Asian Economic Regionalism Research Articles

Loan growth and bank risk: empirical evidence from SAARC countries

During the last few decades, the world financial crisis sheds on the bank risk, which creates a direct threat to the existence of banks. This paper investigates the relationship between bank risk and loan growth in the South Asian economies. The study has collected data from BankFocus of 118 commercial banks from 2011 to 2019. This study explores three hypotheses explaining the relation between (i) Bank Risk and Loan Growth; (ii) Loan growth and Bank Profitability; and (iii) Loan growth and bank solvency. Results show that loan growth can induce bank risk in the South Asian economic region. At the same time, Banks' solvency and profitability are correlated to bank risk with statistical significance. Primarily OLS has been applied, followed by GMM estimation. Non-Performing Loan (NPL) has been used as the proxy of bank risk. Further, to check the robustness of the investigation, we have used ZSCORE as a replacement to NPL. The results derived from regressions can put light on banks' poor performance in the South Asian counties and, simultaneously, may set guidance for policymakers of emerging economies.

Ферганский экономический район - регион с высокоразвитым хлопководством, шелководством и садоводством: история и современность

На основе широкого круга источников и литературы рассмотрена данная тематика. Выяснено, что Ферганский экономический район, имеющий место не только в центрально-азиатском экономическом регионе, но и в экономической жизни всей страны, стал регионом, обеспечивающим страну легкой промышленностью, продуктами питания и химическими продуктами в прошлом и настоящем. Рассмотрено также в дополнение к наличию разнообразных природных ресурсов в этом экономическом регионе очень хорошо развиты хлопководство, шелководство и плодоводство. Помимо этого, в статье анализируется структура Ферганского экономического района и его роль в народном хозяйстве.

A Value Chain Approach to Support Southeast Asian Economic Regionalism

This article includes an exploration of the economic data sets of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Statistics, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, as well as primary regional economic initiatives and agreements to assess the strategic indicators of economic regionalism using thematic analysis. The aim of this research is to determine how Southeast Asian regionalism can circumvent vulnerabilities to another economic crisis in North America and the European Union. To correct such financial vulnerabilities, ASEAN has significantly remolded the region into a single market consisting of a 10-nation integrated production base. The ASEAN Economic Community’s main pillars are the establishment of a regional economic foundation based on comprehensive investment initiatives; the liberalization of capital markets, tariffs, and professional labor; infrastructure connectivity; regional policy integration; and free trade agreements to create a regional value chain as part of a single market and production base. The more attainable this comprehensive value-capture-and-integration process becomes, the more attractive it will appear to the global economic investment community and for business opportunities to establish a robust regional foundation. Although the process appears straightforward, capturing value is not a single phenomenon or method, but rather a multifaceted phenomenon, as explored in this study. The regional integration model seeks profitability within effective cross-border production networks and regional liberalization.

ASEAN FDI (Factors Influencing ASEAN FDI and the Policy Implications)

Korean Abstract: 본 연구는 아세안 FDI 특징과 비즈니스 여건을 살펴본 후 그 결정요인을 실증적으로 분석함으로써 한아세안 경제협력을 보다 심화시키기 위한 정책적 시사점을 도출하는 데 그 목적이 있다. 본 연구에서는 실증분석을 통해 아세안 FDI 유입 결정요인을 분석하여 그 결과를 제시하였으며, 한국의 대아세안 FDI 활성화를 통한 상호 호혜적 경제성장동력 창출의 측면에서 우리 기업과 한국정부에 시사점을 제시하였다. 본 보고서는 향후 우리 정부의 통상정책과 아세안 지역의 경제협력 정책수립에 큰 기여를 할 수 있을 것으로 판단되며, 아울러 우리 기업의 투자 및 진출전략 수립에도 큰 키여를 할 수 있을 것으로 기대된다. English Abstract: Since the global economic crisis triggered in the United States in 2008, the East Asian economic region has received particular attention as it achieved relatively solid economic growth compared to developed countries, which struggled with recession. The discussion on economic cooperation and economic liberalization within East Asia has mainly focused on the RCEP, with this discussion being led by ASEAN as it calls for ASEAN centrality. ASEAN is currently the second-largest overseas investment destination and second-largest trading partner for South Korea, making it an important partner in economic cooperation for South Korea. Particularly, as China is openly implementing economic retaliatory measures against South Korea for the deployment of THAAD missiles in the nation, South Korea has become more interested in the ASEAN market as it strives to diversify its trade and investment portfolio. Under this background, this research examines the characteristics of ASEAN FDI by income level and doing business conditions, then conducts an empirical analysis of determination factors to draw policy implications for stronger economic cooperation with ASEAN. This report consists of five chapters in total. In Chapter 2 we examine FDI determination factors which have been discussed from a theoretical and empirical viewpoint in the field of international economics. In Chapter 3 we look into the current situation of ASEAN FDI and the characteristics of ASEAN FDI by income level, along with conditions for doing business in the region. In Chapter 4, we conduct an empirical analysis of the determination factors for ASEAN FDI inflow, utilizing a covariance structure analysis. Lastly, in Chapter 5, we suggest implications for the Korean government and enterprises to generate mutually beneficial economic growth momentum by promoting Korea’s FDI to ASEAN.

Texturing space-times in the Australian curriculum: Cross-curriculum priorities

The Australian curriculum, as a policy imagining what learning should take place in schools, and what that learning should achieve, involves the imagining and rescaling of social relations amongst students, their schools, the nation-state and the globe. Following David Harvey's theorisations of space-time and Norman Fairclough's operationalisation of these theories in the texturing of spatio-temporalities within policy texts, we seek to critically explore the cross-curriculum priorities of the Australian curriculum. These priorities – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, Asia and Australia's Engagement with Asia, and sustainability – collectively provide a “futures orientation” to the curriculum. They also mediate and assemble conflicting spatio-temporalities, aligning the purposes of Australian schooling with an instrumentalist concern for “Asia literacy,” whilst simultaneously recasting the space-times of neoliberal capitalism within “sustainable” social, cultural and environmental constraints. We suggest these conflicting space-time constructions come to an uneasy resolution with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures priority, where Indigenous peoples are represented as anchoring a reconciled nation-state in a particular place, while it is re-mapped within an Asian economic region. Such curricula constructions potentially diminish student recognition of Indigenous peoples' ongoing struggles for self-determination and steer student knowledge of “Asia” towards the acquisition of a set of skills to exploit future economic opportunity.

Bangladesh 2021 and Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt (BIG-B)

Bangladesh has experienced an accelerating economic growth in recent times and is poised to become a middle-income country by 2021. An increasing volume of apparel exports and a surging flow of inward remittances are the main drivers of growth. A transition to a middle-income country would however require a framework of South Asian economic regionalism. The paper argues that Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt (BIG-B) is likely an initiative to this end. It will help Bangladesh evolve as a “node & hub” in the latest phase of globalization in which the gravity of the world economy is moving away from the Asia-Pacific region to the Indo-Pacific region.

Institutions for Economic and Financial Integration in Asia: Trends and Prospects

Asian economic regionalism has emerged from a bottom-up process, driven by market forces in the absence of a grand plan for regional integration. While the financial crisis of 1997-98 triggered new regional cooperation initiatives, more recently several Asian political leaders have formulated proposals for the creation of a regional economic community, suggesting the possible start of a top-down approach. Based on the results of a survey of Asia’s opinion leaders conducted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 2010, this paper discusses how Asia’s institutional architecture for economic and financial integration is taking shape, suggesting the need to strengthen existing institutions that promote Asian regionalism and to create new ones.

Global Sports Commodity Chains and Asia's New Interregional Division of Labour

The Asian economic region has become centrally important to the sporting goods industry for two main reasons. First, Asia is emerging as an increasingly important sales market for the global sporting goods industry, and second, it is supplying the vast majority of sporting goods to the global athletics market. Using key data combined with case studies of global sporting goods brands positioned centrally in production networks, I will provide quantitative insight into the global sporting goods market and the role of Asian capital and Asian labour. There is clear evidence that the development of shifting production networks to and within Asia can be traced back to state initiatives and the context of international political economy. However, these shifts are increasingly processed and transformed by corporate players for their very own interests. My analysis situates the newly established patterns of intraregional labour division in the production of sporting goods into the contexts of the regional economic integration, Asian modernities and general assumptions about the sustainability of export-driven growth.

Shaping Asia's Institutional Architecture for Economic and Financial Integration: Opinion Leaders’ Views

Asian economic regionalism has emerged from a bottom-up process, driven by market forces in the absence of a grand plan for regional integration. While the financial crisis of 1997/98 triggered new regional cooperation initiatives, more recently several Asian political leaders have formulated proposals for the creation of a regional economic community, suggesting the possible start of a top-down approach. Based on the results of a survey of Asia's opinion leaders conducted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 2010, this paper discusses how Asia's institutional architecture for economic and financial integration is taking shape, suggesting the need to strengthen existing institutions that promote Asian regionalism and to create new ones. While the focus of the paper is on monetary and financial integration, the analysis also covers other integration pillars such as trade and investment, connectivity and infrastructure, and regional public goods. It suggests the need to create new institutions in support of Asian regionalism and to use a broad perspective in moving towards the formation of a region-wide economic community based on strong political commitment and grassroots participation.

O novo regionalismo econômico asiático

Os acordos preferenciais de comércio têm crescido no Pacífico Asiático desde 1998, após a crise financeira que atingiu aquela região. Esse crescimento do número de áreas de comércio é chamado de Novo Regionalismo Asiático. Este artigo apresenta essa nova onda de integração econômica na região, focalizando o comércio, cujas características são: a participação em negociações comerciais de países que antes não eram membros de áreas preferenciais de comércio; os países serem membros de mais de um acordo de comércio regional; muitos dos acordos em negociação cruzarem regiões do mundo e muitos dos novos acordos serem bilaterais. São apresentados os conceitos e a classificação das diferentes formas de integração econômica, os benefícios e as limitações que os acordos preferenciais de comércio trazem às economias; em seguida, são analisadas as áreas de integração econômica existentes e as que estão em processo de negociação na região do Pacífico Asiático. São examinadas, também, as principais causas do Novo Regionalismo Asiático: além da crise asiática, a perda da credibilidade de organismos regionais e do sistema multilateral de comércio, a ampliação das áreas preferenciais de comércio em outras regiões do mundo e a competição de natureza econômica e política entre os países da região. Conclui-se que, se efetivamente houver a integração entre as economias, haverá um novo ciclo de crescimento da economia asiática, em particular do Leste e do Sudeste Asiáticos, prosseguindo com o modelo de crescimento liderado pelas exportações.

East Asian economic regionalism: progress and challenges

This paper demonstrates that the East Asian economies have achieved strong economic interdependence, particularly through external liberalization, domestic structural reforms and market-driven integration with the global and regional economies. Expansion of foreign trade, direct investment and financial flows has created a “naturally” integrated economic zone in East Asia. Reflecting the rising economic interdependence and in response to the traumatic financial crisis of 1997–1998, East Asia has embarked on various initiatives for economic regionalism. Such initiatives include the formation of several bilateral FTAs, the beginning of negotiations for sub-regional FTAs, the establishment of a regional surveillance mechanism, the introduction of a regional liquidity support system (CMI) and Asian bond market development. These essentially entail the formal institutionalization of de facto economic integration and interdependence in East Asia in a way that complements global frameworks of the WTO and the IMF. The paper identifies a number of challenges facing the region, including the need to begin negotiations on a region-wide FTA and to initiate exchange rate policy coordination.

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewsDani Rodrik (ed.), In Search of Prosperity: analytical narratives on economic growth.Dirk Steinwand and Martina Wiedmaier‐Pfister (eds), The Challenge of Sustainable Outreach: how can public banks contribute to outreach in rural areas? Five case studies from Asia.Takamasa Akiyama and Donald F. Larson (eds), Rural Development and Agricultural Growth in Indonesia, The Philippines and Thailand.Justin Yifu Lin, Fang Cai and Zhou Li, The China Miracle: development strategy and economic reform.Robert E. Rubin and Jacob Weisberg, In an Uncertain World: tough choices from Wall Street to Washington.Kathie Krumm and Homi Kharas (eds), East Asia Integrates: a trade policy agenda for shared growth.Andrew H. Wedeman, From Mao to Market: rent seeking, local protectionism and marketization in China.Brian Van Arkardie and Ray Mallon, Vietnam: a transition tiger?.Edward J. Lincoln, East Asian Economic Regionalism.Alice H. Amsden and Wan‐wen Chu, Beyond Late Development: Taiwan's upgrading policies.

Quadrilateral market dependence: Japan, USA, European Union, and Asian countries

The mutual dependence of the market economy in a multiple-industry, multiple-country system is empirically analyzed based on a price-endogenized input–output model. The model presented in this study is a pseudo-CGE model of the Keynesian type, which does allow for unemployment. The study deals with the short-run effect of the government policy of one country upon prices and outputs of all markets in all countries, along with the change of the macroeconomic conditions like GDP, employment and the trade balance. It is found that the Asian economic region plays a role as driving-force in promoting the world economic activity.

Northeast Asian economic regionalism: A Korean view

Does economic regionalism exist in Northeast Asia? If it does, what is the typical characteristic of economic regionalism in Northeast Asia compared with the economic regionalism in Europe and North America? And, what has it given to the interrelations among the regional countries in terms of both the political and strategic aspects? This paper will look into a concrete method to stabilize and sustain the economic regionalism in NEA with focus on the specific role of Korea.

Prospects for East Asian economic regionalism in the 21st century

It is not likely that East Asian states will regress to the mercantilist developmental state that used to engineer compressed economic growth. However, it is evident that the pattern of transformation East Asian states are undergoing, is not analogous to the path of Anglo‐American development Although the government refrains itself from arbitrarily supplying economic resources (especially financial resources in the form of subsidies or policy loans) to promote strategic industries, it does not give up commanding the market to attain a relatively higher economic growth. The relationship between the state and the market is still set up in a hierarchical fashion in favor of the former. The economic system to emerge in East Asia is the state‐governed rather than market‐centered, even if it has absorbed neo‐liberal condiments. The state‐dominant economic system of East Asia is expected to survive for a considerable period. In this regard, the establishment of a financial system to sustain the East Asian economic system has been strongly suggested. Here lies in the reason we discuss the rise of the East Asian economic identity in the post‐financial crisis era.

Collective agriculture in Soviet Central Asia

The territory that now forms the Soviet Central Asian economic region was annexed by Tsarist Russia in the second half of the nineteenth century. The present national boundaries were drawn in the decade following the Soviet Revolution. Although the criteria of delimitation were linguistic and cultural each of the republics is in reality today a multinational entity. The region consists of four republics: Uzbekistan (14.5 million people in 1977), Tajikistan (3.6 million), Kirghizia (3.4 million) and Turkmenistan (2.7 million). Together the four republics have a territory of 1.3 million square kilometres. The average population density of 19 per square kilometre is misleading. Vast parts of the region consist of desert or mountains where very few people live. In the fertile river basin the density of population frequently exceeds 200 per square kilometre.

Some Aspects of the Development and Location of Industry in the Central Asian Economic Region

AbstractDespite rapid industrialization since World War II, Central Asia is still far from exhausting its potential for industrial development based on abundant mineral resources, fuels and energy, and on the most favorable manpower supply of any of the Eastern regions of the USSR. The only limiting factor in economic development is water. In light of the region's resource situation, future development should focus on a diversified industrial expansion involving activities with limited water and metal needs (in the absence of a major regional iron and steel plant) or medium or high energy and labor requirements. This would include nonferrous metals, chemicals (except for those posing a water pollution problem) and expansion of the region's cotton-based production complex, ranging from irrigated cotton culture to finished fabrics.

Problems of Improving Inter-Regional Productive Relationships of the Central Asian Economic Region

Because of the remoteness of Central Asia from other eco- nomically developed areas of the Soviet Union and the high cost of long rail hauls, it is proposed that Central Asia achieve a higher degree of regional integration and economic self-sufficiency through fuller utilization of natural resources. Recommendations are made for a reduction of movements of coal and refined oil products in and out of Central Asia. The region is also envisaged as a potential producer of cotton textiles for the national market, using an expected surplus of female labor, ample raw-material supplies and cheap gas fuel. A previous article on Central Asia appeared in Soviet Geography, November 1963.