Showing papers on "East Asia published in 2018"

The prehistoric peopling of Southeast Asia.

Abstract: The human occupation history of Southeast Asia (SEA) remains heavily debated Current evidence suggests that SEA was occupied by Hoabinhian hunter-gatherers until ~4000 years ago, when farming economies developed and expanded, restricting foraging groups to remote habitats Some argue that agricultural development was indigenous; others favor the "two-layer" hypothesis that posits a southward expansion of farmers giving rise to present-day Southeast Asian genetic diversity By sequencing 26 ancient human genomes (25 from SEA, 1 Japanese Jōmon), we show that neither interpretation fits the complexity of Southeast Asian history: Both Hoabinhian hunter-gatherers and East Asian farmers contributed to current Southeast Asian diversity, with further migrations affecting island SEA and Vietnam Our results help resolve one of the long-standing controversies in Southeast Asian prehistory

Ancient genomes document multiple waves of migration in Southeast Asian prehistory

Abstract: Southeast Asia is home to rich human genetic and linguistic diversity, but the details of past population movements in the region are not well known. Here, we report genome-wide ancient DNA data from 18 Southeast Asian individuals spanning from the Neolithic period through the Iron Age (4100 to 1700 years ago). Early farmers from Man Bac in Vietnam exhibit a mixture of East Asian (southern Chinese agriculturalist) and deeply diverged eastern Eurasian (hunter-gatherer) ancestry characteristic of Austroasiatic speakers, with similar ancestry as far south as Indonesia providing evidence for an expansive initial spread of Austroasiatic languages. By the Bronze Age, in a parallel pattern to Europe, sites in Vietnam and Myanmar show close connections to present-day majority groups, reflecting substantial additional influxes of migrants.

The Developmental State: Dead or Alive?

Abstract: Before the 1980s, the mainstream Western prescription for developing countries to catch up with the West assigned the state a leading role in governing the market. In the 1980s, this shifted to a framework‐providing role in a largely deregulated and maximally open economy. Also in the 1980s, it became apparent that some East Asian capitalist economies were growing so fast that they would become ‘developed’ in the foreseeable future, marking them out as completely exceptional. Mainstream economists explained their success as the result of following the Western prescription, while other scholars attributed this rapid growth to ‘the developmental state’. This essay compares these two explanations of successful economic development, concluding in favour of the latter — with respect to the catch‐up decades. But what happened subsequently? Several scholars who accept the key role of the developmental state in the early period of fast industrialization in East Asia now argue that South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore have transformed from developmental to close‐to‐neoliberal states. This contribution argues that the erstwhile East Asian developmental states have indeed changed, but they have not transformed into neoliberal states. Rather they have adapted and evolved, but still undertake market‐steering, ‘societal mission’ roles well beyond neoliberal limits. The essay also suggests how other developing countries can learn lessons from their experience.

Corporate Governance in Emerging Markets

Abstract: The turning of the 21st century has been marked by reforms in corporate governance practices around the world. Whether due to shocks caused by the economic crisis in East Asia, Russia and Latin America, or by financial scandals in the United States and Europe, prevalent ways of doing business have changed in terms of demands for greater corporate transparency and accountability, shifts in control of ownership, empowerment of new types of owners and so on. Consequently, countries and firms have adapted their corporate governance policies and practices. In this chapter, we explore the current patterns of the ownership structure of publicly listed firms in six emerging countries: Brazil, Chile, South Korea, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland during the first decade of the 21st century, and compare our data with existing ownership research of these countries in the late 1990s. We conclude that although concentration of corporate shareholdings continues to be a common denominator among these emerging countries, the processes and structures controlling firms across countries are remarkably different.

Export Diversification and Ecological Footprint: A Comparative Study on EKC Theory among Korea, Japan, and China

Abstract: This study examines the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis by adopting a country’s ecological footprint as an indicator of environmental degradation in three East Asian countries: Japan, Korea, and China. During the development process, countries intend to balance between stabilizing export demand and maintaining sustainable economic improvement in the context of deteriorating global warming and climate change. The Environmental Kuznets Curve (henceforth, EKC) was originally developed to estimate the correlation between environment condition and economic development. In this paper, we started from the EKC model and adopted an Error Correction Methodology (henceforth, ECM) to estimate the EKC relationships in Japan, Korea (two developed countries), and China (a developing country) over the period of 1990 to 2013. Besides this, instead of only using Gross Domestic Product (henceforth, GDP), two subdivisions of trade diversification—export product diversification and export market diversification—are introduced as proxy variables for economic development in rectification of the EKC. The results demonstrate that both Korea and Japan satisfy the EKC theory by demonstrating an inverted U-shaped relationship between economic development and ecological footprint, while analysis based on data from China does not display the same tendency. For both export product diversification and market diversification, the more diversified the country’s export is, the bigger its ecological footprint. The policy implications of this econometric outcome are also discussed.

Beyond Japan: The Dynamics of East Asian Regionalism

Abstract: Have Japan's relative economic decline and China's rapid ascent altered the dynamics of Asian regionalism? Peter Katzenstein and Takashi Shiraishi, the editors of Network Power, one of the most comprehensive volumes on East Asian regionalism in the 1990s, present here an impressive new collection that brings the reader up to date. This book argues that East Asia's regional dynamics are no longer the result of a simple extension of any one national model. While Japanese institutional structures and political practices remain critically important, the new East Asia now under construction is more than, and different from, the sum of its various national parts. At the outset of a new century, the interplay of Japanese factors with Chinese, American, and other national influences is producing a distinctively new East Asian region. Contributors: Dieter Ernst, East-West Center, Honolulu; H. Richard Friman, Marquette University; Derek Hall, Trent University; Natasha Hamilton-Hart, National University of Singapore; Peter J. Katzenstein, Cornell University; William W. Kelly, Yale University; David Leheny, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Naoko Munakata, Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry; Nobuo Okawara, Kyushu University; T. J. Pempel, University of California, Berkeley; Takashi Shiraishi, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo; Merry I. White, Boston University -- Cornell University Press

Structure and dynamics of a wave train along the wintertime Asian jet and its impact on East Asian climate

Abstract: Based on observational and reanalysis datasets, this study investigates the structure and dynamics of a wave-like atmospheric teleconnection pattern along the wintertime Asian jet and its influence on East Asian climate. Along the jet, the leading empirical orthogonal function (EOF) mode of monthly meridional winds at 250-hPa in winter (December, January, and February) is organized as a wave train with maximum anomalies at upper troposphere. The wave train propagates northeastward from the North Atlantic to Europe, turns southeastward to the Middle East with amplifying amplitude, propagates along the jet to South China, and reaches Japan, which is partly induced by sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the equatorial eastern Pacific and the North Atlantic Oscillation. Over the sector from Europe to the Middle East, the anomalous vortices in the wave train tilt northwestward with height and tilt northeast/southwest in horizontal at 250 hPa, favoring for extracting available potential energy and kinetic energy from mean flows effectively. In addition, there exists a positive feedback between transient eddies and the wave train-related anomalous circulation over the North Atlantic and Europe. These processes help to maintain and amplify the wave train. Moreover, the wave train can exert significant influences on the wintertime climate in East Asia. When it is in the phase with a cyclone (anticyclone) over South China (Japan), rainfall tends to be above normal in South and East China and surface air temperature tends to be above normal around Japan and the Korea peninsula.

Unprecedented climate events: Historical changes, aspirational targets, and national commitments

Abstract: The United Nations Paris Agreement creates a specific need to compare consequences of cumulative emissions for pledged national commitments and aspirational targets of 1.5° to 2°C global warming. We find that humans have already increased the probability of historically unprecedented hot, warm, wet, and dry extremes, including over 50 to 90% of North America, Europe, and East Asia. Emissions consistent with national commitments are likely to cause substantial and widespread additional increases, including more than fivefold for warmest night over ~50% of Europe and >25% of East Asia and more than threefold for wettest days over >35% of North America, Europe, and East Asia. In contrast, meeting aspirational targets to keep global warming below 2°C reduces the area experiencing more than threefold increases to 90% of North America, Europe, East Asia, and much of the tropics—still exhibit sizable increases in the probability of record-setting hot, wet, and/or dry events.

Mesozoic plate subduction in West Pacific and tectono-magmatic response in the East Asian ocean-continent connection zone

Abstract: The Mesozoic impact to the North China and the South China blocks in the East Asian Continental Margin by the West Pacific subduction processes and deep processes, the tectonic, magmatic mineralization and geomorphic evolutionary trends show some similarities, but there are also significant differences beween them, the dynamic mechanism is generally believed to be caused by the Paleo-Pacific Plate subduction. But how they are related is a long-term unresolved question as a conundrum and a focus of geological researches, and a huge controversy is still remained. This paper systematically summarizes the comprehensive achievements of deformation analysis, igneous geochronology, tomography and other field observations in the East Asian Continental Margin in recent decade, briefly discussing the pre-Yanshanian final assembly of blocks and the formation of the unified continental margin in China, and mainly focusing on the review of Jurassic and Cretaceous geological processes in the East Asian Ocean-Continent Connection Zone in the Yanshanian period. The temporal and spatial evolution of structural propagation, age zonation and migration of igneous rocks and huge tectono-morphological inversion in the Earth surface system, combined with deep processes are jointly to put forward: the destruction of the North China Craton was mainly affected by the westard early-stage layerred rollback, delamination and thinning of the deep lithosphere, resulting in early Yanshanian westward migration of tectonism and magmatism following the middle-stage multiple-directional delamination and the late-stage eastward withdrawal of delamination; coevally, the combined effect of the closure of the Okhotsk Ocean to the north and the subduction of the Bangong-Co-Nujiang Ocean to the south made the East Asian Ocean-Continent Connection Zone under the tectonic setting of overall compression, the asthenosphere upwelling at depth continued an eastward migration to drive lithosphere continuously eastward and periodical, alternative extension and compression. The South China Block experienced the westward flat subduction at early stage, resulting in the westward propagation of deformation and magmatism, following the late two-stage delamination to induce the eastward tectono-magmatism. In summary, the tectono-magmatic differences between the North China and South China blocks are caused by their difference of the deep mantle processes and the East Asian plate superconvergence.

Ancient genomes document multiple waves of migration in Southeast Asian prehistory

Abstract: Southeast Asia is home to rich human genetic and linguistic diversity, but the details of past population movements in the region are not well known. Here, we report genome-wide ancient DNA data from thirteen Southeast Asian individuals spanning from the Neolithic period through the Iron Age (4100-1700 years ago). Early agriculturalists from Man Bac in Vietnam possessed a mixture of East Asian (southern Chinese farmer) and deeply diverged eastern Eurasian (hunter-gatherer) ancestry characteristic of Austroasiatic speakers, with similar ancestry as far south as Indonesia providing evidence for an expansive initial spread of Austroasiatic languages. In a striking parallel with Europe, later sites from across the region show closer connections to present-day majority groups, reflecting a second major influx of migrants by the time of the Bronze Age.

Gender differences in happiness: The effects of marriage, social roles, and social support in East Asia.

Abstract: Studies in Western countries and cross-national comparisons have shown that there are several important factors contributing to the level of happiness of individuals. Utilizing the East Asian Social Survey Health Module (2010), the present study examines this relationship in four East Asian countries: China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. East Asian countries are an interesting case for this inquiry, due to the cultural contexts such as traditional gender relations. Therefore, we focus on gender differences in predictors of happiness of individuals and attempt to answer four questions: (1) Do gender differences in happiness exist in East Asian countries? (2) Does marriage still serve as the norm and thus contribute to individual’s happiness? (3) Does conforming to traditional gender roles (i.e., employment and parenthood) contribute to individual’s happiness? (4) Is the availability of social support (i.e., emotional, financial, and instrumental) positively associated with individual’s happiness? We find that there are gender differences in the determinants of happiness in East Asian countries. The result also indicates that marital status is a strong indicator of happiness in East Asian countries, especially for men but not necessarily for women. In addition, full time employment is positively associated with men’s happiness in China but negatively associated with women’s in Japan. Finally, social support is positively associated with individual’s happiness, especially for women.

Technological catch-up by east Asian firms: Trends, issues, and future research agenda

Abstract: This paper reviews extant research on technological catch-up of East Asian firms, which has recently emerged as an important issue. We review 76 articles on technological catch-up in the East Asian context published in 17 journals over 23 years (1995–2017), covering the academic disciplines of strategic management, international business, entrepreneurship, technology and innovation management, and economics. Based on a systematic analysis of this literature, we develop an overarching framework to this topic. We then identify the major gaps in the literature and suggest areas for future research on technological catch-up of Asian firms.

Political Party Systems and Democratic Development in East and Southeast Asia : Volume II: East Asia

Abstract: Party politics and democratic development in East and Southeast Asia - a comparative view, Wolfgang Sachsenroder China, Baogang He Japan, Tomohito Shinoda Korea, Yong-Ho Kim Taiwan, Jiann-Jong Guo, Shih-Hsin Huang and Min-Hsiu Chiang.

An overview of the influence of atmospheric circulation on the climate in arid and semi-arid region of Central and East Asia

Abstract: The arid and semi-arid (ASA) region of Asia occupies a large area in the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, of which the main body is the ASA region of Central and East Asia (CEA). In this region, the climate is fragile and the environment is sensitive. The eastern part of the ASA region of CEA is located in the marginal zone of the East Asian monsoon and is jointly influenced by westerly circulation and the monsoon system, while in the western part of the ASA of CEA, the climate is mainly controlled by westerly circulation. To understand and predict the climate over this region, it is necessary to investigate the influence of general circulation on the climate system over the ASA region of CEA. In this paper, recent progress in understanding the relationship between the general circulation and climate change over the ASA region is systematically reviewed. Previous studies have demonstrated that atmospheric circulation represents a significant factor in climate change over the ASA region of CEA. In the years with a strong East Asian summer monsoon, the water vapor flux increases and precipitation is abundant in the southeastern part of Northwest China. The opposite situation occurs in years when the East Asian summer monsoon is weak. With the weakening of the East Asian summer monsoon, the climate tends to dry over the semi-arid region located in the monsoon marginal zone. Recently, owing to the strengthening of the South Asian monsoon, more water vapor has been transported to the ASA region of Asia. The Plateau summer monsoon intensity and the precipitation in summer exhibit a significant positive correlation in Central Asia but a negative correlation in North China and Mongolia. A significant positive correlation also exists between the westerly index and the temperature over the arid region of CEA. The change in the westerly circulation may be the main factor affecting precipitation over the arid region of Central Asia.

A role of the Atlantic Ocean in predicting summer surface air temperature over North East Asia

Abstract: We assess the ability of the DePreSys3 prediction system to predict the summer (JJAS) surface-air temperature over North East Asia. DePreSys3 is based on a high resolution ocean–atmosphere coupled climate prediction system (~ 60 km in the atmosphere and ~ 25 km in the ocean), which is full-field initialized from 1960 to 2014 (26 start-dates). We find skill in predicting surface-air temperature, relative to a long-term trend, for 1 and 2–5 year lead-times over North East Asia, the North Atlantic Ocean and Eastern Europe. DePreSys3 also reproduces the interdecadal evolution of surface-air temperature over the North Atlantic subpolar gyre and North East Asia for both lead times, along with the strong warming that occurred in the mid-1990s over both areas. Composite analysis reveals that the skill at capturing interdecadal changes in North East Asia is associated with the propagation of an atmospheric Rossby wave, which follows the subtropical jet and modulates surface-air temperature from Europe to Eastern Asia. We hypothesise that this ‘circumglobal teleconnection’ pattern is excited over the Atlantic Ocean and is related to Atlantic multi-decadal variability and the associated changes in precipitation over the Sahel and the subtropical Atlantic Ocean. This mechanism is robust for the 2–5 year lead-time. For the 1 year lead-time the Pacific Ocean also plays an important role in leading to skill in predicting SAT over Northeast Asia. Increased temperatures and precipitation over the western Pacific Ocean was found to be associated with a Pacific-Japan like-pattern, which can affect East Asia’s climate.

Migration Industries and the State: Guestwork Programs in East Asia

Abstract: Studies of migration industries have demonstrated the critical role that border-spanning businesses play in international mobility. To date, most research has focused on meso-level entrepreneurial initiatives that operate in a legal gray area under a state that provides an environment for their growth or decline. Extending this work, the present article advances a taxonomy of the ways states partner with migration industries based on the nature of their relationship (formal or informal) and the type of actor involved (for-profit or non-profit). The analysis focuses on low-paid temporary migrant work programs — schemes that require substantial state involvement to function — and examines cases from the East Asian democracies with strong economies that have become net importers of migrants: Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea. The conclusion, incorporating cases beyond Asia, explicates the properties and limits of each arrangement based on the degree of formality and importance of profit.

Sub-seasonal prediction over East Asia during boreal summer using the ECCC monthly forecasting system

Abstract: A useful sub-seasonal forecast is of great societal and economical value in the highly populated East Asian region, especially during boreal summer when frequent extreme events such as heat waves and persistent heavy rainfalls occur. Despite recent interest and development in sub-seasonal prediction, it is still unclear how skillful dynamical forecasting systems are in East Asia beyond 2 weeks. In this study we evaluate the sub-seasonal prediction over East Asia during boreal summer in the operational monthly forecasting system of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).Results show that the climatological intra-seasonal oscillation (CISO) of East Asian summer monsoonis reasonably well captured. Statistically significant forecast skill of 2-meter air temperature (T2m) is achieved for all lead times up to week 4 (days 26–32) over East China and Northeast Asia, which is consistent with the skill in 500 hPa geopotential height (Z500). Significant forecast skill of precipitation, however, is limited to the week of days 5–11. Possible sources of predictability on the sub-seasonal time scale are analyzed. The weekly mean T2m anomaly over East China is found to be linked to an eastward propagating extratropical Rossby wave from the North Atlantic across Europe to East Asia. The Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) and El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) are also likely to influence the forecast skill of T2m at the sub-seasonal timescale over East Asia.

Is Transportation Infrastructure Important to the One Belt One Road (OBOR) Initiative? Empirical Evidence from the Selected Asian Countries

Abstract: The One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative is implemented to improve the linkage between China and its neighboring countries in terms of economic ties, connectivity, partnership, and security cooperation. The crucial challenge encountered in OBOR initiative is the different gauge standards from different countries in the development of railway along the Silk Road. Another issue arose from the regulation of education sector in the aspect of quality, cost, and efficiency. To the best of our knowledge, there is still lack of study on the transportation infrastructure and education towards the GDP in the selected Asian countries, especially for Central Asia. Therefore, this study aims to examine the impact of OBOR initiative and its importance towards economic growth by further investigating the determinants such as transportation infrastructure, education, labor, trade, and inflation rate. This study employs panel data analysis using the annual data from the period of 2000–2015. The selected Asian countries are divided into three regions, namely Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan), ASEAN (Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia), and East Asia (China, Mongolia). Besides, we use fixed effect model (FEM) to obtain the results based on the support of Hausman test and Poolability F-test. The findings reveal that transportation infrastructure possess a positive effect on GDP. Surprisingly, education is negatively related to GDP. With this, policy makers are suggested to encourage OBOR countries to expand and upgrade their system in terms of transportation infrastructure, human capital, culture, and education. In future studies, the advanced model is recommended to investigate the pre- and post-efficiency of OBOR initiative.

End-of-Life Care in ICUs in East Asia: A Comparison Among China, Korea, and Japan.

Abstract: Objectives:To compare physicians’ perceptions and practice of end-of-life care in the ICU in three East Asian countries cultures similarly rooted in Confucianism.Design:A structured and scenario-based survey of physicians who managed ICU patients from May 2012 to December 2012.Setting:ICUs in China,

Authoritarian Capitalism: Sovereign Wealth Funds and State-Owned Enterprises in East Asia and Beyond

Abstract: Since 1945, the liberal-democratic model of capitalism spread across the globe, ultimately prevailing over communism. Over the past two decades, a new statist-authoritarian model has begun diffusing across East Asia. Rather than rejecting capitalism, authoritarian leaders harness it to uphold their rule. Based on extensive research of East Asia's largest corporations and sovereign wealth funds, this book argues that the most aggressive version of this model does not belong to China. Rather, it can be found in Malaysia and Singapore. Although these countries are small, the implications are profound because one-third of all countries in the world possess the same type of regime. With an increasing number of these authoritarian regimes establishing sovereign wealth funds, their ability to intervene in the corporate sectors of other countries is rapidly expanding.