Newly Industrialized Countries Research Articles

International Capital Mobility and Saving-Investment Relationship in the Newly Industrialized Countries

This paper investigates the Feldstein-Horioka coefficients and evaluates the degree of international capital mobility for ten newly industrialized countries (NICs) over the different sub-periods from 1970 to 2010. By applying the Pedroni and Westerlund cointegration tests, we find that saving and investment are indeed cointegrated. The estimated FH coefficients using FMOLS and DOLS are 0.24 and 0.33, respectively, for the period 1970–1980. Furthermore, the estimated FH coefficients reduce from 0.80 (FMOLS) in 1991–2000 to 0.36 (FMOLS) in 1970–1980. The small FH coefficients suggest that international capital mobility increased in the NICs during the sub-periods 1970–1980 and 2001–2010.

The Role and Effects of Efficacy in Socioeconomic Development and Foreign Direct Investment: A Comparative Study of South Korea and Singapore

There is a sizable amount of research and explanation concerning the rapid and sustainable development of newly industrialised countries (NIC) in Asia. This article seeks to create a deeper understanding of the relationships between the governmental sector, the economic sector, and the social sector in the Asian political arena. As such, it will explain how policies pursued in selected countries could have impacted the economies of the so-called ‘tiger’ or ‘dragon’ countries. In addition, the study will show how governmental efficacy is connected with socioeconomic development by means of comparing, as exemplars, South Korea and Singapore, in the period 1960– 2007. The investigated period experienced heightened socioeconomic development in South Korea and Singapore. Stressing the historical evolution of socioeconomic development, the researcher accordingly focused on social, political, and economic outcomes in their relationship with the factor of macroeconomic stability and the varying amounts of foreign direct investment in the two nations. This study looks to create a deeper understanding of the role of government efficacy and socioeconomic development in an Asian context in which government efficacy and political development and institutions have played important roles in creating stable and continuous social and economic development. This idea of government efficacy and political development has helped to strengthen the capacity of governments to adapt and adjust their political agency’s capability to achieve political goals and sustainable socioeconomic development. South Korea has created institutions that are simpler than complex organisations and may lack autonomy and coherence. In contrast, Singapore has created complex and autonomous institutions with strong coherence. The findings in

Eco-Innovation in NICs: Conditions for Export Success With an Application to Biofuels in Transport

This article looks at sustainable development and globalization from the perspective of the eco-innovation literature for the case of biofuels in transport. It assesses the potential for newly industrialized countries (NICs) to develop technology and hence export markets in biofuel equipment. An analysis of innovation indicators suggests those countries that have strong capacities in eco-innovation in general. The analysis considers demand and regulatory factors in addition to technological capabilities in biofuels and complementary sectors. A very large global market in biofuels for transport could develop. The case of biofuels in Brazil shows that demand-oriented innovation policy coordinated with supply-oriented research and development policies can be successful in NICs for developing markets in new technologies for sustainability. Brazil, China, Malaysia, Mexico, and South Africa, as well as Indonesia, Thailand, and possibly India, have the favorable combination of high biofuel production potential and the requisite technological capability to develop internationally competitive second-generation biofuel production technologies.

COMPLEMENTARITIES OF R&D STRATEGIES ON INNOVATION PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE FROM TAIWANESE MANUFACTURING FIRMS

This paper aims to empirically test the R&D complementarities among three alternative R&D strategies, namely, internal R&D, external R&D and cooperative R&D, under different measures of innovation output. Using a firm-level data set based on the Taiwanese innovation survey (in accordance with CIS 3) conducted in 2003, we are able to compare the R&D activities in this newly-industrialized country with other developed countries. Additionally, we apply a two-step procedure to reduce the endogeneity problem caused by the firms’ choices of strategies to obtain consistent estimators, which can be regarded as a combined method of adoption and productivity approaches. We show that the results of the estimation for R&D complementarities may be biased upwards or downwards if we do not include selection equations in the empirical models, thereby giving rise to endogeneity problems. Our empirical results generally support the existence of R&D complementarities, while the strength of complementary effects may vary across different measures of innovation output. Moreover, our finding suggests that the complementary relationship between external and cooperative R&D is fairly robust to various model specifications.

Multinational technology and intellectual property management - is there global convergence and/or specialisation?

The paper gives various indications of market and technology diversification as well as of global market and technology convergence (rather than specialization) in the context of managerial, legal and economic convergence. The results show that different countries focus on a wider but increasingly similar set of markets for R&D outputs in form of patents, which implies increasing intra-national market diversification and inter-national market convergence. The results also show that different countries focus on a wider but increasingly similar set of technologies that are patented, which implies increasing intra-national technology diversification and inter-national technology convergence. In addition, intellectual property (IP) legal convergence takes place as newly industrialized countries (NICs) have strengthened their IP regimes in compliance with TRIPS and subsequently do so in the context of their indigenous innovation policies. Asian NICs have significantly increased their international patenting and supply of patented inventions. Altogether, this puts new demands across countries on multinational technology and innovation management skills, and in particular multinational IP management skills.

A Comparison of the Effects of 1929 Great Depression With the Effects of 2008 Global Financial Crisis: Policies Pursued in the Developed, Less Developed and Newly Industrializing Countries

A comparison of the Great Depression of 1929-1939 with the present global financial crisis and global recession that broke out in the last quarter of 2008 will provide useful insights about economic developments in the world and changes and progress in the understanding of economics and implementation of economic policies. There is no doubt that the Great Depression was the deepest depression compared with the previous business cycles and depressions and, thankfully it was never paralleled. The 2008 economic crisis, on the other hand, was the worst encountered excepting the former mentioned. At the time of the 1929 Great Depression, however, economic theory, hence economic policy implementation was not too advanced to draw out effective anti-depression policies. In fact, most policies implemented by the USA and European countries actually deepened and lengthened the depression. In contrast, the 2008 economic crisis took place in a highly globalized world and when countries were at a much higher economic and technological level compared with 1929 Great Depression. Economic theory had also progressed sufficiently to guide countries to implement policies that prevent the recession and at least that prevent it to grow further into a deep depression. Within a highly globalized world economy, the financial crisis and recession fast spread throughout the world, the developed, the less developed, and newly industrializing countries as well as the emerging markets. But all countries were quick to implement effective measures against it in a milieu of cooperation. Thus, as the crisis was globalized, the response to the crisis was also globalized. A short review of the Great Depression followed again by a short account of the present economic crisis will bring to light the above points more clearly. The first part of the article will cover a review of the 1929-1939 Great Depression and the developments since the Great Depression up till the present times. The second part will cover the 2008 Financial Crisis and its effects on the developed countries (DCs), namely, USA, Europe, and Japan, the effects on the less developed countries (LDCs), newly industrializing countries (NICs) and Balkan, Russia, India and China (BRICs) will be followed before dealing with the after-effects of the crisis and reaching the conclusions.

Occupational skin hazards and prevalence of occupational skin diseases in shoe manufacturing workers in Indonesia

Shoe manufacturing workers are exposed daily to an extensive range of potential physical and chemical occupational hazards. Shoe manufacturing in Indonesia is one of the industrial sectors that has shown sustained growth amongst the newly industrialized countries (NICs). In this study, we investigated the possible potential exposure of the workers to physical and occupational hazards and determined the prevalence of occupational skin diseases at a shoe manufacturing factory in Indonesia. A cross-sectional study on the observation of the working process and an inventory and risk assessment of exposure to the chemicals used. Classification of chemicals as potential sensitizers/irritants and qualitative assessments of these chemicals were done. Workers were examined and interviewed using the Nordic Occupational Skin Questionnaire-2002/LONG. The risk of Occupational skin diseases (OSD) at the shoe factory was mainly related to the exposure of the workers' skin to potential physical and chemical hazards in hot and humid environmental conditions. From a total of 514 workers, 8.5 % reported current OSD and 4.8 % reported a history of OSD. Occupational skin diseases were diagnosed in 29 % of the workers by dermatologists and 7.6 % had an occupational contact dermatitis (OCD). Of the 39 workers with contact dermatitis, 33 consented to being patch tested, 14 (3 %) workers showed a positive results and considered as having an occupational allergic contact dermatitis (OACD) and 25 (4.9 %) had an occupational irritant contact dermatitis (OICD). We observed a repeated and prolonged exposure of the workers to numerous physical and chemical skin hazards at this factory.

Comparison of Sedimentary PAHs in the Rivers of Ammer (Germany) and Liangtan (China): Differences between Early- and Newly-Industrialized Countries

As a proxy to trace the impact of anthropogenic activity, sedimentary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are compared between the early industrialized and newly industrialized countries of Germany and China, respectively. Surface sediment samples in the Ammer River of Germany and the Liangtan River of China were collected to compare concentration levels, distribution patterns, and diagnostic plots of sedimentary PAHs. Total concentrations of 16 PAHs in Ammer sediments were significantly higher by a factor of ~4.5 than those in Liangtan. This contrast agrees with an extensive literature survey of PAH levels found in Chinese versus European sediments. Distribution patterns of PAHs were similar across sites in the Ammer River, whereas they were highly varied in the Liangtan River. Pyrogenic sources dominated in both cases. Strong correlations of the sum of 16 PAHs and PAH groups with TOC contents in the Liangtan River may indicate coemission of PAHs and TOC. Poor correlations of PAHs with TOC in the Ammer River indicate that other factors exert stronger influences. Sedimentary PAHs in the Ammer River are primarily attributed to input of diffuse sources or legacy pollution, while sediments in the Liangtan River are probably affected by ongoing point source emissions. Providing further evidence of a more prolonged anthropogenic influence are the elevated black carbon fractions in sedimentary TOC in the Ammer compared to the Liangtan. This implies that the Liangtan River, like others in newly industrialized regions, still has a chance to avoid legacy pollution of sediment which is widespread in the Ammer River and other European waterways.

Technological trajectories and sustainability: trends in Brazilian subsidiaries of Swedish multinational corporations

This paper focuses on the prospective interactions between technological trajectories and levels of environmental improvements that provide long-term sustainability issues. It is best illustrated by certain sectors of Brazilian subsidiaries of Swedish multinational corporations (MNCs) as organisational units with ability to generate positive technological externalities in host countries. Technological trajectories are observable as: 1 successive incremental innovations for environmental optimisation of product 2 a sequence of steps towards radical innovation, associated with new products to redefine the market leading to a socio-environmental structural change. The aim of the paper is enlarge the understanding of technological pathways towards this issue based on newly industrialised countries (NICs) and to give foresight in identifying long-term trends in sustainability.

The Impact of International Businesses in a Global Economy: An Interdisciplinary Analysis

This study is an analysis of the impact of international businesses in the world economy. It examined the effect of globalization in the economic growth of international businesses and the world economy; and the organizations that act as alliances in international business, such as the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund. The study observed that while some countries may be favoured by particular changes in international business, others may be adversely affected. This does not mean that international business does not have unfavorable effects. Major changes in international business will also produce major adjustments. The process of adjustments may be a gainful one. The study concludes that in spite of the national economic policies of each country, politics and law play important role in international business, which does not tend to restrict its views to the interest of one country, but it tries to analyze the different national interests which are relevant to the national level of decision-making. I. Introduction With the passage of time there will be many changes globally that would affect the economy of many countries. Globalization was one of the major changes that the world witnessed recently, and similar to this kind of major make over, there are expected to be more isolated yet more effective changes made. Sussman (1997) observed that in the last 10-15 years, trade has been major changes. These changes are ones that directly affect the lives of the working class, and have raised a great deal of concern for millions of people. This is because of the fact that democratic principles might well be overwhelmed by capitalist endeavors. However, from a governmental perspective it appears that these strategies are ones that would not interfere with democracy. It seems that the government believes that the alliances would aid the effect of globalization, thereby creating better trade in North Western hemisphere. According to Gbosi (1999), there is whole set of national policies in every country. These policies are always designed to serve some part of national constituency. As international business or trade involves flows across boundaries of sovereign states, the conduct of international transactions is different from that of domestic trade. This study will examine the international business imperative; alliances in international business; the politics and law in international business; international economic integration, market transition and development. THE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS IMPERATIVE Revolutionary changes in technologies have provided the mechanisms that propel the growth of international business. The intensification of competition at both domestic and international levels has driven firms to look beyond their domestic markets for new opportunities. The progressive removal of barriers to trade and capital movements has stimulated greater flows of exports, imports and foreign direct investment (FDI). Multinational enterprises have emerged as the key agents of international economic coordination. They provide the capability to generate innovations and deliver new goods and services to the market; they also provide the capability to exploit these technological advances at a global level, and they are a depiction of the capacity of international managerial coordination to operate efficiently across international boundaries. Crafts (2000) observed that the growing economic strength of the newly-industrializing countries (e.g. Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea) and the opening up of China and Eastern Europe have provided an additional stimulus to international business services.

Is Export Expansion of Manufactured Goods an Escape Route from Terms of Trade Deterioration of Developing Countries?

In the recent past, the developing countries, in particular the Newly Industrialising Countries (NICs), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China and India, have become a major player in the global market of manufactured goods. It had been argued that this changing composition in the export baskets of these developing countries in favour of the manufactured goods had helped the developing countries to escape from the problems of ‘deteriorating’ terms of trade and doubts the validity of the Prebisch–Singer hypothesis in the present world economic order. This study empirically finds a secular negative trend in the movement of the manufacture-manufacture terms of trade of the developing countries vis-à-vis the developed countries spanning over the period between 1975 and 2005. It also identifies the probable factors responsible for this negative trend in the terms of trade index and whether this diversification of exports towards more of manufactured goods helps the developing countries to escape from the problem of Prebisch–Singer hypothesis.

Benchmarking green innovation

Competences for green technologies in Newly Industrializing Countries (NICs) are becoming increasingly urgent from a global perspective. We define NIC as countries which undergo rapid economic growth with a corresponding change in economic structure from mostly agricultural societies to a society dominated by the industrial sector and increasing services. Green technologies open up opportunities for reducing emissions; the prospect of exporting them can provide incentives for NICs to develop them as key technologies for their economies. In addition, this could trigger further demand for green technologies in both low-income economies and traditional member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In order to assess the challenges associated with this, a benchmarking exercise is performed and its benefits and limitations discussed. From a conceptual point of view, technological benchmarking of green technologies (sustainability benchmarking) can be distinguished from capability benchmarking. For both types of benchmarking, a top–down perspective (overall level of the economy) and a sectoral bottom–up perspective (focusing on the important field of industrial energy efficiency technologies) is taken. Traditional OECD countries and Newly Industrializing Countries are benchmarked in this process, complemented with a look, in selected cases, to low-income economies. We focus on energy-related green technologies though a broader view occurs also on other green technologies like material efficiency or water efficiency. The empirical analysis shows a wide range of results. From a top–down view, it can be seen that some NICs have been catching up and are in the same benchmark clusters as a variety of traditional OECD countries. In the more detailed bottom–up view, this trend is also starting for industrial energy efficiency technologies; however it is not as pronounced yet, as on the more aggregated level of all green technologies. The comparisons between capability benchmarking and sustainability benchmarking show some parallels, but also differences. By and large, countries with a higher capability are also receiving a higher evaluation with regard to sustainability benchmarking. However, the variations within each capability cluster and group also show that other factors are important. Looking into these factors and their role for explaining the differences and dynamics for green innovation, provides room for further research.

Inventory of the chemicals and the exposure of the workers’ skin to these at two leather factories in Indonesia

PurposeTannery workers are exposed to hazardous chemicals. Tannery work is outsourced to newly industrialized countries (NICs) where attention into occupational health hazards is limited. In this study, we investigated the skin exposure to hazardous chemicals in tannery workers and determined the prevalence of occupational skin diseases (OSDs) at tanneries in a NIC.MethodsA cross-sectional study on the observation of the working process and an inventory and risk assessment of the chemicals used. Classification of chemicals as potential sensitizers/irritants and a qualitative assessment of exposure to these chemicals. Workers were examined and interviewed using Nordic Occupational Skin Questionnaire-2002/LONG.ResultsThe risk of OSDs at the investigated tanneries was mainly related to the exposure of the workers’ skin to chemicals in hot and humid environmental conditions. In 472 workers, 12% reported a current OSD and 9% reported a history of OSD. In 10% of all cases, an OSD was confirmed by a dermatologist and 7.4% had an occupational contact dermatitis (OCD). We observed that personal protective equipment (PPE) used was mainly because of skin problems in the past and not as a primary protection against OSD.ConclusionWe observed a high frequency and prolonged exposure to many skin hazardous factors in tannery work although PPE was relatively easily available and which was generally used as a secondary preventative measure. The observed point-prevalence in this study was at the same level as that reported for other high-risk OSDs in Western countries and other tanneries in NICs. However, the observed point-prevalence in this study was lower than that reported in India and Korea. The results of our study and those of other studies at tanneries from other NICs were probably influenced by Healthy Worker Survivor Effect (HWSE).

Conceptualizing leapfrogging with spatially coupled innovation systems: The case of onsite wastewater treatment in China

A rapid implementation of potentially more sustainable sector structures in newly industrializing countries (NICs) is of key importance to reach global sustainability. The conceptual basis for assessing such “leapfrogging” potentials is however still rather weakly developed. The present paper elaborates an encompassing conceptual framework drawing on the technological innovation systems literature and adding an explicit geographical focus that embeds an NIC's innovation system in its international context. From this, we derive six ideal-type leapfrogging trajectories. The framework is applied to the case of a potential transition to onsite wastewater treatment in China. Empirical evidence is based on 30 expert interviews with representatives from companies, universities, authorities and associations in China and Europe. Our results suggest that leapfrogging in the Chinese wastewater sector might develop in either an integrated “international innovation system” trajectory, where Chinese and international actors closely interact, or in an “international competition” trajectory, where Chinese actors endogenously build up technological leadership in strong competition to international actors. We conclude by outlining policy implications and by discussing future research priorities for leapfrogging and transition studies.

Panel estimation for CO 2 emissions, energy consumption, economic growth, trade openness and urbanization of newly industrialized countries

This paper empirically examines the dynamic causal relationships between carbon dioxide emissions, energy consumption, economic growth, trade openness and urbanization for the panel of newly industrialized countries (NIC) using the time series data for the period 1971–2007. Using four different panel unit root tests it is found that all panel variables are integrated of order 1. From the Johansen Fisher panel cointegration test it is found that there is a cointegration vector among the variables. The Granger causality test results support that there is no evidence of long-run causal relationship, but there is unidirectional short-run causal relationship from economic growth and trade openness to carbon dioxide emissions, from economic growth to energy consumption, from trade openness to economic growth, from urbanization to economic growth and from trade openness to urbanization. It is found that the long-run elasticity of carbon dioxide emissions with respect to energy consumption (1.2189) is higher than short run elasticity of 0.5984. This indicates that over time higher energy consumption in the newly industrialized countries gives rise to more carbon dioxide emissions as a result our environment will be polluted more. But in respect of economic growth, trade openness and urbanization the environmental quality is found to be normal good in the long-run.

A spiral process model of technological innovation in a developing country: The case of Samsung

This article presents a spiral process model of indigenous technological innovation capabilities (ITICs) that shows how firms in a developing country initiate, imitate, improve and make innovative technologies. Any technological innovation passes through four stages: (1) technological innovation (TI), (2) transfer of technology (imitation), (3) adaptive technological innovation (improvement), and finally (4) indigenous technological innovation (local innovation). This paper reviews models and frameworks related to technological innovation capabilities (TICs) which are proposed in the context of developing countries. It then analyzes the Late-Starter, Samsung Electronics as a case in point to illustrate how Korean firms have built their ITICs. The model shows four developmental stages at Samsung Electronics as: (a) Entrance of foreign companies into the Korean market and their refusal to transfer their technologies to Samsung initiating its ITICs, (b) Samsung started TICs by means of reversing the engineering of imported foreign technologies and transfer of technology, (c) it improved TI by means of adaptive technological innovation strategy and finally (4) the capability to establish their own ITICs, to become one of the leading companies in the world which challenges firms from advanced countries in the global market. The paper also highlights the developmental changes in the semiconductor (DRAM technology) of Korea. Keeping past experiences in consideration, we conclude that this model provides useful implications for newly industrializing countries (NICs) following the same pattern of technological development.

Research on South-East Asia in Austria: Department of Geography and Regional Research, University of Vienna

Asia has witnessed dynamic economic, demographic, and social transformations during the last few decades. Especially India and several countries in East and SouthEast Asia have already become important global players, while only a few decades ago most of them were considered to be backward and dominated by agriculture. Increasingly complex economic interrelationships between the more developed countries and the so-called Asian newly industrialised countries (NICs), as well as the soaring attractiveness of developing (mass) tourism destinations, have led to a growing demand for regional experts, for example as consultants on economic matters, politics, international development co-operation, tourism, or mass media. For these reasons, at the Department of Geography and Regional Research, University of Vienna, we offer the possibility of specialising in ‘development studies/development co-operation’ within the ‘Master of Geography/Regional Research’ curriculum. We provide a regional focus on Asia, especially South-East Asia. Geographical research on Asia at the University of Vienna started about one hundred years ago. Until the 1970s, however, geographical studies mainly focused on the Middle and the Near East. Starting at the beginning of the 1980s, the Department

Applying evolutionary perspective to analyse the TFT-LCD industry development in Taiwan

After developing thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) technology for the past 30 years, Taiwan has become the largest LCD manufacturer globally. Even under the global financial crisis in 2008, the production value of 10-inch or larger TFT-LCD panels in Taiwan was still up to US$28.8 billion. The development of the LCD industry is dynamic and sophisticated, and the development trajectories are influenced by the strategies of internationally based parent factories supplying technology, the industry policies of the government and the interactions of TFT-LCD companies with both their technology providers and upstream and downstream companies. Based on their interactions, these factors generate a unique evolutionary pathway, manifested in both ‘incidental’ and ‘inevitable’ results. This study adopts a holistic and evolutionary perspective to present the structure of industrial development systems and the evolutionary model in Newly Industrialized Countries (NICs). The structure of industrial development systems and the evolutionary model are applied to explore the development process and structure of the Taiwanese TFT-LCD industry, and to interpret the behaviour of the self-conscious evolution. The study suggests that the Taiwanese TFT-LCD industry has experienced three stages of evolution, namely the adaptive evolution in the first two stages and changes into the still continuous self-conscious evolution stage at present to respond to the possible change of the environment in the future and to obtain the greatest competition chance. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Construction and economic development: the case of Hong Kong

The role of construction in economic development is an important issue facing the construction research community, government and international development agencies. Based on empirical analyses, the complexities of the relationship between construction activity and stage of economic development in Hong Kong were examined. With time series data, Granger causality test results show that the construction output particularly the infrastructure sector drives the economic growth of Hong Kong, and not vice versa. Findings further indicate that the role of the local construction industry changes as the economy matures from newly industrializing country (NIC) to advanced industrialized country (AIC) status, as revealed by the diminishing rate of capacity addition by construction as well as the growing maintenance and repair sector. This complies with Bon's inverted U‐shaped relationship between construction activity and gross domestic product (GDP). However, the proposition of ‘volume follows share’ is not supported since the indigenous construction investments still sustain for the service‐oriented economy which inevitably needs commercial development and logistics infrastructure to provide the services. The results may be significant for policy makers in NICs, in the long run, to formulate corporate and industrial policies to chart out a viable and sustainable course to revive the vigour of the industry.

U.S. and Japanese Foreign Direct Investment in East Asia: A Comparative Analysis

East Asia has led the world in economic growth and export expansion in recent decades. The phenomenal rate of economic growth among the so‐called “four little tigers”—Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan—enabled them to achieve newly industrializing country (NIC) status in the 1980s, followed by Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Earlier studies explained the development from the government‐led development paradigm, or the so‐called the statist approach. Scholars also argue that foreign direct investment (FDI) played an important role in the economic development, thanks to technology transfers. Kojima and Ozawa and later Kohama, however, argue that Japanese FDI help East Asian economies while U.S. FDI do not because Japanese technology transfer practices are appropriate for East Asian countries but not the United States'. Thus, we revisit the issue of East Asian economic development and test the economic effects of FDI from the United States and Japan. Using a Barro‐type growth model, we test the effects of FDI from the United States and Japan on economic growth in East Asian NICs. We find that FDI from both the United States and Japan helped economic growth in the “four little tigers,” but not in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.