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Presents several announcements related to economics as of October 2005. Inclusion of the journal "Pacific Economic Review" in the Social Sciences Citation Index; Information on the international workshop entitled Recent Advances in International Economics IV: Empirical Analyses of International Trade Issues, organized by the Department of Economics and Finance, and the Research Center for International Economics of City University of Hong Kong on May 20 and 21, 2005; Information on the First International Conference on Business, Technology and Competitive Intelligence, to be held at the Graduate School of Business, Nihon University in Tokyo, Japan, on October 25 and 26, 2005.

The origins of the modern socially responsible investment (SRI) movement can be traced to the turbulent period in the 1960s when powerful social undercurrents including environmentalism and anti-war activism fuelled a rise, in a radical change, in the way society viewed faith, values and commerce. Today, nearly 1 out of every US$9 under professional management in the US is currently invested using social investment strategies while the European green and ethical investment market is estimated to be &U20AC;1 trillion or as much as 10–15% of the total funds under management. While some preliminary figures and analyses exist for countries outside these two regions, SRI has been, to date, largely explored within the context of North America and Europe. This is unfortunate as the sustainability of SRI as a consumer market is going to depend, to a great extent, to what happens outside of North America and Europe, and most notably in the rapidly developing Asian economies. In this article, I will explore the development of SRI as a mainstream financial consumer instrument in industrialized (Japan) and emerging (Hong Kong/China) economies of the Asia Pacific region. To fully analyse the SRI market development in Hong Kong and Japan, I will examine the following three issues and questions: first, how does the sustainable consumption framework offer a useful lens from which to explore SRI, and why is the Asia Pacific market and policy context so important for the broader issue of sustainable consumption? Second, what precisely is SRI and how did it develop into an important global financial investment vehicle? Third, how did the SRI market develop in the case of Hong Kong and Japan? I will then conclude the article with some analysis on the important lessons SRI market development in Hong Kong and Japan hold for market sustainability of the financial sector and sustainable consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents news briefs related to corporate social responsibility and environmental management in Asia for the period February to April 2006. The Japanese government has approved a bill to revise the antidiscrimination law guaranteeing equal employment opportunities. A survey reveals that majority of female workers in Korea think that sexual discrimination is prevalent both in the job search and in the workplace. Half of the visitors to Hong Kong, China had complained of the worsening air pollution in the city, according to a survey conducted by Friends of the Earth.

The study models the Hong Kong domestic exports and re-exports, compares the performance of exports to the rest of the world, the USA and Japan, and uses destination-and-export-type specific unit value indexes to construct real exchange rates. In general, Hong Kong exports display mean-reverting dynamics, are positively influenced by foreign income and are adversely affected by high value of its currency. The lagged export variable, foreign income, and real exchange rate provide most of the explanatory power. Other variables explain marginally the variability of Hong Kong exports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies of firms that issue seasoned equity in the US and Japan have found that these firms significantly underperform over the long-run subsequent to the issue. I offer further evidence of this by examining Japanese seasoned offerings (SEOs) from 1975 to 1992. I find similar results for firms issuing seasoned equity in Hong Kong. However, I also find that Korean SEOs generate insignificant abnormal returns over a 36-month period following the issue. These results suggest that the asymmetric information argument offered for the US and Japanese markets do not always hold, especially in markets where the regulatory and market structures vary greatly. Cross-sectional results suggest that younger firms tend to perform worse than older firms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Chinese term "manhua" is used commonly in Hong Kong as equivalent to "cartoons" and "comics" in English. It includes satire and caricature works, political and editorial cartoons, and all other genres usually referred to as either cartoons or comics. The term manhua in Hong Kong today also includes "lianhuantu," a traditional Chinese term usually referring to more traditional picture books featuring a sequence of Chinese line art drawings and telling stories with characters in traditional costume. As is generally true in East Asian societies, rnanhua constitutes one of the most popular reading materials in Hong Kong. Although Hong Kong's population is only about 7 million, estimated annual retail sales for manhua publications in 1990 alone were approximately HK $17.9 million. The Hong Kong manhua market is divided into two main market shares, the local manhua produced by local artists, and the sub-licensed Chinese version of Japanese manga (comics). The purpose of this article is to capture the development of Hong Kong manhua and thus trace the history of this important cultural product as well as to provide a general overview' of the central themes and topics that have emerged in this genre of Hong Kong popular culture.

The article focuses on Asian countries that have experienced economic growth over the past 50 years including Hong Kong, China; Japan; Singapore; South Korea and Taiwan. With the exception of Hong Kong, the economic success of the Asian countries has been attributed to the interventionist framework. Export-orientation is one strategy that is most associated with the success of the five Asian countries. The export-oriented strategy helped the five Asian countries in many ways. The ensuring growth of employment enabled the country to save and accumulate capital for reinvestment. The export-oriented strategy also positively affects the competitive advantages of the country. There are other non-economic factors, such as culture, the need to survive, strong government, historical factors and even luck, that could have helped in the development process of these countries. Policy-makers must know how to use the total-systems approach to solving economic problems. In other words, policy-makers must know how to analyse their economies as complex systems.

The relationship of state policy to economic growth in such countries as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore has been appreciated by some social scientists for quite some time while; Hong Kong seemed to be the deviant case. The article focuses on economic growth in Hong Kong, which was also predicated on substantial state intervention. However, state ownership of land, the provision of collective consumption, and the supply of basic commodities by the People's Republic of China, at less than market prices, are the defining characteristics. Although many commentators have noted the advantages of Hong Kong's geographical position in aiding rapid industrialization, her political status may have been equally important. Because it is administering a colony, Hong Kong's government has been able to avoid the types of political pressures that have often led to mushrooming public sectors, disproportionate investment in "non-productive" activities and resultant financial difficulties in many third world countries.