Asian Capitalism Research Articles

Flexible Citizenship: The Cultural Logics of Transnationality (review)

Flexible Citizenship: The Cultural Logics of Transnationality. AIHWA ONG. Durham NC: Duke University Press, 1999; 322 pp. Reviewed by JOHN TOFIK KARAM Syracuse University Aihwa Ong's Flexible Citizenship: The Cultural Logics of Transnationality intensifies the decadelong rebirth of diaspora and transnational studies with provocative and far-reaching insights. Grappling with the meanings of in late capitalism, Ong coins the term flexible citizenship to refer to the cultural logics of capitalist accumulation, travel, and displacement that induce subjects to respond fluidly and opportunistically to changing political-economic conditions (p. 6). Far from being constructed only out of the identity politics or agency enacted by Chinese subjects, these cultural logics and interrelated economic rationalities are shaped by the nation-state, the market, and the family. Drawing on the Foucaultian notion of governmentality, Ong argues that Chinese subjects' flexible citizenship is constituted by these interrelated regimes in the contemporary world. The three regimes, however, do not weigh equally. Global capitalism, above all, is emphasized as the force majeur in processes of subject formation. Such attentiveness to the global market's own peculiar subjectifying processes not only serves as a creative (albeit not unproblematic) combination of Marx and Foucault. It is also the battering-ram of Ong's larger politicalintellectual aim to reorient discussions of Chinese subjects vis i vis the new discourses and representations of belonging that are emerging in tandem with transnational Asian capitalism the world over. Ethnographically, these abstract aims and ideas are grounded in detailed and hard-nosed observations of states, peoples, images, and capital in motion. Conventionally viewed in terms of essential differences on both sides of the Pacific-East vs. West, Collectivism vs. Individualism, Tradition vs. Modernity-Ong suggests throughout her book that Chinese and American nation-states govern subjects amidst the same neoliberal forces of the world economy. In opening its economic borders, the Chinese state seeks to attract overseas Chinese subjects through refashioning Confucian ideals and guanxi particularist relations as naturalized mechanisms to incorporate and regulate these capital-wielding diasporans within the notion of a modern Chinese essence. Having been scorned by the mainland in the past, overseas Chinese businessmen are now being heralded as potential harbingers of modernity, adding wings to the tiger (p. 44). Equally eager to tap into the power of Pacific Rim capital, Western business analysts and state powers also join the chorus of Confucian eulogizing. Not only have U.S. immigration laws made it easier for wealthy Asians to move to the United States, but American-based scholars proclaim that `Confucian humanism' will create `an Oriental alternative' to the destructive instrumental rationality and individualism of the West (p. …

From Opium Farmer to Astronaut: A Global History of Diasporic Chinese Business

The image of the Chinese businessman pervades the contemporary Asia-Pacific. Whether seen as the cutting edge of a new Asian capitalism, as the source of unsound practices that precipitated the crash of 1997, or as small-scale opportunists symbiotic to the primal creative force of large transnational corporations, diasporic Chinese businessmen are a fixture in discussions of regional Asia-Pacific economies. Their depiction as small shopkeepers and clannish ethnic minorities is becoming a thing of the past. Now, they are astute, cosmopolitan (although still a bit clannish) businessmen, linked through their cell phones, masters at negotiating the everchanging terrain of global capitalism and flexible accumulation. They are “astronauts” in constant movement around the globe, seeking out property, education, citizenship, and market opportunities in myriad nations, feeling comfortable anywhere as long as it is near an airport. Even Chinese who haven’t advanced to the jetsetting class still carry a certain mystique, an aura of privileged access to shadowy flows of information, interpersonal trust, and rapid deals made on a nod and a promise. Their ephemeral firms, dense networks, rapid adaptability, and geographic dispersion are said to confound familiar methods of measuring economic success and to challenge us with new ways of conceiving and doing business.

Real Estate in Global Cities: Singapore and Hong Kong as Property States

Land and buildings form a significant portion of the national wealth in most economies, but in Singapore and Hong Kong, two small city-states where land is scarce, real estate has an important role in the functioning of the whole economy. Transnational property and development companies are important players in Singapore and Hong Kong. They form an important part of the local stock market and have enjoyed considerable growth while providing substantial revenue for governments and wealth for individuals. Because of this important role, the paper redescribes Singapore and Hong Kong as property states, not rent-seeking economies as the term rent is usually used in discussing Asian capitalism. The importance of real estate, an immobile asset, is not only surprising in a global era defined in part by the mobility of capital, but also because in Singapore and Hong Kong land is publicly owned. The paper attempts to explain the anomaly by analysing the land allocation mechanisms in Singapore and Hong Kong. In spite of their similarities, real estate markets in Singapore and Hong Kong exhibit several differences, linked in turn to different policy options for their management.

THE ASIAN CRISIS AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN EMERGING MARKETS UNDER GLOBALIZATION

This study reviews the causes and symptoms of the Asian Crisis and explores its implications for urban development in emerging markets under globalization. Various factors have contributed to the Asian Crisis, but this paper focuses on two explanations (i.e., the deficiency of Asian capitalism and the risk of financial panic in an underregulated financial system). Cities in the emerging markets of Pacific Asia have been undergoing profound restructuring driven by global and local forces. The crisis requires another look at the new urbanism under globalization (e.g., the image of glittering skyscrapers that symbolize a dynamic urban economy and a building boom). The collapse of the property markets has created high property vacancy and has led to the widespread loss of financial institutions that have invested heavily in property development. The crisis has had a devastating impact on the livelihood of millions of people, highlighting the peril of unfettered globalization. It is still too early to speculate on the long-term consequences of the crisis, but certainly the crisis may not be seen as the triumph of globalization or the decline of state-led economic growth. As the dialectic interactive process between global and local forces, urban development in the post-crisis era may see growing local resistance because the crisis has intensified the global-local contradiction in a dramatic way. [Key words: the Asian Crisis, globalization, emerging markets, urban governance.]

The crisis of postwar East Asian capitalism: American power, democracy and the vicissitudes of globalization

The debate over the East Asian crisis has thus far been led by economists who have focused on technical economic issues and policy goals at the expense of macro historical-structural questions. Foremost amongst the neglected questions is whether and under what conditions ‘Postwar East Asian Capitalism’ (PWEAC) will either continue to flourish or undergo a radical political transformation ‘after the crisis’. This question must be understood in the context of the changing geopolitical framework of the post-Cold War era. PWEAC is under great pressure for reform from both external and internal forces. Whether a ‘new political architecture’ for capitalism in East Asia is emerging is the central issue and one which will determine the future direction of Asia. The demise of authoritarian-oligarchic capitalism in Asia may have been accelerated by the economic crisis. The most enduring result of the Asian crisis is not the presumed derailing of the (re)ascent of Asia in the world economy but rather the weakening of the non-democratic state forms that have characterized East Asia's capitalism for decades. Popular demands for change represent a real challenge to both the domestic authoritarian-oligarchic power structure of PWEAC and its crucial geopolitical underpinning and external orientation.A people that has existed for centuries under a system of castes and classes can arrive at a democratic state of society only by passing through a long series of more or less critical transformations, accomplished by violent efforts, and after numerous vicissitudes, in the course of which property, opinions, and power are rapidly transferred from one to another...Alexis de TocquevilleDemocracy in America, Vol. II, 1840To reason with governments, as they have existed for ages, is to argue with brutes. It is only from the nations themselves that reforms can be expected.Thomas PaineThe Rights of Man, Preface to the French Edition, 1791

Excess Risk Premia of Asian Banks

This paper develops a framework for gauging the risks of emerging market banks by using stock market data. Employing a multifactor asset pricing model that allows for time‐varying risk premia, we find the presence of large excess risk premia on Asian bank stocks, especially in those markets affected by the Asian financial crisis. We find that the excess risk premia appear to be negatively related to the degree of economic freedom of a country but positively related to its corruption level. Thus, our findings are consistent with the view that crony capitalism in Asia may have distorted the market mechanism or the systematic risk exposure of banks. This suggests that the excess risk premium provides useful information on risk exposure for opaque banking systems where quality accounting information is not available.

Change in Asian Management Accounting: A Post-Crisis Perspective

This paper examines the issue of change in Asian management accounting. It has three themes. First, the paper discusses the process of change as it relates to Asian management accounting, which involves the profession undertaking three interrelated tasks: understanding the reality of its operating environment, deciding the kind of profession it wants to be, and adopting a set of value statements which will guide it in its change efforts. Next, the paper reviews the preparation gap in Asian management accounting, and suggests actions for closing the gap. Lastly, the paper examines the impact of a changing system of Asian values, capitalism, bosses and management practice on management accounting change, and suggests actions which the profession can take to speed up the change process.

Market Cultures: Society and Morality in the New Asian Capitalisms

Market Cultures: Society and Morality in the New Asian Capitalisms. Robert W. Hefner. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1998. vii. 328 pp., index.

The Dichotomy Between Northeast Asian Capitalism and Southeast Asian Capitalism

The common success as well as the post-1997 crisis of East Asian countries has led to a widespread tendency to view their economic systems as a homogeneous monolith. In reality, there are significant structural differences among the region's economies, although they do share many strengths and weaknesses. In particular, Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia appear to have followed significantly divergent paths toward development and growth. The main goal of this paper is to elaborate upon those differences to contribute toward a more complete and balanced understanding of East Asian economies.

Market Cultures: Society and Morality in New Asian Capitalisms:Market Cultures: Society and Morality in New Asian Capitalisms.

Market Cultures: Society and Morality in New Asian Capitalisms. Robert W. Hefner. ed. Boulder. CO: Westview Press. 1998.328 pp.

Trade unions and social capital in transitional communist states: The case of China

In the study of social capital in Asia, it has been common to see kinship networks as the formation of social capital relations that create trust within society or within Asian states. This paper explores social capital surrounding industrial conflicts to see how unions relate to social capital formation in the context of recent reforms in state socialist China. This paper will argue that in the face of spontaneous outbursts of rapid social capital formation, as in industrial conflicts, the role of institutional agents is important for sustaining social capital. In China, the traditional model of the state's bureaucratic trade unions has proved poorly adapted to coping with rapid social capital formation, either as organizer or suppressant. In the case of new workplaces, however, without the history of cynicism and state corporatism, the official unions that seek to represent members and sustain social capital are able to do so quite effectively. To build social capital, it is not necessary to destroy existing trade unions in China but to reorient their focus from bureaucratic centralist to representative organizations.

Economic crisis and the culture of reform in Southeast Asia

The economic crisis in Southeast Asia has provoked a debate on the economic and political culture of the region. Is Asian capitalism really suffering from structural deficiencies or does it only signify the imposition of western ethnocentric values? Inside Southeast Asia, public discussion on the issue of corruption has erupted, involving culturally specific notions of what is acceptable or not. Likewise, unbridled exercise of power increasingly faces an indigenous demand for more accountability of the powerholders. The reform debate that is conducted between Southeast Asians themselves seems to be more promising than western calls for democracy and economic transparency.

Governance Crisis and the Transformation of East Asian Capitalism

Governance Crisis and the Transformation of East Asian Capitalism

Capitalism in Asia at the End of the Millennium

Two propositions dominated the Marxist perspective in most Asian countries during the period immediately following the Second World War. First, capitalism had entered the period of its general crisis. While not reducible to narrowly economic terms, this implied that economic progress would henceforth be stymied. Second, the kind of diffusion of industrial capitalism that had occurred from Britain to Europe, and then in the United States and other temperate regions of white settlement in the period leading up to the First World War, could not be expected to occur in the third world as well. It followed from these two propositions that the development of the Asian countries required their transition, through stages of democratic revolution, to socialism, and that the course of this transition would be made smoother when their proletarian comrades from the advanced countries marched to socialism as well, as they eventually would.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.

Market Cultures: Society and Morality in the New Asian Capitalisms. Edited by Robert W. Hefner. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1998. viii, 328 pp. $76.00 (cloth); $21.00 (paper).

Market Cultures: Society and Morality in the New Asian Capitalisms. Edited by Robert W. Hefner. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1998. viii, 328 pp. $76.00 (cloth); $21.00 (paper).

The financial crisis in Southeast Asia and South Korea: Issues of political economy

Foreign capital began a mass exodus from East Asia in the summer of 1997. A run on currencies and stock markets started in Thailand and spread throughout Southeast Asia, then on to South Korea before year‐end. Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea had high ratios of foreign debt to local GDP and lacked sufficient reserves to meet short‐term foreign exchange obligations. All required assistance from the International Monetary Fund which imposed a long list of reforms. However, there is a perception that the IMF has not been effective in the Asian Crisis so far. Pinpointing and effecting some control over the actual forces at work, including politics and other non‐market factors that contributed substantially to the crisis, will not be easy. Obviously, South Korea and Southeast Asian countries need to restore confidence through reform of their financial institutions and practices, but all Asians still tend to do things in their own characteristic manner. “Asian capitalism” has not been entirely discredited and should be seen as part of the solution rather than the problem in bringing about financial development and change.

Market Cultures: Society and Morality in the New Asian Capitalisms

AcknowledgementsIntroduction: Society and Morality in the New Asian CapitalismsRobert W. HefnerPART 1: CHINESE CAPITALISMS AND CULTURAL PLURALISM1 Culture and Organization in Taiwan's Market Economy Garry G. Hamilton2 Divided Market Cultures In China: Gender, Enterprise, and ReligionRobert P. Weller3 Getting Rich Is Not So Glorious: Contrasting Perspectives on Prospertiy Amoung Muslims and Han in ChinaDru C. GladneyPART 2: INDIGENES AND CHINESE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA4 Business Success Among Southeast Asian Chinese: The Role of Culture, Values, and Social StructuresJamie Mackie5 Constituting Capitalist Culture: The Singapore Malay Problem and Entrepreneurship ReconsideredTania Murray Li6 The Great Transformation Among Negeri Sembilan Malays, with Particular Reference to Chinese and MinangkabauMichael G. PeletzPART 3: SOUTHEAST ASIAN CAPITALISMS7 Women Traders in Javanese Marketplaces: Ethnicity, Gender, and the Entr

Book Review: The Economic Organization of East Asian Capitalism

Book Review: The Economic Organization of East Asian Capitalism

Asian Capitalists in the European Mirror981Mario Rutten. Asian Capitalists in the European Mirror. Amsterdam: VU University Press for Center for Asian Studies 1994. 65 pp

Asian Capitalists in the European Mirror981Mario Rutten. Asian Capitalists in the European Mirror. Amsterdam: VU University Press for Center for Asian Studies 1994. 65 pp

The economic organization of East Asian capitalism

PART ONE: THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES Explaining Asian Economic Organization - Nicole Woolsey Biggart Toward a Weberian Institutional Perspective On the Limits of a Firm-Based Theory to Explain Business Networks - Nicole Woolsey Biggart and Gary G Hamilton The Western Bias of Neoclassical Economics Varieties of Hierarchies and Markets - Gary G Hamilton and Robert C Feenstra An Introduction PART TWO: CAPITALISM IN EAST ASIA Explaining Asian Business Success - Nicole Woolsey Biggart and Gary G Hamilton Theory No. 4 Market, Culture, and Authority - Gary G Hamilton and Nicole Woolsey Biggart A Comparative Analysis of Management and Organization in the Far East Organizational Isomorphism in East Asia - Marco Orru, Nicole Woolsey Biggart and Gary G Hamilton Patterns of Interfirm Control in Japanese Business - Marco Orru, Gary G Hamilton and Mariko Suzuki Institutionalized Patrimonialism in Korean Busines - Nicole Woolsey Biggart Organization and Market Processes in Taiwan's Capitalist Economy - Gary G Hamilton PART THREE: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF BUSINESS NETWORKS The Institutional Analysis of Capitalist Economies - Marco Orru Institutional Cooperation in Japanese and German Capitalism - Marco Orru The Institutional Logic of Small-Firm Economies in Italy and Taiwan - Marco Orru Dirigiste Capitalism in France and South Korea - Marco Orru