Asian Countries In Terms Research Articles

Assessment of the Impact of Chinese and Indian Economic Activities in Africa: A Particular Focus on Ethiopia’s Economy

In Africa, China and India are considered to be following a donor–recipient approach and are explicitly criticised for exploiting the continent’s energy resources. This study focuses on the presence of the Asian countries in terms of institutional theory, historical connections, instrumental motivations and political engagement with Africa in general, and with Ethiopia in particular. India offers non-pecuniary value, such as scholarship and technical assistance, whereas China focuses on a wider range of economic aids and non-pecuniary packages; thus, both countries are well positioned in Africa. This study is an exercise audit of the impact of Chinese and Indian economic activities on Ethiopia’s economic growth and examines the period from 1992 to 2016 from historical and contemporary perspectives. This study also includes a case study of members of Ethiopian society’s attitudes towards the presence and prospects of Chinese and Indian investment projects and its perceptions of these projects. Although some long-term developmental impacts remain uncertain, this study argues that the presence of the Asian drivers has favoured Ethiopia in many investment sectors and concludes that the overall impact of the Asian drivers on Ethiopia is beneficial. To collect primary data, individual and group interviews and discussions were conducted.

Governance Indicators for Strategic Business Decisions: Diversity of Western Asian Countries in Terms of Democracy

The main objective of the research is to configure the countries of Western Asia from the standpoint of governance with a particular focus on democracy indicator. We are interested in the government indicators because since the times of Washington consensus the foreign aid paradigm has changed: a priority is given to funding development programs in countries with good governance. In order to measure the progress there is the need to quantify differences in governments among nations and to measure its quality. Governance indicators and the Democracy Index as well, are also supposed to help business leaders in strategic decisions. Comparative analysis technique and a concept of correlation are used as a methodology of the research while configuring the countries of Western Asia in terms of democracy. It is verified whether the more democratic countries in the region are the more trustful and prosperous societies. It is debated whether there is the need for democracy so as to reach good governance and economic growth.

Corporate Social Responsibility Impact on Financial Performance of Bank’s: Evidence from Asian Countries

The basic aim of this research is to investigate the effect of corporate social responsibility(CSR) on financial performance of banks in various Asian countries. The data are collected to analyze the performance of banks from respective bank’s annual reports for used variables because study is quantitative in nature. Further for analysis purpose, E-views used to apply correlation and regression on data to check the corporate social responsibility (CSR) impact on bank’s performance. The study results explain that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) shows positive and significant impact on financial performance of banks. This indicates that banks are paying intention in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and even bank’s customers are playing similar role in bank’s practices. The study findings confirmed the link of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and financial performance of banks. The study is limited in selection of sample size from all Asian countries in terms of banks and period. The data can be collected of additional banks from other countries for further research. The main contribution of this study is addition in value to the existing literature by exploring corporate social responsibility activates and bank’s financial performance and also increase the bank’s efficiency.

Global Marketing, Gender and Family Business in Asia: A Literature Review

ABSTRACTIn this article, we explore the recent trends in global marketing, gender and family entrepreneurship in Asia. Taking into account previous contributions, this article aims to provide a better portrait about research on global marketing, gender and family entrepreneurship in Asian countries and future directions. The article presents a few comparative analyses for Asian countries in terms of gender representation in the entrepreneurship sector in recent years as well as the succession in larger family businesses in Asia.

Development and Structural Changes in the Economies of Central Asian Countries

The main goal of this paper is to study current condition of economic growth, and investigate which factors are more important for each individual Central Asian countries by measuring the proportional share of country-specific properties. In this paper, it is analyzed value added process provided by agriculture, industry, services in GDP creation, as well as studied by the correlation between GDP and sectoral growth for each country. Moreover, monitored the gross domestic product of Central Asian countries in terms of its creation, i.e. household consumption, gross fixed investments, government consumption and the balance of external economic activities. The main attention focuses to identify trends regarding to the transformation of the economies.

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT IN L2 CLASSROOM IN CHINA: THE CURRENT SITUATION, PREDICAMENT AND FUTURE

Abstract : With the reform of English education in China since 2001, formative assessment (FA) has found its way into the key educational policy documents such as National English Curriculum Standards for Basic Education (NECS for BE) (MoE, 2001 & 2011), National English Curriculum Standards for Senior High School (NECS for SHS) (MoE, 2003) and College English Curriculum Requirements (CECR) (MoE, 2004 & 2007) and therefore aroused the interests from both researchers and teachers. To understand FA development in China over the past 12 years, a synthesis study was conducted to analyze the current situation and predicament of FA in China based on the published FA articles in Chinese journals and educational newspapers from 2001 to 2012 and the published FA monographs and unpublished Ph.D.dissertations collected from various sources so far. The study shows FA is inadequately researched, poorly understood and improperly implemented in China. It is believed that the predicament of FA may be attributable to a variety of factors such as inadequate financial support, lack of quality research into various aspects of FA, imbalance of quality research focus, limited knowledge of the latest developments of FA, the shortage of L2-related FA research, the tension between FA and Summative Assessment (SA) in the dominant testing culture of China, the time-consuming nature of FA and lack of professional FA training. To solve these problems, by drawing on the local context and international experiences, this paper puts forward the following suggestions: (1) More financial investment supporting balanced quality research into important issues of FA; (2) Clarification of FA concept; (3)Study of FA in relation to underlying L2theories; (4)Promotion of student SA performance throughFA; (5) Development of ready-to-use FA; and (6) Strengthening professional development for FA. The context-based proposal for FA could provide a reference for other contexts similar to China, especially the Asian countries in terms of economical development and/or educational culture. Key words: formative assessment in China, context-based proposal, FA research

Scientific Productivity, Impact and Collaboration of the Top Asian Countries in Scopus During 1996-2010

The current research aims to investigate scientific productivity and collaboration of the top 10 productive Asian countries in Scopus database from 1996 to 2010 via scientometric approach. Those documents specified one of the 10 Asian counties (China, Japan, India, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Iran, Thailand and Malaysia) as their affiliated country, published during 1996-2010 and indexed in Scopus database, were selected as the sample of the study. The results of the study revealed that China has the highest number of publications among 10 top Asian countries. Over the period under consideration, 1124627 publications of Chinese researchers were indexed in Scopus. After China, Japan has the 2nd rank in scientific productivity among Asian countries which placed this country as the 4th rank worldwide in Scopus after USA, England, and China. Reults showed that Hong Kong clearly has the highest rate of cited publications, followed by Japan and singapore. Additionally, the most central and prolific countries in the collaboration network of the top Asian countries in terms of degree centrality are China, Japan and Hong Kong.

Articulating Intra-Asian Urbanism: The Production of Satellite Cities in Phnom Penh

Privately built satellite cities are becoming an increasingly common urban development concept in peri-urban areas of South-east Asian cities. While these projects are beginning to receive academic attention, the majority of studies have a limited capacity to explain why and how they are produced. Most satellite cities built in the past five years have some degree of foreign influence from other East Asian countries in terms of invested capital, planning concepts or urban design and architecture. The majority of this influence originates from within the East Asian region. This paper argues that an investigation which incorporates both the relational and the territorial can increase an understanding of the production of satellite cities. This argument is illustrated with empirical research on two satellite city projects in Phnom Penh, Cambodia: one by a Korean developer and another by Indonesian conglomerate Ciputra.

Status and prospects of nuclear power in Asian countries

This paper documents the relative position or standing of Asian countries in terms of nuclear energy power production and compares it with the rest of the world, especially North America and Western Europe.

Prospects for Closer Economic Cooperation in Northeast Asia

AbstractIn contrast to developments in other world regions, efforts to institutionalize regional economic cooperation in East Asia have been weak. Though Southeast Asian economies have taken action toward trade liberalization (ASEAN Free Trade Area), the major economies of the region such as China, Japan, and Korea have not been part of any formal trade groupings until recently. However, given the slow pace of progress within AFTA and the importance of the Northeast Asian countries in terms of weight in the Asian economy, a de facto Northeast Asian economic cooperation is a necessary condition for East Asian integration. This paper investigates the substance of recent economic cooperation in Northeast Asia. The trilateral economic cooperation is analyzed through examination of trade and direct investment links for 1990–2004, and estimation of selected determinants of direct investment, in particular the relationship between trade and FDI. Estimation results suggest that the main driving forces for direct investment outflows from the source country have been the falling‐off of exchange rate risk, the level of the nominal bilateral exchange rates, growth rate of the recipient country, and the per capita GDP gap between source and host countries. Bilateral trade has been shown to be statistically insignificant.

Strangers No Longer

The prime ministers recognize that the bilateral partnership of trust and friendship fostered over the years between the peoples of Canada and Japan, founded on such shared basic values as democracy, freedom, and promotion of the market economy remains solid, but... still has a potential yet to be realized.1Where has Japan gone in the Canadian psyche? Nowadays, the talk that we hear about Asia is mostly about China. CBC news has a China bureau in Shanghai but no correspondent stationed in Tokyo. China's growing markets keep grabbing the attention of Canadian businesspeople. The rise of China, we are told, is welcome to Canada because of the enormous economic opportunities it provides to Canadians. In fact, China is now Canada's second-largest trade partner, dethroning Japan, which had occupied that position for a long time. In the midst of all this China fever, Japan has practically disappeared, so it seems, from Canada's radar. Japan has also seen the deterioration of its trade relations with Canada, according to some Asia watchers. Take, for example, two recent reports issued by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. In one, Anna Turinov and Yuen Pau Woo acknowledge the dissatisfaction of analysts and businesspeople over stagnation in recent trade between Canada and Japan.2 In the other, Carin Holroyd laments Canada's complacency when it comes to trade with Japan.3At the same time, Canada's ties with Japan are qualitatively different from its ties with any other Asian country, including China. Canada and Japan now feel comfortable as partners - true partners - tackling some common issues outside their bilateral relations while learning from each other as they share basic values such as democracy. They can trust each other, something that is unique in Canada's relations with Asian countries. This trust stems from cooperation in the area of security since the mid-1990s, cooperation that significantly deepened ties between Canada and Japan, which until then had largely been characterized by socioeconomic transactions. The contemporary Canada-Japan relationship is thus deeper and more multifaceted, in comparison both with Canada's relationships with other Asian countries and with Canada's previous ties with Japan.Narrowly focusing on economic dimensions misses this fundamental point about the current Canada- Japan relationship, whether we are absorbed by China fever or lament the seeming stagnation or complacency of CanadaJapan trade relations. Such a narrow interpretation of events is doubly problematic. On the one hand, it glosses over the critical fact that, for Canada, Japan stands out from other Asian countries in terms of security cooperation and trustworthiness based on common political values and identities. On the other hand, it overlooks the fundamental qualitative transformation - the identity shift - that the Canada- Japan relationship has undergone in the past 15 years.As we enter the second decade of the 21st century, Asia is still a strange place to many Canadians, including those in the federal government. The feeling is mutual: many Asians see Canada as a stranger, even if Ottawa claims that Canada is a Pacific country. These Asians may politely point out that Canada does not have a real interest - security interest, that is - in the region. Strangers cannot trust each other. Asia and Canada typically do not share a true sense of common bonding. They do not share an identity, in other words. After all, they come from two different civilizations.But the contemporary Canada- Japan relationship is an exception to this general picture. It stands out from the rest because of its qualitative dimension - the existence of mutual trust, good will, and confidence, especially in government-to-government relations. Japan remains Canada's most trustworthy and reliable partner in the vast Asian landscape. It follows that Japan is an asset for Canada when Ottawa engages in Asian affairs, not a source of serious policy problems. …

Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) status of Asian countries and its implementation in non-clinical safety studies in pharmaceutical drug development

Non-clinical animal studies to assess the safety of compounds under development have to comply with Good Laboratory Practice (GLP). The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has established the Mutual Acceptance of Data (MAD) system in OECD member countries for the mutual acceptance of non-clinical safety study data. Since 1997 non-OECD-member countries have also been able to participate in the MAD system, if the country meets the level of standardized compliance with OECD GLP. Thus, several Asian non-OECD countries are trying to develop their GLP standards in order to become official members of the MAD system. Pharmaceutical companies face significant expense in the drug-development process, including the cost of non-clinical safety studies; in response, companies in Asian countries are seeking to establish GLP facilities to provide cost-effective services for drug development. To assess the quality and cost of GLP performance in Asian countries, in this study we approached GLP facilities in a number of Asian countries to obtain price and quality information on a 'virtual compound' to be assessed in non-clinical safety studies. Also, the development status of GLP in Asian countries in terms of policy and infrastructure was analyzed. We found that, among Asian countries, India and Singapore may be candidates for participation in te MAD system in terms of their compliance with GLP, language, and costs. These findings will be beneficial to pharmaceutical companies planning GLP studies in Asian countries.

Malignant lymphomas in Waldeyer's ring in Asian countries: Association with histologic types and Epstein-Barr virus

The present study examines clinicopathologic findings and their association with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in Waldeyer's ring lymphomas (WRLs) from Indonesia (91 cases), P.R. China (31 cases), Korea (101 cases) and Japan (61 cases). Waldeyer's ring (WR) was categorized into upper and lower parts comprising the pharyngeal and tubal tonsils (upper WR) or palatine and lingual tonsils (lower WR), respectively. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) pre-dominated in the lower WR in all countries at a frequency of 78.9-100%. Natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (NKTCL) was predominant in the upper WR in China, Korea and Japan at a frequency of 50-62.5%, while in Indonesia it occcurred at a frequency of less than 10%. On the whole, patients with NKTCL were significantly younger (median 43 years) than those with DLBCL (57 years). Patients with DLBCL in the lower WR were significantly younger in Indonesia (median 50 years) than in China (63 years) or Japan (69 years). The percentage of EBV-positive cases was much higher in NKTCL (78.6-100%) than in DLBCL (2.2-6%). This study evaluates the differences between East and Southeast Asian countries in terms of histologic type and age distribution in WRLs categorized by the location of the lesions in WR.

Hepatitis C virus genotype distribution in Myanmar: Predominance of genotype 6 and existence of new genotype 6 subtype

This study was performed to determine the prevalence and distribution of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes in Myanmar. A total of 1333 peripheral blood samples were collected from four different border cities of Myanmar. The anti-HCV antibody-positive serum samples were identified. HCV was genotyped by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, direct DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis on the partial core genome. The overall prevalence of HCV infection was 11.6% (154/1333). Regionally, it was 13.5% (47/349) in the north-eastern city, 12.8% (64/501) in the north-western city, 4.2% (16/380) in the southern city and 26.2% (27/103) in the western city. HCV was genotyped in 145/154 (94.2%) samples. Genotype 6 was the most prevalent genotype in this study (71/145, 49%), followed by genotype 3 (57/145, 39.3%), genotype 1 (16/145, 11%), and genotype 2 (1/145, 0.7%). Genotype 6 was mostly found in the northern cities and genotype 3 in the southern and western cities of Myanmar. Multiple HCV genotypes/subtypes were successfully characterized as 1a, 1b, 2a, 3a, 3b, 6m, 6n, and a new 6 subtype. Among them, subtype 6n was the most predominant subtype (38.6%), followed by subtype 3b (29.7%), 3a (9.6%), 6m (9%), 1b (6.9%), 1a (4.1%), new 6 subtype (1.4%) and 2a (0.7%). Subtype 6n was more widely distributed in the northern cities whereas subtype 3b was more common in the western city. The newly discovered genotype 6 subtype was from the northern cities. The results indicate there are regional differences of HCV genotype distribution in Myanmar. There is a distinct geographic variation from other South-East Asian countries in terms of the existence of the new genotype 6 subtype.

The first Asian Lesbian Film and Video Festival in Taipei celebrates a new form of social activism

The first Asian Lesbian Film and Video Festival, held in Taipei in August 2005, brought forth media art, social activism and cultural exchange on one occasion. It provided a rare opportunity to showcase the experience of Asian lesbians, which is vastly different from the experience of those in Western countries. While there were great similarities in their love experiences among the 36 Asian lesbian shorts selected, they also reflected the differences among the Asian countries in terms of local development of tongzhi culture and community as well as the visibility of tongzhis. Among the Chinese communities, Taiwan was seen to be at the forefront of the development of tongzhi culture, Mainland China was new to the movement, and Hong Kong was somewhere in‐between. Japanese and Korean videos took a critical and reflective attitude towards social regulations and mainstream thoughts, although witty and farcical at times. While the Filipinos show a more tolerant attitude to the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) community, the major oppressive forces on lesbians were poverty, gender inequality and sexual violence. Only one Israeli documentary was shown at the film festival, which focused on lesbians living in the Jewish Orthodox traditions. The film won international acclaim and attracted much public attention to the issue. Films and videos were found to be an effective means to transcend language barriers and cultural differences for a true cross‐cultural exchange among Asian lesbians. During the few days of festival, a ‘queer nation’, not defined by nationalities or languages, but by the pursuit of love expressions, was constructed around The Taipei House.

Science and Technology Development Indicators in the Arab Region

In this article the OECD (1997) definition of S&T indicators is used, as well as the descriptive and comparative approaches to S&T development in the Arab Gulf and Mediterranean countries. It was found that neither the Gulf nor the Mediterranean countries possessed sufficient financial and human resources necessary to promote S&T for development. Hence, they have manifestly lagged behind the rapidly advancing Asian countries in terms of S&T input and output indicators; the poor S&T input indicators lead to poor S&T output indicators. In both regions most R&D and S&T activities are allocated within the public and university sectors, with very small contribution from the private sector. When comparing S&T indicators in the two regions, the great disparity in terms of S&T input and output indicators is noted. Despite the high standard of economic development as measured by GDP per capita income and HDI in the Gulf countries, the Mediterranean countries show better performance in terms of most of S&T input and output indicators. Moreover, there is very limited scientific cooperation within and between the Gulf and Mediterranean countries and between them and other Arab countries.

Economic freedom in South Asia with special reference to Sri Lanka

This research note traces the origin of the concept of economic freedom and measurement of the Economic Freedom of the World index in different countries. It then highlights the position of different South Asian countries in terms of economic freedom in general, and of Sri Lanka in particular, before identifying the deficiencies in the economic freedom index pertaining to the latter. The paper argues that, in the case of Sri Lanka, changes in the ratings of some of the subcomponents of the economic freedom index over time are not credible, especially as the impact of the civil war on economic freedom was not taken into consideration. Although the paper agrees that the economic freedom index is a valuable measure, it needs to be refined to incorporate intra‐country differences and include additional criteria (such as media freedom) to become more relevant.

Beyond Orientalist Discourses: Media and Democracy in Asia

This editorial introduction provides a framework for the later articles. It is concerned to address critically a number of the ways in which the issue of media and democracy in Asia is currently discussed. The sheer variety of the experience of Asia is emphasised, and explanations that seek to account for the past and present shortcomings of democratisation in some Asian countries in terms of general categories are found to be wanting. For example, the use of idea of the influence Confucianism to explain important social phenomena is shown to be insensitive the complexity of the ideas that are lumped together under the single term “Confucianism” and to the evidence both of differences in media behaviour observable in societies undoubtedly influenced by it and to similarities across countries with different backgrounds. The introduction goes on to consider some of the problems about the relationship between state, media, market, globalization and democracy that remain to be explored in detail. It is pointed out that none of these categories is self-evident, and that one and the same phenomenon can have a different meaning in different social circumstances.