Market Initiative Research Articles

Taiwan and the New Regional Political Economy of East Asia

Regional economic relations in East Asia have experienced a period of profound change since the 1997/98 financial crisis. Two developments are particularly notable. The first relates to the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) framework, under which an increasingly coalescent regional economic grouping has emerged in East Asia. Thus far, APT member states (Japan, China, South Korea and the ASEAN group) have devoted much energy to creating new mechanisms of regional financial governance, such as the Chiang Mai Initiative and Asian Bond Market Initiative. The second development concerns the expansion of bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) projects in East Asia and the Asia-Pacific. Many see this as a precursor to forging wider sub-regional or regional trade agreements. Both developments mark a potentially significant shift from regionalization to regionalism in East Asia, and thus “high politics” becomes de facto more important given regionalism is largely founded on inter-(nation-)state agreements. Beijing's continued ardent contestation of Taiwan's nation-statehood has hence limited Taiwan's ability to engage as it would like in East Asia's new regional political economy. This article considers the nature of regional political economy and applies it to the recent East Asian experience, which in turn provides an analytical framework for examining the significance of the APT framework and new FTA trend, and Taiwan's position in relation to them. Special attention is paid to Taiwan's prospects in East Asia's new regional political economy.

Workplace Equality: International Perspectives on Legislation, Policy, and Practice

Preface. 1. Systemic Discrimination in Employment: Mapping the Issue and the Policy Responses C. Agocs. 2. Employment Equity in Selected Countries: The Case of Racial and Ethnic Minorities H.C. Jain. 3. Unfinished Business: Employment Equality in Australia G. Strachan, J. Burgess. 4. Canada's Employment Equity Legislation and Policy, 1986-2000: Unfulfilled Promises C. Agocs. 5. Employment Equity Legislation in Ontario: A Case Study in the Politics of Backlash A.B. Bakan, A. Kobayashi. 6. Repeal of the Ontario Employment Equity Laws: Denial of Equal Protection of the Law C. Eboe-Osuji, E. McIsaac. 7. Gender Equality in India H.C. Jain, C.S. Venkata Ratnam. 8. Between Public Controversy and Market Initiative: The Politics of Employment Equity and Diversity in the Netherlands F.J. Glastra, et al. 9. Multiculturalism with a Price Tag: On the Theory and Practice of Intercultural Management in the Netherlands F.J. Glastra, et al. 10. Northern Ireland - Gender, Race and the New Equality Agenda S. Rogers. 11. Employment Equity in South Africa: Overcoming the Apartheid Legacy F.M. Horwitz, H.C. Jain. 12. Affirmative Action in American Employment Law: Past, Present and Future M.F. Radford. 13. Pay and Employment Equity: The Role of Markets, Collective Bargaining and Legislation M. Gunderson. Subject Index.

Does quality pay? The case of the dry bulk market

Abstract Following important changes in the safety regulation of tankers, the dry bulk sector is coming under the spotlight in a safety and quality perspective. Nominal freight differentiation between ‘quality’ and ‘other’ tonnage has been observed occasionally and much lip service has been paid to promoting the need for younger and safer ships. Whether or not these signals actually manifest in a market initiative for the enhancement of the standards of the world bulk carrier fleet is debatable. This paper investigates the possible existence of a two-tier spot freight market for medium and large bulk carriers of differing age. Known voyage fixtures are investigated for four representative years since the end of the 1980s, during which contrasting freight market conditions prevailed. In all but very few cases, there was no statistically significant difference between rates paid to older and younger tonnage. In those few cases where such differences were statistically significant, they never exceeded 10%.

Industrial property, market initiative and planning policy

Industrial restructuring has led to increasing obsolescence of old industrial properties in many cities. Transformation of these properties to meet the requirements of modern industrial operations is becoming an imminent task for property managers and industrial landowners. This paper reviews the experience of the private sector in restructuring obsolete industrial properties in Hong Kong. In particular, we focus our discussions on a recent market initiative (composite industrial‐office property development in Hong Kong) as an innovative attempt to make better use of urban industrial space. We argue that this new property type has not been successful because of the institutional constraints imposed under the planning policy. It again confirms that the industrial property market is characterized by market imperfection, owing largely to government policies, which precludes a smooth market adjustment to respond positively to changing demand. This problem, if allowed to continue, will ultimately damage the competitiveness of the cities.

Public Procurement Directives in the European Union: A Study of Local Authority Purchasing

Prompted by the Single European Market initiative, virtually all public procurement, except for defence equipment, is now subject to European Union rules which prohibit discriminatory (buy national) purchasing policies. This paper examines the impact of recent procurement Directives on local authority tendering and contract award behaviour (compliance), and considers whether the legislation has been successful in opening‐up such public procurement to international competition. Although local authorities are making extensive use of the Official Journal to advertise their requirements, there is evidence that purchasers do not always adhere to the new legislation and it is not obvious that adherence to the legislation is improving. Moreover, an analysis of local authority contract award data for 1993 revealed that almost all contracts were won by domestic firms. However, doubts about the ultimate ownership of such firms and the sourcing of components means that there remains considerable scope for further work.

Employment Equity Policies in Canada and the Netherlands: enhancing minority employment between public controversy and market initiative

English Time and again employment statistics document the marginal position of (ethnic) minority groups within the labour force in Western multicultural nation states. There seems to be a broad, if differently motivated, consensus among politicians, employers and pressure groups that this situation cannot be prolonged with impunity. However, where it comes down to indicating the underlying causes and defining adequate solutions and policies, shared concern quickly dissolves into controversy. Legal measures to stimulate or ensure proportional representation of minority groups in the labour process are, more often than not, the focal points of such social disputes. A reconstruction of the historical development of equity policies in Canada, and more specifically in Ontario, and The Netherlands may clarify the nature of resistance against this controversial approach. It also sheds some light on the possibilities and limitations of alternative strategies impinging on the history of employment equity, such as voluntary efforts by employers’ organisations and labour unions, or the more decentralised and business-based practices of ‘managing diversity’.

Cross-border trade and contract awards The intellectual myopia at the heart of the EU procurement rules

As part of the Single Market initiative the European Commission has put in place rules to encourage greater transparency about public contracting in the EU member states. Although the new rules are well intentioned, this article argues that the rules, which came into force after 1992, may be based on a false logic concerning the benefits to consumers of neo-liberal market principles. In essence it is argued that the new rules will not have the impact on cross-border contract awards that the framers of the public procurement Directives intended. This argument is supported by an analysis of EU contract awards in 1993.

Strategic Considerations in European Retailing

The Single Market Initiative (SMI) has resulted in many changes in European retailing. This study explores the influences of the SMI on the European retail sector and discusses the strategic trends emerging from recent changes. The study is based on secondary sources of data as well as on personal interviews throughout Europe. The results indicate that although retailing in Europe remains fragmented, very competitive, and dominated by small and medium-sized firms, large, world-class retailers are emerging/entering the European retailing scene and intensifying competition.

The State of the (European) Union: From the Single Market to Maastricht, from Singular Events to General Theories

This review article examines four recent volumes on the European Union, each of which takes as its substantive and theoretical starting point the relaunching of the European Community in the mid-1980s around the single market initiative. Taken together, they provide a comprehensive account of the momentous events leading up to the Maastricht summit. They also present an accurate reflection of the current state of the subfield. Their basic research agenda, a continuation of traditional approaches in Community studies, revolves around the “big bangs” of integration and the conventional models of neofunctionalism and intergovemmentalism. This scholarly continuity generates unwelcome consequences for the selection of research puzzles and for the robustness and reach of the findings. As a remedy, several strategies—some methodological, others theoretical—are outlined for generating new insights into the growing complexity of the European Union.

Global warming and the internal energy market: Policy integration or polarization

This paper examines to what extent the European Community is progressing towards realizing its objective of integrating energy and environment policies by looking at two current policy developments; the CO 2 reduction strategy and the internal energy market (IEM) initiative. It argues that to date adjustments to energy policy have been made essentially at the margin, resulting in a number of policy tensions. The IEM proposals are based on a very narrow definition of efficiency and fail to address crucial areas like the promotion of renewable energy sources or end-use efficiency. Not all the implications are negative but incidental benefits hardly point to better integration.

Seminar “Aspects of the Ethnocultural Situation in Bulgaria,” November 8–10, 1991, Sofia

A seminar to discuss the current changes in the ethnic and religious groups in Bulgaria was held in Sofia under the auspices of The Center for Research of Democracy (Bulgaria) and The Friedrich Naumann Foundation (Ger? many). This joint initiative gathered in Sofia more than 50 scholars from both Sofia University and the institutes affiliated with the Bulgarian Acad? emy of Sciences. A book containing the presentations and the minutes of discussions was published a few months later by The Center for Research of Democracy. A valuable collection of academic and field research studies on Bulgaria and the Balkans?historically a troubled region?was thus offered not only to students and specialists, but also to decisionmakers and journalists. The Center for Research of Democracy is a new, posttotalitarian institution created with the purpose of promoting the democratic traditions in Bulgaria's social and political life and studying the experience of devel? oped democratic societies throughout the world. Some of the most impor? tant activities of the Center include evaluating the crucial moments in Bulgarian national history and adding to the agenda updated issues in order to facilitate the process of democratization in Bulgarian society. Being one of the major German foundations sponsoring political and social research, The Friedrich Naumann Foundation commenced recently the realization of a project on Southeastern Europe encompassing Bulgaria and Romania. The project, administered by Dr. Arno Weckbecker, aims at supporting the promotion of liberal ideas and principles in both politics and the establishment of a free market initiative in these countries. In Bulgaria, the Foundation had already organized a variety of seminars and had distrib? uted book donations and assistance to book publishers. It has also sponsored educational programs and has provided funds for qualifying Bulgarian

Government role in achieving environmental goals: Market forces versus regulations

Growing public concern over the environment creates an enormous amount of pressure on governments to act. Whether this action is based on market initiative and cost effectiveness or legislatively mandated command and control will make a huge difference in the ramifications for the industry, consumer and the general economy. Governments have a great responsibility to assess the options thoroughly and find an optimum solution based on cost and benefits rather than yield to pressures and choose alternatives that might be only politically attractive. Resources needed to address the environmental issues are gigantic by any standards and are likely to go up in the long run. Without due regard to economics and cost effectiveness, a good portion of these resources may be wasted.

The Power Equipment Industry in Transition

This paper deals with the expected effects of the EEC Commission decision to open up EEC public procurement markets within the Single Market initiative. These effects are viewed on the behavior of European utilities and on the power equipment supplying sector. Both price and non-price effects are analyzed. The new market configuration should require a new kind of supplier, able to add the advantages of being "domestic" to the advantages of being part of a large, transnational group. Thus, such an institutional initiative can explain a large part of the general turmoil which hit the international power equipment industry in the late 1980s. However, the increasing concentration of the supply sector-also stimulated in part by the success of gas turbine technology-reduces the expectation that EEC utilities will take advantage of the opening up of their procurement markets, at least in terms of lower equipment prices.

FREE TRADE AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ENTREPRENEUR: THE CANADA-UNITED STATES FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

ABSTRACT The Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement is a major force in encouraging free market and private initiative; it is a necessary agreement, to cope with revolutionary changes in markets and technology. By opening the borders, entrepreneurs will be faced with unprecedented opportunities made possible by enlarged markets and economies of scale. Particular sections of the agreement which are especially relevant to the small-business sector and to entrepreneurs are examined.

The Free Trade Diplomacy Debate and the Victorian European Common Market Initiative

The Free Trade Diplomacy Debate and the Victorian European Common Market Initiative