropriate strategies towards countering the rise of CVD mortality.

Shifting Paradigms of Globalization: The Twenty‐first Century Transition Towards Generics in Skilled Migration from India

Abstract: Globalization of human capital through international migration is no longer about global physical presence only; it is also about global applicability of skills across various fields of specialization. This marks the main characteristics of skilled migration from India to developed countries in the twenty-first century. The focus is shifting away from professionals in specific occupations, like doctors, engineers, scientists, architects, bankers, to information technology (IT) professionals embodying, in a way, more generic skills. In other words, it is the generic applicability of information and communications technology (ICT) which has led to large-scale migration of Indians skilled in IT. Moreover, the exodus comprises not only the fully trained and educated workers going abroad for employment, but also students - the semi-finished human capital - pursuing higher education in onshore as well as offshore universities of the developed countries. The new emigration is directed towards traditional host countries in the West such as the UK, Canada, and the US, but also towards newly emerging destinations in continental Europe (Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Denmark), Australasia (Australia, New Zealand), East Asia (Japan, Republic of Korea), and South-East Asia (Singapore, Malaysia). By using mainly current information and informal data as reported in the media, this article perceives emerging trends and changes in the context of the global labour market for skills, and suggests a possible framework towards evolving strategies of remedial development.

Tiger Technology: The Creation of A Semiconductor Industry in East Asia

Abstract: Tiger Technology: The Creation of A Semiconductor Industry in East Asia. By John A. Mathews And Dong-Sung Cho. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Pp. 389. This is an important book looking in detail at an important aspect of the East Asian economies -- the semiconductor industry. The development of this sector, together with the wider electronics industry of which it is a crucial part, has been at the leading edge of the region's rapid industrialization along with the car, steel, textiles, and petrochemical industries. The book takes the semiconductor sector as a prime example for understanding the dynamics behind this rapid industrialization and describes why parts of East Asia (Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and, to some extent, Malaysia) have managed to come close to the world cutting edge in such complex technologies. The book follows in the tradition of Hobday (1995) and Borrus et al. (2000) with a detailed discussion of country experiences and applies a thorough review of the literature regarding technology diffusion and organizational theory to the specifics of the East Asian semiconductor industry. In this way the authors examine the wider implications including prospects of replication in both other developing economies and also in the United States and European Union (EU). This book is an important contribution to our understanding of why the region developed so fast and will be useful for a variety of readers from macroeconomists to industry specific specialists and policy-makers around the world. The key dynamic stressed is the creation of institutional capabilities to leverage existing technology from more advanced countries as opposed to traditional product invention and discovery. They rigorously explain that this was not a spontaneous development. Rather, it was the result of a concerted effort by the development-- orientated state to build the required institutional frameworks. In the context of technological underdevelopment, and with the disadvantages of being latecomers, the governments were instrumental in creating the mechanisms by which technology could be first introduced, then adapted to local requirements and finally mastered. Japan was the first and was perhaps sui generis with its strategy of full infant industry protection and a heavily mercantilist view. In the contemporary globalizing world with WTO (World Trade Organization)/IMF (International Monetary Fund) type policy agendas, the potential for broad replication focuses more on examining the strategies of Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore. Broadly similar approaches to technology diffusion were taken albeit with differing focuses reflecting differing characteriztics and initial endowments. In Korea, the focus was on the top with vertically integrated chaebols as the lead with easy credit supplied by government-controlled banks. Alternatively, in Taiwan, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) were dominant, supported by the public sector which took on an enabling role. Crucially, it established agencies such as ITRI acting as technology providers and "incubators". ITRI then spun off successes such as UMC and TSMC (a joint venture with Philips) into the private sector. These became some of the most successful firms of their type in the world. The Singapore strategy was more open to foreign direct investments (FDI) with the crucial role of state agencies such as the Economic Development Board (EDB) in creating backward and forward linkages around the multinational corporations (MNCs) in clusters centred on industrial estates. The conclusion is rightly that variants of the Singapore model are the most replicable for most developing countries with a focus on MNCs as the production core alongside institutional structures to ensure adequate technology transfer and the creation of backward linkages into the wider economy. Of great contemporary interest is that China has now embraced the successful leverage strategy. As the authors correctly point out, China is big and diverse enough to follow simultaneously all three versions of the leverage strategy. …

Two funerals and a wedding? The ups and downs of regionalism in East Asia and Asia-Pacific after the Asian crisis

Abstract: The principal regional organizations in East Asia and Asia-Pacific, ASEAN and APEC, are widely seen to be crisis-stricken, ‘becalmed’ or ‘adrift’. At the same time, East Asia is witnessing the emergence of a new, as yet embryonic body, ASEAN Plus Three (APT), and ambitious projects implying closer integration between Northeast and Southeast Asia are being mooted. Departing from an analysis of the determinants of the success and failure of regional integration, this article discusses the roots of the perceived decline of ASEAN and APEC and the origins of the rapid rise of APT. The Asian financial crisis in particular, it is argued, has been instrumental both in undermining ASEAN and APEC and in fostering the rise of APT. The crisis has brutally exposed the structural weaknesses of ASEAN and APEC, both of which are handicapped by the political and economic diversity of their member states and the absence of a benevolent dominant state or coalition of states. It has simultaneously fuelled the development of ...

Economic growth and the demographic transition

Abstract: For decades, economists and social thinkers have debated the influence of population change on economic growth. Three alternative positions define this debate: that population growth restricts, promotes, or is independent of economic growth. Proponents of each explanation can find evidence to support their cases. All of these explanations, however, focus on population size and growth. In recent years, however, the debate has under-emphasized a critical issue, the age structure of the population (that is, the way in which the population is distributed across different age groups), which can change dramatically as the population grows. Because people's economic behavior varies at different stages of life, changes in a country's age structure can have significant effects on its economic performance. Nations with a high proportion of children are likely to devote a high proportion of resources to their care, which tends to depress the pace of economic growth. By contrast, if most of a nation's population falls within the working ages, the added productivity of this group can produce a 'demographic dividend' of economic growth, assuming that policies to take advantage of this are in place. In fact, the combined effect of this large working-age population and health, family, labor, financial, and human capital policies can create virtuous cycles of wealth creation. And if a large proportion of a nation's population consists of the elderly, the effects can be similar to those of a very young population. A large share of resources is needed by a relatively less productive segment of the population, which likewise can inhibit economic growth. After tracing the history of theories of the effects of population growth, this report reviews evidence on the relevance of changes in age structure for economic growth. It also examines the relationship between population change and economic development in particular regions of the world: East Asia; Japan; OECD, North America and Western Europe; South-central and Southeast Asia; Latin America; Middle East and North Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa; and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Finally, it discusses the key policy variables that, combined with reduced fertility and increases in the working-age population, have contributed to economic growth in some areas of the developing world.

Yen Bloc: Toward Economic Integration in Asia

Abstract: In this important new book, C.H. Kwan asks whether the Japanese yen can, or will, replace the dollar as the key currency in East Asia. Kwan analyzes the implications for Japan and Asia's developing countries should they come together to form a yen bloc --a grouping of countries that use the yen as an international currency and maintain stable exchange rates against the yen. Combining academic analysis with his experience advising the Japanese prime minister and the Japanese minister of finance, Kwan concludes that a yen bloc might benefit Asia's developing countries --as well as Japan --while contributing to a more stable international monetary order. Kwan's book represents the first attempt to explore systematically the possibility of monetary integration in Asia. It also provides a vision for regional integration in Asia in the twenty-first century.

Projections of SO2, NOx, NH3 and VOC Emissions in East Asia Up to 2030

Abstract: Starting from an inventory of SO2, NOx, VOC and NH3 emissions for the years 1990 and 1995 in East Asia (Japan, South and North Korea, China, Mongolia and Taiwan), the temporal development of the emissions of the four air pollutants is projected to the year 2030 based on scenarios of economic development. The projections are prepared at a regional level (prefectures or provinces of individual countries) and distinguish more than 100 source categories for each region. The emission estimates are presented with a spatial resolution of 1×1 degree longitude/latitude. First results suggest that, due to the emission control legislation taken in the region, SO2 emissions would only grow by about 46 percent until 2030. Emissions of NOx and VOC may increase by 95 and 65 percent, respectively, mainly driven by the expected increase in road traffic volume. Ammonia, mainly emitted from agriculture, is projected to double by 2030.

The politics of democratization in korea: the role of civil society

Abstract: What role did civil society play in Korea's recent democratization? How does the Korean case compare with cases from other regions of the world? What is the current status of Korean democratic consolidation? What are the prospects for Korean democracy?In December 1997, for the first time in the history of South Korea (hereafter Korea), an opposition candidate was elected to the presidency. Korea became the first new democracy in Asia where a horizontal transfer of power occurred through the electoral process. Sunhyuk Kim's study of democratization in Korea argues that the momentum for political change in Korea has consistently emanated from oppositional civil society rather than from the state. He develops a civil society paradigm and utilizes Korea s three authoritarian breakdowns (only two of which resulted in democratic transitions) to illustrate the past and present influences of Korean civil society groups on authoritarian breakdowns, democratic transitions, and post-transition democratic consolidations.One of the first systematic attempts to apply a civil society framework to a democratizing country in East Asia, "The Politics of Democratization in Korea" will be of use to political scientists and advanced undergraduate and graduate students working in comparative politics, political theory, East Asian politics, and the politics of democratization."

China urban : ethnographies of contemporary culture

Abstract: China Urban is an ethnographic account of China’s cities and the place that urban space holds in China’s imagination. In addition to investigating this nation’s rapidly changing urban landscape, its contributors emphasize the need to rethink the very meaning of the “urban” and the utility of urban-focused anthropological critiques during a period of unprecedented change on local, regional, national, and global levels. Through close attention to everyday lives and narratives and with a particular focus on gender, market, and spatial practices, this collection stresses that, in the case of China, rural life and the impact of socialism must be considered in order to fully comprehend the urban. Individual essays note the impact of legal barriers to geographic mobility in China, the proliferation of different urban centers, the different distribution of resources among various regions, and the pervasive appeal of the urban, both in terms of living in cities and in acquiring products and conventions signaling urbanity. Others focus on the direct sales industry, the Chinese rock music market, the discursive production of femininity and motherhood in urban hospitals, and the transformations in access to healthcare. China Urban will interest anthropologists, sociologists, political scientists, and those studying urban planning, China, East Asia, and globalization. Contributors. Tad Ballew, Susan Brownell, Nancy N. Chen, Constance D. Clark, Robert Efird, Suzanne Z. Gottschang, Ellen Hertz, Lisa Hoffman, Sandra Hyde, Lyn Jeffery, Lida Junghans, Louisa Schein, Li Zhang

Elections in Asia and the Pacific: a data handbook

Abstract: SOUTH EAST ASIA Brunei Cambodia Indonesia Laos Malaysia Philippines Singapore Vietnam EAST ASIA China Japan Korea (North) Korea (South) Mongolia Taiwan SOUTH PACIFIC Australia Cook Islands Federated States of Micronesia Fiji Islands Kiribati Marshall Islands Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu

Economic Growth in East Asia Before and After the Financial Crisis

Abstract: In 1997-98, five east Asian countries -- Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, the Philippines, and Thailand -- experienced sharp currency and banking crises. The contraction of real GDP was severe in relation to the previous history and in comparison with five east Asian countries that were less affected by the financial crisis. Recoveries in the five crisis countries in 1999-2000 were strong in most cases, but it is unclear whether the pre-crisis growth paths will be reattained. Indications for permanently depressed prospects come from the sharp reductions in investment ratios, which have recovered only slightly, and the lowered stock-market prices. A panel analysis for a broad group of economies shows that a combined currency and banking crisis typically reduces economic growth over a five-year period by 2% per year, compared with 3% per year for the 1997-98 crisis in east Asia. The broader analysis found no evidence that financial crises had effects on growth that persisted beyond a five-year period.

Old World sources of the first New World human inhabitants: A comparative craniofacial view

Abstract: Human craniofacial data were used to assess the similarities and differences between recent and prehistoric Old World samples, and between these samples and a similar representation of samples from the New World. The data were analyzed by the neighbor-joining clustering procedure, assisted by bootstrapping and by canonical discriminant analysis score plots. The first entrants to the Western Hemisphere of maybe 15,000 years ago gave rise to the continuing native inhabitants south of the U.S.–Canadian border. These show no close association with any known mainland Asian population. Instead they show ties to the Ainu of Hokkaido and their Jomon predecessors in prehistoric Japan and to the Polynesians of remote Oceania. All of these also have ties to the Pleistocene and recent inhabitants of Europe and may represent an extension from a Late Pleistocene continuum of people across the northern fringe of the Old World. With roots in both the northwest and the northeast, these people can be described as Eurasian. The route of entry to the New World was at the northwestern edge. In contrast, the Inuit (Eskimo), the Aleut, and the Na-Dene speakers who had penetrated as far as the American Southwest within the last 1,000 years show more similarities to the mainland populations of East Asia. Although both the earlier and later arrivals in the New World show a mixture of traits characteristic of the northern edge of Old World occupation and the Chinese core of mainland Asia, the proportion of the latter is greater for the more recent entrants.

The Resource Dependence, Service and Control Functions of Boards of Directors in Hong Kong and Taiwanese Firms

Abstract: Since the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990's, there have been numerous calls for the reform of East Asian corporate governance. Without reform, fears abound that the crisis will return. However, a baseline understanding of corporate governance in East Asia needs to be established before reform efforts can begin. In the West, three major functions of boards are commonly recognized: resource dependence, service, and control. These functions have yet to be examined in the context of boards of directors of Overseas Chinese firms in East Asia. In this exploratory study, we examine the extent to which these functions are performed, primarily by outside board members, in Overseas Chinese firms in Hong Kong and Taiwan. We find that the service and control functions are less pronounced for East Asian boards than what would be expected in the West, while the resource dependence function is more pronounced. We also findthat the governance of the region is being moved closer to international practices by a new generation of leaders that have been exposed to Western influences and intense global competition. The implications of our findings for managers, educators, and researchers are discussed.

Global Production and Trade in East Asia

Abstract: 1. Introduction L.K. Cheng, H. Kierzkowski. 2. Financial Crisis, Trade, and Fragmentation A. Deardorff. 3. Horizontal Aspects of Vertical Fragmentation R.W. Jones, H. Kierzkowski. 4. Function vs. Form in the Fragmented Industrial Structure: Three Examples from Asia Pacific Experience H. Wan, Jr. 5. Production Sharing in East Asia: Who Does What for Whom, and Why? F. Ng, A. Yeats. 6. Intra-Industry Foreign Direct Investment and Trade Flows: New Measures of Global Competition D. Greenaway, et al. 7. Fragmentation, Internalization, and Interfirm Linkages: Evidence from the Micro Data of Japanese Manufacturing Firms F. Kimura. 8. Sanyal and Jones on Fragmentation and Trade: Empirical Evidence for South Korea U. Kohli. 9. Taiwan's High-Tech Industries C. Schive, R.Y.-S. Chyn. 10. Export-Oriented Foreign Direct Investment in the People's Republic of China: Division of Value Added between Source and Host Economies Y.-W. Sung. 11. The Globalization of Trade and Production: A Case Study of Hong Kong's Textile and Clothing Industries L.K. Cheng, W.K. Fung. 12. The Changing Pattern of Production Fragmentation in Singapore, and Its Economic Consequences H.T. Hoon, K.W. Ho. 13. The Implications of Increasing Fragmentation and Globalization for the World Trade Organization R.E. Baldwin. 14. Rules of Origin and Fragmentation of Trade P. Lloyd. 15. Intrafirm Fragmentation: Fujitsu, Ltd.'s Production of Hard Disk Drives F. Kimura. 16. The Development Pattern of Taiwan's Bicycle Industry W.-w. Chu. 17. Taiwan's Integrated Circuit Industry A.-C. Tung. 18. A Case Study of Tech Tronic Industries Co., Ltd. H. Kierzkowski. 19. Li & Fung Ltd: An Agent of Global Production L.K. Cheng. 20. Arms-Length Transactions vs. Affiliates: A Study of Two Electronic Components Firms in Singapore H.T. Hoon, K.W. Ho.

The Determinants and Prospects of Economic Growth in Asia

Abstract: This paper analyses Asia's growth experience in a broad historical and international context. East Asian countries grew faster than the rest of the world for four key reasons: they had substantial potential for catching up, their geography and structural characteristics were by- and large favorable, demographic changes worked in favor of more rapid growth, and their economic policies and strategy were conducive to sustained growth. Although the financial crisis of 1997 abruptly brought a halt to Asia's period of robust growth, there was little in Asia's fundamental growth strategy that inevitably led to the crisis. The key to the crisis was too much short-term capital flowing into weak and under-supervised financial systems. This suggests that with better financial management and a return to the core policies that resulted in rapid growth, the East Asian economies can again return to sustained growth. [O11, O40, O53]

Financial Contagion in the East Asian Crisis: With Special Reference to the Republic of Korea

Abstract: Over the last three years, there has been a growing amount of literature on the East Asian crisis. A website created by Roubini, for example, lists more than 500 articles on the crisis. Despite the proliferation of studies on the East Asian financial turmoil, the causes of the crisis still remain controversial. Radelet and Sachs (1998), Feldstein (1998), and Stiglitz (1999) argue that the primary source of the crisis was the sudden shifts in market expectations and confidence. According to these authors, foreign lenders and institutional investors were so alarmed by the Thai crisis, which broke out in July 1997, that they abruptly pulled their investments out of the other countries in the region and caused the crisis to be contagious. Their withdrawal was prompted by the belief that these countries suffered from similar structural problems as those causing a speculative attack on Thailand.

Coping with Growth Transitions: The Case of Chinese Family Businesses in Singapore:

Abstract: Families control more than half of the corporations in East Asia (World Bank, 1999; World Bank, 1998). The contribution of family businesses to Asia's economic growth is predicated upon successfully growing their businesses. Many family businesses in East Asia, spanning countries such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia, are Chinese owned and managed. Some claim that these businesses will never develop into full-fledged multinational enterprises because of their cultural heritage (Redding, 1990). However, some Chinese family businesses have successfully made the transition.This paper presents an in-depth study of five Chinese family businesses in Singapore that have successfully made the transition in growth and size and across national boundaries and family generations. Their business empires extend into the Asia Pacific region. This paper highlights the key success factors of these five noteworthy family businesses that enabled them to make these growth transitions.

Political Parties, Party Systems, and Democracy in East Asia: Lessons from Latin America

Abstract: Institutionalized parties and party systems have traditionally been viewed as necessary conditions for democracies to function effectively. Although this area of research is germane to all democracies, most analyses have been divided by regional investigation. Seeking to bridge the gap, this article applies concepts and measures of institutionalization from the study of Latin America to Pacific Asia's two most prominent cases of democratic transition, South Korea and Taiwan. An effort is made to apply the approaches of Dix and Mainwaring and Scully on party and system institutionalization in Latin America to South Korea and Taiwan. Cross-national comparison reveals a curvilinear relationship between institutionalization and consolidation. Taiwan's path to consolidation has been predicated on a pattern very similar to those taken by Latin American cases, whereas South Korea, theoretically, should not be as close to consolidation as it is.

Political Business in East Asia

Abstract: Preface Acknowledgements List of Tables List of Figures List of Contributors Introduction: Political Business in East Asia Edmund Terence Gomez 1. Development and Corruption: The East Asian Paradox Andrew Wedeman 2. Political Business Alliances: The Role of the State and Foreign and Domestic Capital in Economic Development Johannes Dragsbaek Schmidt 3. Political Business in Malaysia: Party Factionalism, Corporate Development and Economic Crisis Edmund Terence Gomez 4. KMT, Inc: Liberalization, Democratization and the Future of Politics in Business Karl Fields 5. State Predation and Rapid Growth: Politicization of Business in China Andrew Wedeman 6. The Political Business of Development in South Korea Peter Ward 7. Politics, Business and Democratization in Indonesia Stefan Eklof 8. Democratization and Economic Crisis in Thailand: Political Business and the Changing Dynamic of the State Tom Wingfield 9. State, Politics and Business in Singapore Stephen Haggard and Linda Low 10. Politics, Business and the Inescapable web of Structural Corruption in Japan James Babb