Showing papers on "East Asia published in 2017"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors estimate how much trade might be created among Belt and Road (B&R) countries as a consequence of the reduction in transportation costs (both railway and maritime) and find that European Union countries, especially landlocked countries, will benefit considerably.
Abstract: The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) aims to improve cross†border infrastructure to reduce transportation costs across a massive geographical area between China and Europe We estimate how much trade might be created among Belt and Road (B&R) countries as a consequence of the reduction in transportation costs (both railway and maritime) and find that European Union countries, especially landlocked countries, will benefit considerably This is also true for Eastern Europe and Central Asia and, to a lesser extent, South†East Asia In contrast, if China were to seek to establish a free trade area within the B&R region, EU member states would benefit less, while Asia would benefit more Xi Jinping's current vision for the B&R, centered on improving transport infrastructure, is advantageous for Europe as far as trade creation is concerned
170 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored recent trends, variations and teleconnections between the two large regional sub-systems over the Asian domain, the South Asian and the East Asian monsoons using data for the 1901-2014 period.
Abstract: Recent trends, variations and tele-connections between the two large regional sub-systems over the Asian domain, the South Asian and the East Asian monsoons are explored using data for the 1901–2014 period. Based on trend analysis a dipole-type configuration with north-drought and south-flood over South as well as East Asia is observed. Two regions over South Asia, one exhibiting a significant decreasing trend in summer monsoon rainfall over northeast India and the other significant increasing trend over the northern parts of the west coast of India are identified. Similarly two regions over East Asia, one over South Korea-southern parts of Japan and the other over South China are also identified both indicating a significant increasing trend in the summer monsoon rainfall. These trends are examined post 1970s. Possible factors associated with the recent trends are explored. Analysis of sea surface temperature (SST), mean sea level pressure and winds at lower troposphere indicates that the entire monsoon flow system appears to have shifted westwards, with the monsoon trough over South Asia indicating a westward shift by about 2–3° longitudes and the North Pacific Subtropical High over East Asia seems to have shifted by about 5–7° longitudes. These shifts are consistent with the recent rainfall trends. Furthermore, while the West Indian Ocean SSTs appear to be related with the summer monsoon rainfall over northern parts of India and over North China, the West Pacific SSTs appear to be related with the rainfall over southern parts of India and over South Korea- southern Japan sector.
141 citations
TL;DR: The principal conclusions are that an Andean type topography with surface elevations of at least 4.5 km existed at the start of the Eocene, before final closure of the Tethys Ocean that separated India from Eurasia.
140 citations
TL;DR: It is concluded that the current PM concentration trend in South Korea is a combination of long-term decline by emission control efforts and short-term fluctuation of regional wind speed interannual variability.
Abstract: Recent changes of surface particulate matter (PM) concentration in the Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA), South Korea, are puzzling. The long-term trend of surface PM concentration in the SMA declined in the 2000s, but since 2012 its concentrations have tended to incline, which is coincident with frequent severe hazes in South Korea. This increase puts the Korean government’s emission reduction efforts in jeopardy. This study reports that interannual variation of surface PM concentration in South Korea is closely linked with the interannual variations of wind speed. A 12-year (2004–2015) regional air quality simulation was conducted over East Asia (27-km) and over South Korea (9-km) to assess the impact of meteorology under constant anthropogenic emissions. Simulated PM concentrations show a strong negative correlation (i.e. R = −0.86) with regional wind speed, implying that reduced regional ventilation is likely associated with more stagnant conditions that cause severe pollutant episodes in South Korea. We conclude that the current PM concentration trend in South Korea is a combination of long-term decline by emission control efforts and short-term fluctuation of regional wind speed interannual variability. When the meteorology-driven variations are removed, PM concentrations in South Korea have declined continuously even after 2012.
117 citations
TL;DR: The overall results of GIRF reveal that while economic growth in China and South Korea shows a positive response to oil consumption, this variable responses negatively to the same shock in Japan, and oil consumption spikes cause a negative response of CO2 emissions in Japan and China, as well as a U-shape response in South Korea.
Abstract: This article attempts to explore the nexus between oil consumption, economic growth and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in three East Asian oil importing countries (i.e. China, South Korea and Japan) over the period 1980-2013, by using the Granger causality, Johansen cointegration test, Generalised Impulse Response functions (GIRF) and variance decompositions. The empirical findings provide evidence for the existence of a long-run relationship between oil consumption and economic growth in China and Japan. The results also point to a uni-directional causality from running from oil consumption to economic growth in China and Japan, and from oil consumption to CO2 emissions in South Korea. The overall results of GIRF reveal that while economic growth in China and South Korea shows a positive response to oil consumption, this variable responses negatively to the same shock in Japan. In addition, oil consumption spikes cause a negative response of CO2 emissions in Japan and China, as well as a U-shape response in South Korea.
112 citations
TL;DR: The data concerning the prevalence rates reported in related studies are summarized, the most crucial risk factors among these schoolchildren are discussed, and their causes remain poorly identified.
105 citations
TL;DR: The data from the Beijing Area Study survey of Beijing residents from 1998 to 2015 suggest that the rising popular nationalism meme is empirically inaccurate as discussed by the authors, which implies that there are other factors that may be more important in explaining China's coercive diplomacy on maritime issues, such as elite opinion, the personal preferences of top leaders, security dilemma dynamics, organizational interests, or some combination thereof.
Abstract: “Rising nationalism” has been a major meme in commentary on the development of China’s material power since the early 1990s. Analysts often claim that rising nationalism, especially among China’s youth, is an important force compelling the Chinese leadership to take a tougher stand on a range of foreign policy issues, particularly maritime disputes in East Asia. The rising nationalism meme is one element in the “newly assertive China” narrative that generalizes from China’s coercive diplomacy in these disputes to claim that a dissatisaed China is challenging a U.S.-dominated liberal international order writ large. But is this meme accurate? Generally, research on Chinese nationalism has lacked a baseline against which to measure changing levels of nationalism across time. The data from the Beijing Area Study survey of Beijing residents from 1998 to 2015 suggest that the rising popular nationalism meme is empirically inaccurate. This anding implies that there are other factors that may be more important in explaining China’s coercive diplomacy on maritime issues, such as elite opinion, the personal preferences of top leaders, security dilemma dynamics, organizational interests, or some combination thereof.
99 citations
TL;DR: The history of cultural exchange in prehistoric Eurasia (CEPE) has been widely investigated as mentioned in this paper, and it is likely that CEPE promoted the spread and exchange of crops that originated in different parts of Eurasia; since these remains can be definitely identified and directly dated, they provide ideal research materials to explore the history of CPE.
Abstract: The history of cultural exchange in prehistoric Eurasia (CEPE) has been widely investigated. Based on archaeological evidence, this process is thought to date back to at least the early Bronze Age, although details about timings and routes remain unclear. It is likely that CEPE promoted the spread and exchange of crops that originated in different parts of Eurasia; since these remains can be definitely identified and directly dated, they provide ideal research materials to explore the history of CEPE. In this paper, we review the available archaeobotanical evidence and direct radiocarbon dates for crop remains, alongside carbon isotopic data from human bones unearthed from prehistoric sites in Eurasia, in order to investigate the history of the spread of millet crops, and wheat and barley, that were first domesticated in the eastern and western parts of Eurasia during prehistoric times. In combination with other archaeological evidences, we discuss the history of CEPE. Our results suggest that wheat and barley were domesticated in western Asia around 10500 a BP, spread into Europe and western Central Asia before 8000 a BP, and reaching eastern Central Asia and northwestern China between 4500 and 4000 a BP. Data show that both broomcorn and foxtail millet were domesticated in eastern Asia before 7700 a BP, spread into eastern Central Asia between 4500 and 4000 a BP, and into western Asia and Europe prior to 3500 a BP. Wheat, barley, and millet crops were first utilized together in eastern Kazakhstan within Central Asia around 4400 a BP, the region where earliest CEPE is likely to have taken place. These crops were mixedly used mainly in eastern central Asia and northwest China between 4500 and 3500 a BP, and then across the Eurasia before 2200 a BP. The results of this study suggest that transcontinental CEPE might have been initiated during the fifth millennium, before intensifying during the Bronze Age to lay the foundations for the creation of the ancient Silk Road during the Han Dynasty (between 202BC and 220AD).
97 citations
TL;DR: This paper reported genome-wide data from two hunter-gatherers from Devil's Gate, an early Neolithic cave site (dated to ~7.7 thousand years ago) located in East Asia, on the border between Russia and Korea.
Abstract: Ancient genomes have revolutionized our understanding of Holocene prehistory and, particularly, the Neolithic transition in western Eurasia. In contrast, East Asia has so far received little attention, despite representing a core region at which the Neolithic transition took place independently ~3 millennia after its onset in the Near East. We report genome-wide data from two hunter-gatherers from Devil’s Gate, an early Neolithic cave site (dated to ~7.7 thousand years ago) located in East Asia, on the border between Russia and Korea. Both of these individuals are genetically most similar to geographically close modern populations from the Amur Basin, all speaking Tungusic languages, and, in particular, to the Ulchi. The similarity to nearby modern populations and the low levels of additional genetic material in the Ulchi imply a high level of genetic continuity in this region during the Holocene, a pattern that markedly contrasts with that reported for Europe.
91 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a systematic review of archaeological and palaeoenvironmental records of cannabis reveals its complex history in Eurasia, considering the more or less contemporaneous appearance of cannabis records in two distal parts of the continent.
Abstract: A systematic review of archaeological and palaeoenvironmental records of cannabis (fibres, pollen, achenes and imprints of achenes) reveals its complex history in Eurasia. A multiregional origin of human use of the plant is proposed, considering the more or less contemporaneous appearance of cannabis records in two distal parts (Europe and East Asia) of the continent. A marked increase in cannabis achene records from East Asia between ca. 5,000 and 4,000 cal bp might be associated with the establishment of a trans-Eurasian exchange/migration network through the steppe zone, influenced by the more intensive exploitation of cannabis achenes popular in Eastern Europe pastoralist communities. The role of the Hexi Corridor region as a hub for an East Asian spread of domesticated plants, animals and cultural elements originally from Southwest Asia and Europe is highlighted. More systematic, interdisciplinary and well-dated data, especially from South Russia and Central Asia, are necessary to address the unresolved issues in understanding the complex history of human cannabis utilisation.
89 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the impacts of western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH) on precipitation changes in eastern China and the underlying processes are investigated, and the results indicate that the strength and location of WNPSH are in close relations with the changes of summer precipitation in Eastern China, and their influences vary across both space and time.
Abstract: With the highest population density in China, eastern China has an unshakable position in Chinese socioeconomic development. To understand the precipitation changes and the related mechanisms is of great significance for regional management of water resources and agricultural irrigation. In this study, the impacts of western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH) on precipitation changes in eastern China and the underlying processes are investigated. The results indicate that the strength and location of WNPSH are in close relations with the changes of summer precipitation in eastern China, and their influences vary across both space and time. In particular, WNPSH exerts remarkable impacts on precipitation in June and July in Jiang-Huai region and precipitation in June in South China such as the Pearl River basin. The interannual variations of WNPSH exhibit significant correlations with water vapor flux in East Asia, and the variations of the location and direction of the west flank of the WNPSH are well corroborated with the influences of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) on precipitation in eastern China. The westward extension of WNPSH tends to favor the strong moisture transport to East Asia, intensify the EASM, and thus increase water vapor flux in East Asia, which greatly benefits the occurrence of Meiyu regimes in Jiang-Huai region. Besides, analysis results also show that the westward extension of WNPSH drives tropical cyclones southward so as to increase the occurrence of extreme precipitation in South China. This study helps to bridge the knowledge gap in the relationship between WNPSH, tropical cyclones, and summer precipitation events in eastern China.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors reviewed the current understanding of the connection between Indian and East Asian summer rainfall and its change, including the process involved in the connection, the non-stationarity of the connections, the plausible reasons, the influences of ENSO on the relationship, the performance of climate models in simulating the relationship between the Indian and EASI summer rainfall, and the relationship of Indian and SEI rainfall intraseasonal fluctuations.
Abstract: The Indian and East Asian summer monsoons are two components of the whole Asian summer monsoon system. Previous studies have indicated in-phase and out-of-phase variations between Indian and East Asian summer rainfall. The present study reviews the current understanding of the connection between Indian and East Asian summer rainfall. The review covers the relationship of northern China, southern Japan, and South Korean summer rainfall with Indian summer rainfall; the atmospheric circulation anomalies connecting Indian and East Asian summer rainfall variations; the long-term change in the connection between Indian and northern China rainfall and the plausible reasons for the change; and the influence of ENSO on the relationship between Indian and East Asian summer rainfall and its change. While much progress has been made about the relationship between Indian and East Asian summer rainfall variations, there are several remaining issues that need investigation. These include the processes involved in the connection between Indian and East Asian summer rainfall, the non-stationarity of the connection and the plausible reasons, the influences of ENSO on the relationship, the performance of climate models in simulating the relationship between Indian and East Asian summer rainfall, and the relationship between Indian and East Asian rainfall intraseasonal fluctuations.
01 Jan 2017
TL;DR: A review of archaeological evidence for rice and millets across China, Korea, eastern Russia, Taiwan, Mainland southeast Asia, and Japan can be found in this paper, taking a critical approach to dating evidence, evidence for cultivation, and morphological domestication.
Abstract: Millets and rice were important for the demographic history of China. This review draws on current archaeobotanical evidence for rice and millets across China, Korea, eastern Russia, Taiwan, Mainland southeast Asia, and Japan, taking a critical approach to dating evidence, evidence for cultivation, and morphological domestication. There is no evidence to suggest that millets and rice were domesticated simultaneously within a single region. Instead, 5 regions of north China are candidates for independent early cultivation of millets that led to domestication, and 3 regions of the Yangtze basin are candidates for separate rice domestication trajectories. The integration of rice and millet into a single agricultural system took place ca. 4000 BC , and after this the spread of agricultural systems and population growth are in evidence. The most striking evidence for agricultural dispersal and population growth took place between 3000 and 2500 BC , which has implications for major language dispersals.
TL;DR: The authors compared the experiences of international students from within and outside the Asian region and examined Chinese international students' perceptions of disorientation and perceived discrimination, and found that international students were more likely to report negative experiences compared to their Chinese counterparts.
Abstract: This research, based in South Korea, compares the experiences of international students from within and outside the Asian region and then examines Chinese international students’ perceptions of dis...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine how the massification of higher education has affected graduate employment and social mobility in East Asia, using sociological perspectives to discuss the major challenges resulting from massification.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that China will soon dominate East Asia militarily, but in reality, China is far from achieving this goal and will remain so for the foreseeable future.
Abstract: Many analysts argue that China will soon dominate East Asia militarily. In reality, China is far from achieving this goal and will remain so for the foreseeable future. China's maritime neighbors h...
TL;DR: In this paper, the long-term trends of Ratio over China, Korea, and Japan were nearly flat during Phase I, increased significantly during Phase II, and were essentially flat again during Phase III.
Abstract: . Acidifying species in precipitation can have severe impacts on ecosystems. The chemical composition of precipitation is directly related to the amount of precipitation; accordingly, it is difficult to identify long-term variation in chemical concentrations. The ratio of the nitrate (NO3−) to non-sea-salt sulfate (nss-SO42−) concentration in precipitation on an equivalent basis (hereinafter, Ratio) is a useful index to investigate the relative contributions of these acidifying species. To identify the long-term record of acidifying species in precipitation over East Asia, the region with the highest emissions worldwide, we compiled ground-based observations of the chemical composition of precipitation over China, Korea, and Japan from 2001 to 2015 based on the Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (EANET). The spatial coverage was limited, but additional monitoring data for Japan, southern China, and northern China around Beijing were utilized. The period of analysis was divided into three phases: Phase I (2001–2005), Phase II (2006–2010), and Phase III (2011–2015). The behaviors of NO3− and nss-SO42− concentrations and hence the Ratio in precipitation were related to these precursors. The anthropogenic NOx and SO2 emissions and the NOx ∕ SO2 emission ratio were analyzed. Further, satellite observations of the NO2 and SO2 column density to capture the variation in emissions were applied. We found that the long-term trend in the NO3− concentration in precipitation was not related to the variation in NOx emission and the NO2 column. In comparison, the nss-SO42− concentration in precipitation over China, Korea, and Japan was partially connected to the changes in SO2 emissions from China, but the trends were not significant. The long-term trends of Ratio over China, Korea, and Japan were nearly flat during Phase I, increased significantly during Phase II, and were essentially flat again during Phase III. This variation in Ratio in East Asia clearly corresponded to the NOx ∕ SO2 emission ratio and the NO2 ∕ SO2 column ratio in China. The initial flat trend during Phase I was due to increases in both NOx and SO2 emissions in China, the significantly increasing trend during Phase II was triggered by the increase in NOx emissions and decrease in SO2 emissions in China, and the return to a flat trend during Phase III was caused by declines in both NOx and SO2 emissions in China. These results suggest that emissions in China had a significant impact not only on China but also on downwind precipitation chemistry during the 15-year period of 2001–2015. In terms of wet deposition, the NO3− wet deposition over China, Korea, and Japan did not change dramatically, but the nss-SO42− wet deposition declined over China, Korea, and Japan from Phase II to III. These declines were caused by a strong decrease in the nss-SO42− concentration in precipitation accompanied by a reduction in SO2 emission from China, which counteracted the increase in precipitation. These findings indicated that the acidity of precipitation shifted from sulfur to nitrogen.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated whether male housework participation is associated with the number of children married couples aspire to in China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, and found that women do much more housework than men.
Abstract: Background: Research on Western countries suggests that how couples share housework responsibilities has a significant impact on their fertility choices. The gender revolution framework offers an explanation for this relationship, but so far its applicability has not been tested on non-Western cases. Objective: This paper investigates whether male housework participation is associated with the number of children married couples aspire to in China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Methods: Using data from the East Asian Social Survey 2006, we provide a descriptive account of housework participation by gender and country and actual and ideal numbers of children by country. This is followed by OLS regression models testing the associations between male and female housework contributions and the ideal numbers of children. Results: In all four countries, women do much more housework than men. For men, there is no consistent pattern across the four countries linking household participation and fertility preferences. The pattern for women, by contrast, is consistent across the cases: husbands’ greater involvement in housework is associated with wives’ desire for more children. Conclusions: Theoretically, our findings suggest that low fertility in East Asia is linked to women’s heavy housework burden. Our findings suggest that the gender revolution framework offers the best explanation for East Asian childbearing trends, and that low fertility trends in the region are likely to persist. Contribution: On a theoretical level this paper is the first to widen the framework for understanding current fertility trends in East Asia to include domestic work participation. On an empirical level this is the first paper to test the link between fathers’ housework contributions and fertility in East Asia.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated variations in the long-term trends of tropospheric NO2, HCHO, and HCHO/NO2 ratios to diagnose ozone sensitivity to changes in NOx and volatile organic compound using Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI).
Abstract: Recent regulatory policies in East Asia reduce ozone precursors, but these changes are spatially and temporally nonuniform. This study investigates variations in the long-term trends of tropospheric NO2, HCHO, and HCHO/NO2 ratios to diagnose ozone sensitivity to changes in NOx and volatile organic compound using the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI). Using an adaptive-degree polynomial filter, we identify extremums of time series of NO2 to determine when and how NO2 change. Due to the regulations in China, trends which were predominantly upward turned downward. The years undergoing these changes primarily happened in 2011 and 2012. OMI column densities, however, suggest that NOx sources in South Korea, the Pearl River Delta (PRD), Taiwan, and Japan have not consistently decreased. Specifically, as Chinese exports of NO2 started subsiding, increasing trends in NO2 columns over several Korean cities, including Seoul, become evident. To quantify the changes in NOx emissions from summertime 2010 to 2014, we conduct a 3D-Var inverse modeling using a regional model with MIX-Asia inventory and estimate NOx emissions (in 2010 and 2014) for the PRD (1.6 and 1.5 Gg/d), the Yangtze River Delta (3.9 and 3.0 Gg/d), north China (15.6 and 14.3 Gg/d), South Korea (1.6 and 1.5 Gg/d), and Japan (2.7 and 2.6 Gg/d). OMI HCHO shows upward trends in East Asia resulting from anthropogenic effects; however, the magnitudes are negative in the PRD, Japan, North Korea, and Taiwan. OMI HCHO/NO2 ratios reveal that while South Korea, Japan, and the south of China have undergone toward more NOx-sensitive regime, areas around the Bohai Sea have become more NOx saturated.
TL;DR: Comparison of temporal trends between Hong Kong outer harbor with Tokyo Bay shows the striking difference in historical deposition of CPs under different regulatory situations in China and Japan.
TL;DR: In this paper, a cost-optimal 100% renewable energy based system is simulated for East Asia for the year 2030, covering demand by power, desalination, and industrial gas sectors on an hourly basis for an entire year.
Abstract: The Paris Agreement points out that countries need to shift away from the existing fossil-fuel-based energy system to limit the average temperature rise to 1.5 or 2 °C. A cost-optimal 100% renewable energy based system is simulated for East Asia for the year 2030, covering demand by power, desalination, and industrial gas sectors on an hourly basis for an entire year. East Asia was divided into 20 sub-regions and four different scenarios were set up based on the level of high voltage grid connection, and additional demand sectors: power, desalination, industrial gas, and a renewable-energy-based synthetic natural gas (RE-SNG) trading between regions. The integrated RE-SNG scenario gives the lowest cost of electricity (€52/MWh) and the lowest total annual cost of the system. Results contradict the notion that long-distance power lines could be beneficial to utilize the abundant solar and wind resources in Australia for East Asia. However, Australia could become a liquefaction hub for exporting RE-SNG to Asia and a 100% renewable energy system could be a reality in East Asia with the cost assumptions used. This may also be more cost-competitive than nuclear and fossil fuel carbon capture and storage alternatives.
TL;DR: In this article, a long-time series data on the material flow analysis on China, South Korea and Japan, applied with up-to-date standardized methodologies of material flow accounting is presented and compared from 1970 to 2008.
TL;DR: The authors reviewed the case of the United States, where expansion of the middle-class growth and social mobility via education in the 1950s/1970s was followed in the 1980s and after by a marked increase in inequality in incomes and higher education, and less social mobility.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reconstruct continental air temperatures for northeast China across the last deglaciation (past 16 k. y.), based on the distribution of bacterial branched glycerol dialkyl glycerolic tetraethers in a sequence of the Hani peat (Jilin Province, northeast China).
Abstract: Variations in atmospheric circulation across the last deglaciation in the northernmost monsoon-influenced regions of Asia are not well constrained, highlighting a fundamental gap in our understanding of Asian climate. Here we reconstruct continental air temperatures for northeast China across the last deglaciation (past 16 k. y.), based on the distribution of bacterial branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers in a sequence of the Hani peat (Jilin Province, northeast China). Our results indicate large (as much as 10 degrees C) oscillations in temperature in northeast China across the deglaciation, oscillations significantly larger than observed in other temperature records from low-latitude or same-latitude East Asia, but consistent with climate model simulations. This enhanced magnitude, as well as the timing of temperature variations, provides evidence for atmospheric teleconnections with high latitudes; in particular, we suggest that highlatitude cooling associated with Arctic ice expansion and changes in Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation enhanced the intensity and lowered the temperature of Eurasian mid-latitude westerlies and northwesterly winds over East Asia during the last glacial, delivering cold air masses to northeast China. During the deglaciation the westerlies and therefore delivery of cold air masses weakened, amplifying the deglacial warming in this region. We conclude that changes in North Atlantic climate had a particularly strong impact on the northernmost parts of the East Asian monsoon-influenced area.
TL;DR: The differences in meat production methods and consumption in Asia during recent decades and the meat technology demands of three east Asian countries, namely China, Korea, and Japan, and one south Asian country, India are highlighted.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors adopt a disaggregated regional focus to test for the human capital (HC)-growth nexus in selected nine Asian countries and find that primary and secondary education was more prominent in explaining the fluctuations of economic growth in East Asia, whereas tertiary and vocational education showed positive effects on economic growth.
Abstract: This study adopts a disaggregated regional focus to test for the human capital (HC)-growth nexus in selected nine Asian countries. It utilizes the Empirical Bayesian methodology which addresses not only the heterogeneity issue but it also utilizes the common structural priors of regional countries to yield ‘informationally’ efficient estimates of the impact of HC on the stock and levels of GDP. Various measures of HC are utilized to determine which of these produces a better explanation of economic growth in the two Asian regions. The study finds that primary and secondary education was more prominent in explaining the fluctuations of economic growth in East Asia, whereas tertiary and vocational education showed positive effects on economic growth in South Asia. Government expenditures on education were also found to positively affect economic growth in both regions. The results shed new evidence to establish that the differences in growth rates within East and South Asia are associated with diffe...
20 Feb 2017
TL;DR: In this paper, the impact of WCM on the profitability of non-financial companies in countries of South East Asia, South Asia and East Asia was analyzed using a mathematical model.
Abstract: Purpose
Excessive working capital or paucity of the same can impair the profits and health of an organization. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of working capital management (WCM) on the profitability of firms for a sample comprising of non-financial companies in countries of South East Asia, South Asia and East Asia.
Design/methodology/approach
Analytical modeling has been used to estimate the impact of WCM on profitability with the help of financial data of the companies listed in major indices of the target countries (India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Japan, China, South Korea and Taiwan). The mathematical model presented in the paper has been tested using two-step-generalized method of moments.
Findings
The study reveals a non-linear relationship between profitability of a firm and WCM for 11 economies of the Asia Pacific region.
Research limitations/implications
The results are subject to the differences in the market dynamics of different economies (countries). Moreover, the limitations of the specific statistical method used to verify the model apply to the model too.
Practical implications
The research can be used as a tool by the firms (global as well as local) to ameliorate their performance by understanding the effects of WCM on profitability in different global markets and adjusting their working capital accordingly.
Originality/value
The research on the impact of WCM on profitability of the firms of South East Asia, South Asia and East Asia is a new effort and tries to make the importance of WCM more luciferous.
02 Jan 2017
TL;DR: In this article, a critique of the existing literature on the state's mobilization of financial resources and implementation of industrial policy between the late 1950s and the 1980s is presented, arguing that East Asian industrial transformation must be situated in the peculiar historical contexts of favorable geopolitical imperatives and contested domestic bureaucratic rationality.
Abstract: This paper critically revisits the statist literature that stresses the central role of the developmental state in steering economic development in East Asia. Based on a critique of the existing literature on the state’s mobilization of financial resources and implementation of industrial policy between the late 1950s and the 1980s, it argues that East Asian industrial transformation must be situated in the peculiar historical contexts of favourable geopolitical imperatives and contested domestic bureaucratic rationality. This rethinking is useful because more developing countries are now following the kind of top-down state governance and interventionist policies pursued previously by these East Asian developmental states. And yet they might not give careful considerations to these important historical specificities underpinning the success or failure of such developmentalist policies.
TL;DR: In this paper, a broad historical and geographical framework is presented to evaluate the political-economic evolution of post-Mao China through a broad Historical and Geographical Framework (HGF).
Abstract: The political-economic evolution of post-Mao China has been portrayed as a historically inevitable embrace of neoliberalism; as an exemplification of the East Asian developmental state and as an extension of Soviet New Economic Policy-style state capitalism. This paper evaluates these portrayals through a broad historical and geographical framework. It examines the position of China as a new state after 1949. It then places the shifting logics of socioeconomic regulation in China in relation to (1) the global neoliberal hegemony since the 1980s and (2) the concomitant shifts in the economic policies of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. In so doing, the paper demonstrates how the Communist Party of China creatively adapted and re-purposed regulatory logics from the Washington Consensus and East Asian policies to consolidate its own version of Leninist state-led development.
Dissertation•
05 Jul 2017