Asian Dragons Research Articles

Analysis of Growth Factors of the Four Asian Dragons Following the Asian Financial Crisis

Purpose - This study aims to identify implications from a factor decomposition analysis of the growth structure of four Asian dragons, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, which have re-emerged as key regions in the fourth industrial revolution and the global value chain.
 Design/Methodology/Approach - With the Translog Production Function employed as the analysis model, the Stochastic Frontier Analysis model was used to derive total factor productivity (TFP), which was decomposed into four factors including returns to scale, technological changes, technical efficiency, and others.
 Findings - The results of the analysis conducted over different periods indicate that during periods of high growth, the economy’s scale effect largely contributed to total factor productivity. However, it became evident that the effect of technological changes had become increasingly important after going through the foreign exchange and financial crises.
 Research Implications - The new growth momentum in these four regions suggests a need to invest in human capital, research and development, and other areas to cope with the low-growth era. Although past high-growth was attributed to the returns to scale effect, the economic structures shifted in the direction of enhancing efficiency, and the effect of technological changes became a driving force while going through the crises. These results show a need to focus on technological advancement through active research and development investment to increase total factor productivity.

Research on the Supply-side Structure Reform of China's Company Law

At present and in the future, China's economic development faces some problems about supply and demand, but the main contradiction lies in the supply side. Facts have proved that China's problem is that the supply cannot change with the changing demand, that is, the lack of effective supply capacity leads to a large number of "demand spillovers", leading to a serious outflow of consumption capacity. To solve these structural problems, people must make efforts from the supply side and find the right position in the world supply market. In other words, Chinese government must take improving the supply side structure as the main direction of attack, and realize the leap from the low level of supply and demand balance to the high level of supply and demand balance. Among them, the company system plays a vital role in the company's survival and supply-side structural reform. In 1993, after 30 years of double-digit growth, South Korea ranked among the "four Asian dragons" from the poorest country in the world, and its per capita income rose from 82 to 8449 dollars. In this process, all countries in the world clearly believe that the supply-side structural reform of the Jin Yongsan government is indispensable. At present, some problems faced by Chinese companies are also unprecedented. The reform of China's company law is not simply a change of departmental rules, but more importantly, it can improve the competitiveness of the country and social reform and development through the revision of the company law. In this case, this paper uses the methods of comparative study and case analysis to analyze the common problems of the company system, in order to deepen the supply-side reform of the system and promote the comprehensive modernization of the company law.

Molding the East Asian Dragons: The Creation and Transformation of Various Ecological and Political Discourses

Molding the East Asian Dragons: The Creation and Transformation of Various Ecological and Political Discourses

Can Developing Countries ‘Catch Up’ with Weak S&T Eco-Systems: Some Insights from Dynamic Asian Economies

The post-war era, particularly from the mid-1980s, can be seen as a turning point for various Asian countries. Japanese success in industrialisation based on technology transfer from the industrialised West and evolution of unique endogenous scientific and technological capacities led scholars to conceptualise ‘late industrialisation’ and ‘catching up’ strategies. In a large measure, the ‘East Asian Miracle’ led to some erroneous misconceptions on science, technology, and innovation (STI) policies. Various writings and commentators from Africa, Asia and Latin America advocated to follow the path of East Asian Dragons. These writings begun to assume that countries can build innovation systems or dynamic technological sectors of economy within their respective countries, without paying much attention to building and strengthening science and technology (S&T) eco-systems. There are now clear STI policy signals which point to the significance of building science and technology systems before fully embarking on innovation policies. Drawing on some exemplary cases, this essay will explore the importance of S&T systems in the context of developing countries.

Net Transmitter of Stock Market Volatility and Safe Haven for Portfolio Investors in the Asian Dragons

The return and volatility spillover effects on Asian Dragons were investigated in this study. Yahoo Finance provided the monthly statistics (from August 1997 to December 2020). This study used a generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity–autoregressive moving average (GARCH–ARMA) model. The results showed that return spillover effects were observed in unidirectional relationships, but volatility spillover effects were shown in both unidirectional and bidirectional connections. The TSEC Weighted Index (TWII) and the Hang Seng Index (HSI) were net stock market return transmitters to other markets, whereas the Straits Times Index (STI) and the Korean Composite Stock Price Indices (KOSPI) were net receivers. Simultaneously, the STI was a significant net transmitter of stock market volatility to other markets, according to research. As a result, the KOSPI has become a safe haven for portfolio investors. Portfolio managers and overseas investors who are reviewing investment and asset allocation decisions should be aware of these facts.

EFFICIENCY OF THE STOCK MARKETS AFTER THE 2008 FINANCIAL CRISIS: EVIDENCE FROM THE FOUR ASIAN DRAGONS

The efficient market hypothesis (EMH) claims that in an efficient market where prices of securities fully reflect their intrinsic values, it is not possible to make excess returns with any investment tools or strategies. A natural question then to ask is: has the EMH claim become obsolete or irrelevant after the 2008 financial crisis? To address this issue, this study employs three popular technical trading rules to investigate, using the 10-year daily price data after the crisis, the efficiency of the stock markets of Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan — jointly known as the four Asian dragons. Our rationale for using these rules is that if they are effective in exploiting profit opportunities, then these markets are not efficient. Our results show that, with a few minor exceptions in Hong Kong and Singapore, none of the three rules performs better than a buy-andhold strategy. Given these results, we conclude that the EMH claim is still alive and well in these four stock markets. In practice, many corporations operating in the four Asian Dragons typically turn to banks for financing. Hence, an important implication of this study is that, given the efficiency of the four markets, these corporations should instead step up the use of the stock markets to raise the needed funds, which is more likely to lower their cost of financing.

Social–environmental analysis of estuary water quality in a populous urban area

Asia has been experiencing rapid industrialization, urbanization, and economic growth in recent decades. Taiwan was one of the 4 Asian dragons, regions that experienced rapid industrialization and exceptionally high growth rates between the early 1960s and 1990s, but at a high cost to the environment, and thus, it was heavily polluted. Estuaries are highly dynamic and diverse ecosystems that provide multiple ecosystem services that maintain marine ecosystem health and benefit humankind. However, estuaries and the ecosystem services they provide are rapidly degrading due to increasing pressures and changes, especially those in populous, urban areas. Social–environmental analysis integrates scientific information and social activities and thereby provides a comprehensive understanding for the multiparty, joint decision-making processes necessary for successful, sustainable management. In this study, 60 years of economic data and 26 years of water quality data are examined using social–environmental frameworks, the driver-pressure-state-impact-response framework, and the systems approach framework to analyze the management of water quality for an estuary in a populous urban area, the Tamsui River estuary, in Taiwan. Potential societal responses and management measures are identified that can be implemented to reduce human activities, diminish pressure, ameliorate water quality, and enhance the state of the estuarine systems in the Tamsui River and its estuary. The recommended societal responses are increased education, the establishment of community-based river rangers, wetland and mangrove conservation, the development of a circular economy, the implementation of governance measures, and improvements in monitoring and assessments. Improvement of the water quality in the Tamsui River estuary increases the hedonic value of property for people who live near the riverside. Currently, the number of tourists and tourism-based businesses have increased. Nevertheless, improvements in water quality in the Tamsui River estuary bring well-being and benefits that could be further enhanced to increase the cost/benefit relation of the management measures.

The Middle Income Trap: A Case Study of Korea and Lesson for Vietnam

In the 20th century, Asia was not only famous for war, poverty and backwardness but also for the emerging of Asian dragons like South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. These economies have successfully escaped from the middle income group to join high income economies with amazing growth rate. In 2008, Vietnam officially entered the group of middle-income countries, escaping from poverty and underdevelopment with rapidly increasing average income. However, the signs of "middle income trap" have also emerged. Among the four Asian dragons, South Korea has many similarities with Vietnam, such as devastation by war, low-income and poor resources, strong dependence on foreign aid and especially the separation between the North and the South. After the Korean War (1950-1953), South Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world. However, over the past nearly four decades, South Korea has demonstrated incredible growth and global integration and become a high – tech industrialized economy. By analysing the South Korean policies, Vietnam can learn from their success and failure to overcome the middle-income level that has trapped it for almost 10 years with a focus on improving Government’s role, capital control, human resource and technology.

"Building a Human Resource Education Strategy: An Effective Decision of the Republic of Korea and Lessons for Higher Education Development in Vietnam "

The Republic of Korea (the RoK) has been dubbed “the Asian dragon” in recent decades thanks to its marvelous economy and technological development since the 1970s. One of the RoK’s most effective driving force for development and gaining outstanding achievements is education, to which the forces Resource Education Strategy has been applied successfully. The RoK government is well aware of the importance of human factors, so they have been confident in generating investments in education and finally turning the Korean intellectual economy into a “dragon”. In particular, the RoK has constantly reorganized ideas in education such as adjusting policies, content, models, and methods of education; paying attention to education from the universal to talent development, and building abundant human resources that could even fulfill the great demands from abroad. The RoK has demonstrated that it is successful in fostering human resources, creating human resources, training talent, improving intellectual standards, and ensuring stable economic development. Such a lesson deserves to be analyzed and studied. Vietnam has started educational development as one of the essential requirements of modernizing the country in the last three decades. Successful lessons from surrounding countries have been and will be an advantage for Vietnam, and from these lessons it is impossible not to mention the RoK model. This historical process has witnessed a significant contribution of Korea-Vietnam relations to the development of both countries. The RoK’s experience in human resource education strategy can make a significant contribution to the current higher education reform in Vietnam, if it is well evaluated and alternatively applied. It is mainly the high-quality human resources that generate power for the RoK industrialization and modernization, so there must always be a similar pathway for Vietnam.

Facilities management education in the Four Asian Dragons: a review

Purpose This paper aims to reveal and compare the characteristics of the facilities management (FM) education programs in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea (i.e. the Four Asian Dragons) and makes suggestions for their future development. Design/methodology/approach A team consisting of academics from the Four Asian Dragons held a face-to-face meeting to discuss and define the scope and framework of the review, followed by an extensive search to identify literature and information germane to the study. Individual parts of reviews, prepared by the team members for their respective places, were cross-reviewed before refinement and consolidation into the current paper. Findings The term “facility (or facilities) management” appears in most of the programs reviewed, but terms such as “environment” and “property” also appear in some programs’ titles. The programs reviewed range from certificate level to doctorate level; those between diploma level and master level are more common. Most of the programs have obtained professional accreditations, but some are accredited by FM-related rather than FM-specific professional bodies. Research limitations/implications Further research should investigate issues such as the performance of the programs reviewed, extent to which they have met the market needs and how they compare with the counterparts in other regions (e.g. Europe, America). For such research, the process of the study reported here and its findings about the status quo of the programs can serve as references. Practical implications To strengthen FM as a well-established discipline, it is imperative to have the programs accredited by FM-specific professional bodies. Originality/value Providing the first-ever international review on the major FM programs in Asia, this paper is useful to program planners, educators and researchers in the FM field.

Are Asian Dragons and Tigers catching up?

This paper studies the catching up process in per capita income of the so-called Asian Dragons and Tigers. It contributes to the literature in several ways. First, it tests the catching up hypothesis using the longest time span ever considered, from 1870 to 2014. Second, it documents the experiences of these two groups of countries and provides potential explanations for them. Third, the analysis of the paper uses the Kejriwal and Perron (J Time Ser Anal 31:305–328, 2010) algorithm which allows us to endogenously estimate multiple structural breaks in the level and the trend of the series without prior knowledge of their integration level. This surpasses technical concerns of previous empirical studies. Fourth, it inquiries into how the Asian financial crisis affected the catching up process among the Dragons and Tigers economies.

Economic Development and Religion: Focused on Hinduism of India

종교는 인간이 참여하는 경제활동의 유형, 생산성 수준, 부의 축적정도에 영향을 미친 다. 이러한 주장에 근거하여 본 연구는 힌두교와 경제활동에 관한 연구를 진행하였다. 힌두교도들은 우주에서 인간의 삶은 무한히 되풀이된다고 생각하는 순환론적 우주 관을 바탕으로 현세의 모든 것을 자신의 업보로 여기고 현재의 삶의 조건을 수용하는 업과 윤회사상을 믿는다. 이는 물질적 추구나 혁신･변화를 위한 노력을 하찮은 일로 여기게 만들어 결국 물질적 추구에 대한 무관심, 회의적인 태도를 야기하게 된다. 이러한 의식들은 실제 경제활동에서 실현되어졌다. 첫째, 직업과 노동상황에서, 사람들은 자신 들에게 부여된 종성의 의무에 따라 노동을 수행한다. 둘째, 거래와 자본축적에서, 특정 집단들간에만 토지나 현물을 거래하게 되었다. 셋째, 시장과 생산에서, 소득불평등에 불만이 없고 경쟁에 대해 부정적인 경향을 갖게 되었다. 그러나 카스트적 규율은 실정에 맞게 탄력성을 띠며 작동한다. 이는 본래 인도가 열린사회였기 때문에 가능하며 현재는 행정체계, 현금경제, 기회신장 등 상황변화까지 더해져 변화를 거듭하고 있다. 본 연구를 통해 힌두사상은 인도가 경제개발을 이루는데 근본･바탕으로 작용하고 있고 경제적 활동을 하는데 정당성 여부를 부여해주는 도덕적 규정을 마련하고 있음을 알 수있었다. 나아가 힌두사상이 경제발전에 미치는 영향은 인도라는 한 사회･한 국가가 가지고 있는 전통적･제도적･사회적 상황이나 조건에 따라 달라지는 것임을 알 수 있었다.A large part of human’s economic activities is related with religious level. Religion affects type, productivity level, accumulation level of wealth and others of economic activities which human being participate. Religion provides moral regulations to interpret whether their economic activities are justified or not and it could assist or disrupt to activate them. Based on these arguments, many researches are currently in progress that religion has a large effect on development. There is a research conducting about economic development and Confucianism as South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore compare to the four Asian dragons, and also a research about an economic system and economic principle of Middle East area by linking with Islam. However, there is few research about an economic structure of Hindu countries which is represented by India, Hinduism and economic principles. Accordingly, this research finds out how Hinduism influence economic activities. Through this research, it is discovered that Hindu idea acts as basis and foundation for India to accomplish economic development and it prepares ethical regulations to give legitimacy to human’s activities. This study is possible to provide new and productive sight which was not existed before and furthermore, it is also applicable as basic research of Hinduism and economic development.

Carbon intensity changes in the Asian Dragons. Lessons for climate policy design

There is a growing political interest in carbon intensity targets because they are the basis for climate pledges from relevant developing countries such as China. They may be also the basis for policy designs in developed countries like EU members. This paper develops a comprehensive econometric study on the main drivers of national emissions intensity in emerging countries in East Asia. This regional focus responds to their pivotal position in global economic growth and remarkable trends in carbon emissions intensity. The main hypothesis of this paper is that the nature of economic growth has a major effect on carbon intensity trends that deserves some attention. Accordingly, the novelty of this paper is to examine the contribution of “intensive” and “extensive” GDP growth for carbon intensity abatements. Labour productivity is revealed to be the main factor responsible for major carbon intensity reductions by Asian Dragons. Whereas household energy per capita and industrial energy per worker contributed in the opposite direction. Consequently, intensity targets may become “meaningless” for real climate action contributions if they do not take into account labour productivity trends.

Are Dragons and Tigers Catching Up?

This paper studies the catching up process in per capita income of the so-called Asian Dragons and Tigers. It contributes to the literature in several ways. First, it tests the catching up hypothesis using the longest time span ever considered, from 1870 to 2014. Second, it documents the experiences of these two groups of countries and provides potential explanations for them. Third, by using the Kejriwal and Perron (2010) algorithm, we are able to endogenously estimate multiple structural breaks in the level and the trend of the series without prior knowledge of their integration level. This surpasses technical concerns of previous empirical studies. Fourth, it inquiries into how the Asian financial crisis affected the catching up process among the Dragons and Tigers economies.

Temporal Variability in Southeast Asian Dragon Jars: A Case from the Philippines

This article presents the results of a detailed analysis of four dragon jar groups found in the Guthe Collection at the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology. Dragon jars are a class of decorated stoneware storage vessels that were employed in trade throughout Southeast Asia during the second millennium a.d . The jars in this study, recovered from mortuary contexts, are a unique data set due to their wide deposition throughout the southern Philippines. An exploration of intra-group and inter-group patterning has revealed temporal patterns and likely production locales for dragon jar manufacture over the course of the twelfth to seventeenth centuries. These temporal and spatial trends are then applied to the Guthe Collection to examine jar distribution throughout the Philippines over the critical period spanning the emergence of large-scale international commerce in the region. This study contributes a well-defined chronology for a commonly found material class, as well as knowledge of regional trading patterns.

The lady is a tiger: Canada's erratic courtship of India

Canada has discovered India as an important political and trading partner, but for a number of reasons linked to history, including the nuclear disputes, and the Air India tragedy, bilateral relations are more promising than they are fruitful. It will take sustained attention at the political level, and far-reaching reforms to our approach to immigration, education and tourism promotion to grow the relationship. Canadians need to recognize that India's number one foreign policy priority is its relationship with the Asian dragon, China. Canada's extensive experience in China may prove very useful as we work out a new understanding with the other great, and insecure Asian power, the Indian tiger.

The Global Economic Recession and Industrial Structure: Evidence from Four Asian Dragons

The collapse of exports that has attended the current global economic recession threatens the export-led economic growth of the four Asian dragons. To better understand the economic performances and future prospects of the four dragons, this paper first examines the economic structural changes that have taken place in Hong Kong, China; the Republic of Korea; Singapore; and Taipei, China, as well as the gradual shifting of the sources of economic growth away from the manufacturing sector and toward the service sector. Following this, a panel data set for the four dragons for the period 1995–2008 is constructed and a fixed-effects model applied to the data.

Government Intervention in Housing: Convergence and Divergence of the Asian Dragons

This paper compares housing policies among the Asian Dragons and explains their convergence and divergence from the perspective of government intervention and the historical contingencies of the housing policies themselves. It argues that before the regional economic crisis, the four Little Dragons diverged over a spectrum within the liberalist type, whereas China constituted a marketised socialist system. Since the crisis, government intervention generally retreated, except South Korea, in order to resolve housing problems ensued by past policies and the changed economic circumstances. Overall, the intensity of subsidy is determined by the socio-political and economic roles of housing in the development processes, whereas regulatory and supply controls are attributable to supply and demand imbalance and the state ownership of land and development rights.

MEN, MONEY, AND MEDALS: AN ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES

Abstract. Population size and the level of income per capita are major determinants of the number of medals won by a country in the 1952–2004 Olympic Games. A parsimonious count (Poisson) model fits the data very well: the squared correlation between the predicted value of the number of medals won and the observed value is about 56%. There exist strong country‐specific effects in Olympic medals results. While the USA and China tend to outperform other countries relative to their size and income, the Asian dragons tend to under‐perform in the Games.

Who is Better Off from Trade Liberalization? An Experience from Urban China*

Empirical studies have found that the skill wage gap (difference between wages earned by skilled and unskilled workers) narrowed in the case of the ‘Four Asian Dragons’ as they underwent trade liberalization during the 1960s and 1970s, whereas the gap widened in most of the Latin American countries after they liberalized their economies in the 1980s. China's integration into the world economy since 1978 has been used to explain this phenomenon, but few formal studies have been carried out in China regarding the effects of trade liberalization on the skill wage gap because of the limited availability of data. The present study uses unique household surveys conducted in ten provinces of China in 1988 and 1995 to study this issue. Results show that trade liberalization that occurred in China between 1988 and 1995 was responsible for an average increase of 28.73 yuan (approximately 20 percent of the total increase) in average monthly wages. However, trade liberalization significantly widened the urban skill wage gap in China by introducing an increase in income only for those who had 13 years or more of education (at least junior high school graduates). Interestingly, import liberalization also only benefited those who had more than 9 years of schooling; whereas export liberalization brought wage increases for people with 7–12 years of education. Finally, those with specific production skills from technical schools, rather than those with several years of general education, were mostly favored in the labor market in China between 1988 and 1995.