Economic Growth In Asia Research Articles

East Asian Economic Growth and its Implications for Regional Security

Rapid economic growth in East Asia is changing the nature of international relations in the region. In the economic sphere, mercantilist policies of promoting exports and limiting imports contributed to economic tensions between rapidly growing economies in the region and the region's major trading partner, the United States. These tensions over bilateral trade issues began between Japan and United States, moved on next to South Korea and Taiwan, and have now moved from there to China. In the security field, economic growth in China is leading to a major shift in the balance of power in the region. China's steadily increasing GDP is being accompanied by a comparable rise in its military expenditures despite the fact that China faces no obvious external threats at the present time. China's long term desire to be able to defend against any outside power probably means that this increase in defense expenditures will continue for the next decade or two. North Korea continues to be a threat to stability in the region but only because of its capacity to do enormous damage in one last suicidal attack. The one area where China's rising military expenditures could lead to major confrontation on terms very different from those that would occur today is Taiwan. This is a revised version of an essay titled “Economic Growth in Northeast Asia: Implications for Security” that was prepared for the conference Pursuing Security in a Dynamic Northeast Asia, convened by The National Bureau of Asian Research to mark the launch of the Kenneth B. and Anne H.H. Pyle Center for Northeast Asian Studies, Seattle, WA, November 17–18, 2006, and that was published in Asia Policy, no. 3 (January 2007): 42–47.

Mengelola Strategi Global: Menuju Terciptanya Keunggulan Bersaing Perusahaan dalam Bisnis Internasional

The terms of global strategy, global industry and global competition have been used widely in the last 20 years. Today, the issue has changed, especially to discuss (1) strategic alliance and its role in the global competition, (2) typology of global strategies, (3) matrix structure implementation of organization that implement complex global strategies. Asian countries play important role in the world economic now. Asian economic growth and poverty increase significantly, sowed by theory and research. Key issue of Asian management change is the development of business partnership among Asian countries or between Asia and developed countries like European and America. Partnership creates large opportunity to do global cooperation. Globalization run faster supported by internet. Everyone can access product and service he needed by internet. Keywords: global strategy, multidimensional, matrix structure, partnership, joint venture, internet

Accumulation, Technical Progress, and Increasing Returns in the Economic Growth of East Asia

Adopting homothetic variable returns to scale functional specifications, this study identifies the returns to scale in the aggregate production functions of four East Asian newly industrialized economies–Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan–and the Group of Five economies based on a maximum likelihood estimation. The study finds evidence of increasing returns in the early developmental stage of the East Asian economies. Separating out the scale contribution from the non-scale factor contributions, the decomposition of the sources of East Asian economic growth differs significantly from the conventional constant returns to scale results, indicating that the role of technical progress is overestimated when constant returns to scale is assumed.

Current status and research on E-waste issues in Asia

Rapid economic growth in Asia and the increasing transboundary movement of secondary resources will increasingly require both 3R endeavors (reduce, reuse, recycle) in each country and appropriate control of international material cycles. Recently, managing electrical and electronic waste (E-waste) has become an important target for domestic and international material cycles from the viewpoints of environmental preservation and resource utilization efficiency. To understand the current status of E-waste issues in the context of international material cycles and to discuss the future tasks related to achieving 3R in the region, we organized the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) E-waste Workshop in December 2004. This article reviews past studies on E-waste and briefly describes the topics presented and discussions held at the workshop. The topics at the workshop included E-waste generation, recycling systems, international trade, and environmental impacts. In addition, we discussed various issues such as terminology, current environmental concerns, and possible solutions. Transboundary shipments of E-waste should be conducted taking into consideration the concept of sustainable development. The direction of future research and possible collaborations are also discussed.

Education Expansion, Expenditures per Student and the Effects on Growth in Asia

This article estimates the separate effects of primary, secondary and higher education on economic growth in Asia since 1960. Enrollment rates, public expenditures and public expenditures per student are used as measures of education in an empirical panel data analysis. Expenditures toward primary education and expenditures per student in this education stage have contributed highly significantly to economic growth, while expenditures toward the higher stages seem more inefficiently utilized. Enrollment rates in secondary education especially play an important role in increasing growth rates. Enrollment rates, in particular, display significant indirect effects.

Which Socio-economic Model for Europe?

Analysing the differences in economic performance of Europe relative to the US, but also relative to the fast growing Asian economies, many authors blame the high level of taxes and government expenditures, the degree of regulation, and the costs of welfare as the main reason for Europe's current underperformance. This hypothesis cannot explain the empirical fact that economi c performance - which had been rather similar up to the nineties - diverges between European countries since the early or mid nineties. For this period the best performance is revealed for the extreme types, namely the liberal Anglo-Saxon model, and for the Scandinavian model. The first would be in line, the second contradicts to the hypothesis of government. The worst performance is to be seen for the continental model, which produced low growth and high unemployment at least in the larger countries of this group. The Scandinavian countries were able to reform their institutions and incentives in a manner to succeed in the globalizing econo my. They made their economies more flexible - in a managed and balanced strategy, after one or more periods of turmoil. They eliminated and reduced fiscal deficits and debts respectively. But most importantly the Scandinavian countries went for a strategy of excellence in innovation, education and technology diffusion. The same adaptability is not to bee seen for the big countries in continental Europe. JEL: A13, E60, H10, J50, P10

Economic growth with an optimal public spending composition

This paper uses a one-sector, endogenous growth model to study optimal composition between public investment and consumption in government expenditure and its relationships with economic growth. Assuming a benevolent government which maximizes a representative household's lifetime utilities, the paper determines the unique, interior public investment share in government's budgets, which is determined by policy and structural parameters, and finds that the conventional determinants of economic growth now generate stronger growth effects, via their indirect impacts upon optimal public spending composition. The effects emerge from raising the marginal utility of private consumption, relative to the marginal utility of public consumption, thereby inducing public investment and increasing economic growth. Our quantitative results suggest that the growth effect is sizable. The large growth effect via optimal public investment in our model has implications for East Asian economic growth miracles where public investment share and economic growth are both higher than other area's countries.

The Relationship between Population and Economic Growth in Asian Economies

The main aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between population and economic growth in Asian economies. Generally, the results of the Johansen (1988) and Gregory and Hansen (1996) cointegration methods show that there is no long-run relationship between population and economic growth. Nonetheless, the study finds that there is bidirectional Granger causality between population and economic growth for Japan, Korea, and Thailand. For China, Singapore, and the Philippines, population is found to Granger cause economic growth and not vice versa. For Hong Kong and Malaysia, economic growth is found to Granger cause population and not vice versa. For Taiwan and Indonesia, there is no evidence of Granger causality between population and economic growth. On the whole, the relationship between population and economic growth is not straightforward. Population growth could be beneficial or detrimental to economic growth and economic growth could have an impact on population growth.

Biofuels are vital energy sources in growing Asian economies: Global demand for green fuels 2.5 million tons in 2005, expected to expand 25% a year

Biofuels are vital energy sources in growing Asian economies: Global demand for green fuels 2.5 million tons in 2005, expected to expand 25% a year

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.

Demographic Determinants of Savings: Estimating and Interpreting the Aggregate Association in Asia

Life cycle savings is proposed as one explanation for much of the increase in savings and economic growth in Asia. The association between the age composition of a nation’s population and its savings rate, observed within 16 Asian countries from 1952 to 1992, is reestimated here to be less than a quarter the size reported in a seminal study, which assumed lagged savings is exogenous. Specification tests as well as common sense imply, moreover, that lagged savings is likely to be endogenous, and when estimated accordingly there remains no significant dependence of savings on the age composition, measured in several ways. Research should consider lifetime savings as a substitute for children, and model the causes for the decline in fertility which changes the age compositions and could thereby account for savings and growth in Asia.

Productivity growth in East Asian manufacturing: a fading miracle or measurement problem?

Despite the intensive debates on the East Asian economic miracle that persisted during the last decade, the verdict on the source of output growth is inconclusive. There can be no dispute over the importance of total factor productivity (TFP) growth in the process of economic development and raising the level of living standards. But, the question of whether TFP growth played a significant role in East Asian economic growth remains contentious, especially in Singapore's case. This paper provides an updated review on productivity growth in the East Asian manufacturing and that of Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, and recommends options for further research to improve understanding on the issue of TFP growth in East Asian manufacturing. Copyright # 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. To uncover the source of the East Asian economic miracle, the debates on productivity growth in East Asia have been widespread since the 1990s. Due to differences in data, methodology and sample period selected, recent empirical TFP studies have, not surprisingly, revealed mixed results. In an influential paper by Young (1995), he pointed out that the spectacular economic performance in East Asia was not as impressive as previously thought and claimed the economic success was nothing more than intensive factor accumulation. Using growth accounting and breaking down output growth into components that can be attributed to the observable factors of the growth of capital stock and labour force, Young showed that TFP growth (or Solow residual) in East Asian countries was comparable with those of developed economies. Young's finding further predicted that high economic growth is unlikely to be maintained in East Asian economies due to scant progress in the level of TFP. While the findings of Kim and Lau (1994), Krugman (1994), and Collins and Bosworth (1996) are generally consistent with Young's, Chen (1997) raised concerns over possible

Deep determinants of economic growth: institutions, geography and openness to trade

In our first progress report, Bloch and Tang (2001), we examined the importance of the ‘Solow residual’, or total factor productivity growth (TFPG), in the process of economic growth, particularly in the context of the East Asian economic growth ‘miracle’. We demonstrated that while TFPG has been less important in explaining growth in East Asia than in the advanced industrial economies, it still has played an important role in the susceptibility of some of these economies to shocks, particularly the crisis of 1997 (see Tang, 2002, for application to a broader set of countries). In our second report, Bloch and Tang (2003), we focused on the role of financial development and its link to capital accumulation and economic growth. We concluded that while financial development is clearly an essential part of the growth process, it has not been demonstrated, particularly in the context of East Asian growth, that such development is a precondition for economic growth. We are left with a view that both TFPG and financial development are important to economic growth, but that neither is necessary. More importantly, we are left without an explanation of the underlying forces behind economic growth and development. Knowledge of the process of economic growth and development has evolved substantially over the past five decades. In particular, there is now a general view that the neoclassical model of growth that emerged in the 1950s, particularly Solow’s (1956 and 1957) path-breaking contributions, offers neither an explanation of the experience of the Third World countries nor practical guidance for sustained economic development. The main problem is that the neoclassical model focuses on the ‘proximate determinants’ of growth that appear in the neoclassical growth equation, particularly capital accumulation and TFPG. We learn little from the model about what drives TFPG and how to improve it. Moreover, the same problems

Averting Hunger and Food Insecurity in Asia

The recent years have seen a resurgence of economic growth in Asia. The region's growth of roughly 5% achieved in 2003 came close to the level achieved prior to the East Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s. Remarkably, too, despite this crisis that led most countries in East Asia to either a sharp economic slowdown or a contraction, the past decade had witnessed significant poverty reduction. Between 1990 and 2000, the number of people living on less than a dollar a day fell by about 243 million. Poverty incidence in East Asia declined from 29.46% to 15.6%, while that in South Asia fell from 41.3% to 31.1%. At these rates, the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving by 2015 the proportion of people whose income falls below one dollar a day looks attainable for Asia. Indeed, China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia have already reached the goal, while the rest, except Sri Lanka, are on target. The prevalence of undernourishment between the late 1980s and late 1990s also declined from 29 to 13% in East and Southeast Asia, and from 38 to 23% in South Asia.

Book Review: Yoichi Izumida, Rural Development Finance: Asian Experiences and Economic Growth (in Japanese)

Book Review: Yoichi Izumida, <i>Rural Development Finance: Asian Experiences and Economic Growth</i> (in Japanese)

Reflections on the WTO and Asia: globalisation, trade liberalisation and economic growth in Asia. Should labour and environmental standards be part of the equation? The case of Bangladesh*

(2003). Reflections on the WTO and Asia: globalisation, trade liberalisation and economic growth in Asia. Should labour and environmental standards be part of the equation? The case of Bangladesh* South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies: Vol. 26, No. 3, pp. 331-347.

Work and labour in the Bangladesh brackish-water shrimp export sector*

This paper 1 argues that discussions about the applicability of labour and environmental policies, standards and codes of conduct in Bangladesh must be based upon an understanding of the diverse local environmental, economic and social conditions under which people work and sustain their livelihoods. In the case of the shrimp export sector, such understanding is limited as no comprehensive study of the sector as whole and the role of labour and environmental issues within it has been carried out. The paper goes 1 The paper arises out of an on-going three year Australia Research Council-funded project (project no: A00105797) entitled: Globalising production and local impacts: business strategies, labour organisation and local environments in the Bangladesh brackish-water shrimp export sector. The authors wish to thank the ARC, the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) and Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS) for their financial and logistical support. An earlier version of this paper was presented at a workshop entitled: Globalisation, trade liberalisation and economic growth in Asia: should labour and environmental standards be part of the equation? The case of Bangladesh, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia, October 3-5, 2002 some way to filling this gap in our knowledge by drawing on the authors’ continuing research on the shrimp export industry in Southeast Bangladesh and other sources to describe the different forms of work and labour in the industry’s various sub-sectors, paying particular attention to processing plants, shrimp farms, wild fry collection and hatcheries. It shows the great diversity in work and environmental conditions in the sector, illustrates the relationship between work, labour and environment in the fry collecting sub-sector and makes recommendations for further research.

Asia‑Pacific Perceptions of the Financial Crisis: Lessons and Affirmations

Introduction The fact that the over recent decades has seen a reduction in transaction costs and an increase in flows of goods, services, people and capital, is well established. (1) There is much less agreement, however, about the extent to which deeper economic integration, including increased gains from trade and investment, has brought change to institutional and value systems. At the present time this issue seems especially significant, as a region that had only a few years ago been celebrating its economic and social triumphs now confronts a widespread terrorist movement that invokes aspirations formulated some fourteen centuries ago. Perceptions of the Crisis--grounded in deep-running national aspirations and anxieties--differed from one country to another. A particular contrast, however, exists between United States and Australian experience of the Crisis, on the one hand, and most Asian interpretations on the other. Two longer-term developments seem to have been influenced by perceptions of the Crisis: the first concerns the future prospects of Asian vis-a-vis Asia-Pacific regionalism; and the second is the issue of whether globalization is likely to be potent as a concept extending beyond economic change and envisaging the evolution of a world society. The Crisis The Financial Crisis marked the end of an extraordinary decade of internationally-oriented economic growth throughout developing East Asia. Most developing economies in the region doubled output in the decade to 1996. Growth was steady, and there was growing confidence that it would be sustained over a long period. Sustained growth supported trade and investment liberalization in all East Asian economies. The liberalization proceeded most rapidly in some of the economies that had been most closed to international trade, including China, Indonesia and the Philippines. In each East Asian state trade liberalization and economic growth supported rapid expansion of imports, further improving the environment for the expansion of exports and output through East Asia. These beneficent processes came to a halt in one after another East Asian economy through the Financial Crisis. The shock came first to Thailand, in July 1997, and over the next six months had a major impact throughout peninsular and island Southeast Asia. Through the first half of 1998 it generated deep recession in Korea and Hong Kong. The collapse of output in Thailand, Malaysia and Korea, and most of all Indonesia, was not only large in comparison with the prosperity of the previous decade. It was large by the standards of economic crises in other regions and other times. The reduction in output in Indonesia was greater than in Western Europe during the Great Depression of the 1930s. An economic catastrophe of this dimension inevitably has substantial effects on how political communities view economic reality, and through changes in such perceptions, on ideas about economic policy. The deep economic depression centred in Victoria in Australia in the 1890s, for instance, played a major role in shaping the economic policies of the Australian Federation in the early decades of the twentieth century. The approaches to trade protection and intervention in the labour market that were established in the wake of the 1890s Depression cast a shadow right through the twentieth century. The Great Depression of the 1930s in the United States marked the beginning of a liberal supremacy surviving into the 1980s and to some extent today, in which government expenditure on social welfare and intervention in market processes became much more prominent. In Western Europe, the stresses of the 1930s Depression laid the ideological groundwork for the welfare state in the United Kingdom and for Nazism in Germany. At the time of the Asian Crisis, Ross Garnaut commented that the largest long-term economic effects of the Crisis would be through its effects on ideas about policy. …

Toothless Tigers? East Asian Economic Growth from 1960 to 1990

AbstractThe author studies East Asian economic performance relative to the experience of a sample of rich, industrialized countries. On combining the coefficients from an augmented Solow model of growth for a sample of industrialized countries with the actual levels of factor accumulation in East Asia, no evidence is found that the region as a whole is over‐achieving. Only Hong Kong and Taiwan can be characterized as over‐achievers. Further, Indonesia and Thailand (when income growth is measured in per‐worker terms) are actually significant under‐achievers, growing slower than forecasted growth in every period.

The role of financial development in economic growth

In our previous progress report (Bloch and Tang, 2001), we review the literature relating to the role of technical change and productivity growth in East Asian economic growth. The topic of economic growth is central to development economics. Growth is one of the (if not the) major engine of improvements in living standards in the developing countries. Much recent work has addressed the potential links between financial development and economic growth. It is this literature which our current report addresses, both in the context of East Asia and more widely. Despite the rapidly growing literature, the debate concerning the role played by the development of financial intermediaries in economic growth is far from settled. The debate focuses on the possible causality running from financial development to economic growth on the one hand and the channels by which financial development contributes to enhancing economic growth on the other. In addition to outlining the main issues in the continuing debate and reviewing the existing literature, this paper also re-examines the data and conducts new tests on the topic. There are two alternative views about the links between financial intermediary development and economic growth. Joseph Schumpeter (1934) in 1911 was among the first to point out that banks facilitate technological innovation in their role of financial intermediaries. By assembling savings, evaluating investment projects, monitoring managers and facilitating transactions, banks are able to acquire detailed information about firms at a lower cost. They thus become the authorized agents of the society to allocate savings to entrepreneurs and to innovating and competitive firms. The Schumpeterian view is that the development of financial intermediaries has a direct impact on the pace of technical change and productivity growth, which feeds through Progress in Development Studies 3,3 (2003) pp. 243–251