Key Asian Countries Research Articles

Examining Herding Behaviour and Its Impact on Stock Market Volatility: Insights from Asian Economies

Objective: This study empirically investigates herding bias in six key Asian countries—Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, and India—across different periods (pre-, during, and post-COVID-19). It analyzes herding behaviour during COVID and non-COVID periods, exploring its impact on volatility and examining asymmetry during bearish and bullish market conditions. Design/Methods/Approach: The investigation employs the Cross-Sectional Absolute Deviation (CSAD) model with a polynomial regression to scrutinize herding behaviour. A GARCH (1,1) volatility model is also established to assess the relationship between herding and volatility. The sample includes daily stock returns from the mentioned countries from January 2, 2019, to September 30, 2023. Findings: The study reveals the presence of herding behaviour in China and Singapore. In Indonesia and China, herding is evident, specifically during and after the COVID period. The research confirms that herding influences volatility and exhibits asymmetry. Herding is more pronounced during bearish market conditions in China, Indonesia, and Taiwan. Originality/Value: This study contributes to the existing literature by providing empirical insights into herding behaviour comparing in Asian markets, while others research usually only focus on one country. This study further distinguishes itself by examining post-pandemic periods, a unique aspect as most studies typically focus only on pre- and during-COVID periods. Including volatility and asymmetry aspects enriches understanding the nuanced relationship between herding and market conditions. Practical/Policy implication: Investors should remain cautious of short-term herding-induced volatility, leveraging stability for consistent profits. Recognizing limited diversification during market losses is crucial. Additionally, governments and regulators should focus on enhancing market transparency and investor education, investing in robust market infrastructure to mitigate the impact of excessive herding.

Global Quantitative Investment Regulatory Policy Analysis and Its Implications for China's Regulatory System

In an era marked by globalization and frequent "black swan" events, this study examines the complexities and strategic opacity of quantitative investment, a key product of financial innovation, within the scope of global financial regulation. Utilizing detailed comparative analysis, it explores diverse regulatory approaches in major economies, including the United States, the European Union, and key Asian countries. The research highlights the U.S.'s focus on balancing market transparency with financial innovation, the EU's emphasis on market stability and systemic risk prevention, and the trend towards regulatory modernization and internationalization in Asia. This study underscores the dual role of quantitative investment in enhancing market efficiency and optimizing resource allocation, while acknowledging the associated systemic risks and regulatory challenges. Focusing on China, the research identifies the critical developmental stages in regulatory practices, emphasizing the need for technological adaptation and international cooperation. In conclusion, the paper proposes comprehensive recommendations for improving China's quantitative investment regulation. These aim to reinforce legal frameworks, advance regulatory technologies, intensify risk management, foster global collaboration, and augment investor education and protection. The suggestions are intended to guide China towards effective regulatory policies that harmonize financial safety with technological advancement, ensuring market stability and transparency.

ASIA’S EMERGENCE IN GLOBAL BEVERAGE MARKETS: THE RISE OF WINE

Asia’s alcohol consumption and its retail expenditure on each of beer, distilled spirits and grape wine have more than doubled so far this century. In the process, the mix of beverages in Asia’s consumption of alcohol has been converging on that of the west as wine’s share rises. Since Asia’s beverage production has not kept up with its expansion in demand, imports net of exports are increasingly filling the gap — especially for wine. This paper analyzes trends in consumption and imports for the region and for key Asian countries, and provides projections to 2025 using a new model of global beverage markets.

Livestock Stakeholder Willingness to Embrace Preslaughter Stunning in Key Asian Countries.

Simple SummaryPreslaughter stunning is a technical process by which animals are rendered unconscious prior to slaughter, as to avoid the pain and fear of being slaughtered. While it is a legislative requirement in some countries, it is not yet regularly practised in many countries. To better understand why this might be the case, this study conducted focus group sessions with leaders from the livestock industries in China, Vietnam, India, Thailand, Malaysia and Bangladesh. Leaders were asked to rate the willingness of livestock stakeholders to adopt preslaughter stunning, in addition to their suggested solutions for increasing the level of willingness, and their thoughts as to why they were or were not willing to adopt stunning. This data was analysed and presented within this manuscript. The findings were specific to each country, with similar themes shared across some of the countries. The findings of this study may aid in the development of programs that aim to increase the adoption of preslaughter stunning practices, with the purpose of improving animal welfare during slaughter.Preslaughter stunning; the induction of unconsciousness and insensibility of animals prior to slaughter, is an important process for the welfare of livestock. The application of stunning is required by legislation in some countries, and rarely practised in others. In order to effectively advocate the implementation of stunning in the regions that do not include the practice as standard, it is first important to understand attitudes towards stunning, barriers to implementing stunning, and stakeholder willingness to embrace the practice. To this purpose, 17 focus group sessions were held with leaders in livestock production in China, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, India and Bangladesh. Leaders were asked to rate their perceived willingness of livestock stakeholders to embrace stunning, and their rationales were discussed. In addition to this, the leaders were asked to present ideas to improve the willingness of stakeholders to embrace stunning. The data were qualitatively analysed used thematic analysis, quantified, and presented within this manuscript. Importantly, different attitudes and solutions existed by country, mostly in line with the predominating religion within the country, and the stage of economic development. Concerns around nonstatic and constantly evolving animal welfare benchmarks were also presented as important factors impacting the adoption of stunning, and the technical methods used. The findings of this study may aid in the development of programs that aim to increase the adoption of preslaughter stunning practices, to the purpose of improving animal welfare during slaughter.

The Australian Right in the “Asian Century”: Inequality and Implications for Social Democracy

ABSTRACTThis article analyses the policy discourse of Australian right-wing governments, exploring how such governments have combined neo-liberal economic policies with social conservatism, populism, cultural nationalism and forms of authoritarianism. It also examines the resulting response of social democratic political parties. As a predominantly Western country situated in the Asia-Pacific region, Australian experience offers interesting insights into the domestic politics of right-wing governments facing the changing geo-political and geo-economic imperatives of the “Asian Century.” Conservative Australian governments have reasserted traditional Anglo-centric national identity and used competition from key Asian countries to further justify market-driven policies, reduced welfare benefits and reduced industrial relations standards. The social democratic Australian Labor Party has responded to right-wing government policy by placing an increased emphasis on challenging social and economic inequality. However, Labor’s own plans for equitable economic growth potentially underestimate the challenges posed by the intermeshing of the Australian and Asian economies and provide insights into the dilemmas that a changing geo-economics poses for Western social democracy more broadly. Meanwhile Australian conservatism is facing not just challenges from its social democratic opponent but also from far-right populist forces critical of globalisation.

Promise, problems and prospects: agri-biotech governance in China, India and Japan

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the potential of agri-biotech to play a role in meeting the world’s food, feed, fiber and fuel needs. Using case studies, policy developments in the key Asian countries of China, India and Japan are also scrutinized to determine the extent to which they enable or obstruct biotech’s potential.Design/methodology/approachThe authors first examine some key challenges facing the agriculture and agri-food sector and the potential role biotech can play in addressing them. These challenges include feeding the world’s growing population, improving nutrition worldwide, dealing with allergen risks, reducing nutrient and chemical loading in watersheds, addressing water scarcity issues, and reducing waste in the food system. The authors then turn their attention to the agri-biotech systems in three Asian giants, including China’s centralized governance approach, India’s central-local policy and regulations, and Japan’s pragmatic and evidence-based regulatory framework.FindingsEach nation has evolved its own system of governance based on the different challenges facing the society, the recognized potential of different biotech interventions, and citizens’ collective perceptions regarding both the potential and the risks that biotech innovations embody. Systems that are less evidence-based appear to be more discretionary and therefore are less predictable in their outcomes. This increases risks to prospective exporting firms and importing firms, driving up system costs and effectively serving as barriers to entry and to trade. It also dampens and distorts entrepreneurial and innovation incentives.Research limitations/implicationsFrom the review and observations the authors then discuss ways and means of establishing priorities through a risk assessment framework in which key risks are enumerated and assessed in terms of their likelihoods and their conceivable consequences. Such an approach would allow challenges to be met with a degree of foresight and adaptability.Practical implicationsThe sometimes disjointed, sometimes strategic use of biotech regulations have fragmented markets and created fiefdoms which undermine the potential of novel technologies to address the challenges facing society.Social implicationsFor illustrative purposes, the authors touch on land and water governance, regulatory and institutional bottlenecks and reforms and the potential for agri-biotech to play an elevated role if vested interests and obstructions can be overcome.Originality/valueThis study draws on research and literature from several disciplines. It also includes discussions relating to bureaucratic and administrative behavior which erodes the extent to which markets can be contested. This results in balkanized markets and non-cooperative behavior that undermines and distorts incentives for entrepreneurial effort and innovation. That such behavior takes place in markets and disciplines that are fundamental to assuring food security, nutrition and health, as well as good governance of scarce water and land resources is of considerable concern.

The politics of global value chains: import-dependent firms and EU–Asia trade agreements

ABSTRACTIn 2006, the European Commission released its Global Europe Communication, in which it announced a shift from a multilateral to a bilateral trade strategy. One of the key pillars of this new strategy was to strengthen the bilateral trade relations with key Asian countries. In contrast to existing analyses that focus on European Union (EU) decision-makers’ agency, we propose an explanation for this notable shift in the EU's trade policy that stresses the political role of import-dependent firms. In light of the increasing integration of such firms into global value chains, the article argues that a plausible case can be made, both theoretically and empirically, that import-dependent firms had a clear stake in the signing of preferential trade agreements between the EU and Asian countries and that their lobbying efforts significantly affected the EU's decision to start negotiations on such agreements with South Korea, India and Vietnam.

HIV Epidemic in Asia: Implications for HIV Vaccine and Other Prevention Trials.

An overall decrease of HIV prevalence is now observed in several key Asian countries due to effective prevention programs. The decrease in HIV prevalence and incidence may further improve with the scale-up of combination prevention interventions. The implementation of future prevention trials then faces important challenges. The opportunity to identify heterosexual populations at high risk such as female sex workers may rapidly wane. With unabating HIV epidemics among men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender (TG) populations, an effective vaccine would likely be the only option to turn the epidemic. It is more likely that efficacy trials will occur among MSM and TG because their higher HIV incidence permits smaller and less costly trials. The constantly evolving patterns of HIV-1 diversity in the region suggest close monitoring of the molecular HIV epidemic in potential target populations for HIV vaccine efficacy trials. CRF01_AE remains predominant in southeast Asian countries and MSM populations in China. This relatively steady pattern is conducive to regional efficacy trials, and as efficacy warrants, to regional licensure. While vaccines inducing nonneutralizing antibodies have promise against HIV acquisition, vaccines designed to induce broadly neutralizing antibodies and cell-mediated immune responses of greater breadth and depth in the mucosal compartments should be considered for testing in MSM and TG. The rationale and design of efficacy trials of combination prevention modalities such as HIV vaccine and preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) remain hypothetical, require high adherence to PrEP, are more costly, and present new regulatory challenges. The prioritization of prevention interventions should be driven by the HIV epidemic and decided by the country-specific health and regulatory authorities. Modeling the impact and cost-benefit may help this decision process.

The Changing Landscape of EU-Asia Relations

European Union-Asia relations have been progressively developing over the years. The European Union (EU) today is the leading trade partner of many Asian nations and the spectrum of issues falling under the EU’s bilateral relations with countries in Asia spans far and wide. The EU has been a development partner in Asia for decades and is one of Asia’s largest sources of foreign direct investment (FDI), aid and humanitarian assistance. The EU and Asia interact closely on regional and multilateral issues and within multilateral forums. The EU has even constructed developed deeper relationships with some key Asian countries through strategic partnerships: with China, India, Japan, South Korea and Russia. But potential of overall EU-Asia relations remains far from optimum. The EU has been rather late in recognising the rise of Asia and in gearing itself towards this important development. It has ambitions to play a greater political role in complement to its status as a global trading giant, but efforts fall short. In particular, the EU lacks visibility in Asia commensurate to its actual weight. The ongoing financial and economic crisis has further weakened the EU as an actor in Asia. The changing landscape of EU-Asia relations now depends on two important considerations – a dynamically ascendant and economically integrated Asia, and the US’ renewed focus to Asia. This paper examines the EU’s relations with Asia focussing on the Asian partners of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).

The new global growth path: implications for climate change analysis and policy

In recent years the world has moved to a new path of rapid global growth, largely driven by the developing countries, which is energy intensive and heavily reliant on the use of coal—global coal use will rise by nearly 60% over the decade to 2010. It is likely that, without changes to the policies in place in 2006, global CO2 emissions from fuel combustion would nearly double their 2000 level by 2020 and would continue to rise beyond 2030. Neither the SRES marker scenarios nor the reference cases assembled in recent studies using integrated assessment models capture this abrupt shift to rapid growth based on fossil fuels, centred in key Asian countries. While policy changes must and will occur, the realism of the reference case is critical for analysis and policy formulation. Using such a reference path will have significant effects on impact and damage estimates, on the analysis of achievable stabilisation paths and on estimates of the costs of achieving stabilisation at a given GHG concentration level. Use of a realistic reference path is also essential for the international negotiations, arising out of the COP13 meeting in Bali, to achieve widely desired stabilisation goals: both the level of emission reductions to be achieved, and the preferred distribution of those reductions over countries and regions, will be heavily influenced by the reference case assumed.

Remote sensing activities in Asia

An overview of remote sensing activities in Asia is given, with the history of the annual Asian Conference on Remote Sensing (ACRS) showing how cooperation between Asian remote sensing scientists and their related organizations has improved remarkably since the first ACRS in 1980 In 1981, the Asian Association on Remote Sensing (AARS) was founded with five member countries As of 1991, there are now 18 ordinary members and 5 associate members. United Nations organization such as ESCAP, UNDP, UNEP, UNCRD etc. have been and are contributing to developing countries in Asia in the fields of education, training and/or pilot projects in conjunction or in cooperation with AARS activities. The key Asian countries in remote sensing such as Japan, China, India, Thailand etc. are promoting not only national projects but also regional cooperation through personnel exchange, joint research, international workshops and international training through ACRS. The following article is a summary of the author's activities for the twelve years since 1980 aimed at fostering regional cooperation in Asia.