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The Indo-Pacific region is believed to be of immense strategic significance given the dynamism of the region in propelling economic growth and cooperation between nations. However, the region has attracted significant attention from major powers and is being reimagined as a contested geo-political space. The emergence of the term has led to a restructuring of the popular perception in which the world has traditionally and strategically perceived this geographical area. This paper delves into the manner in which the India and Australia as important actors in the region conceptualize the 'Indo-Pacific' and how it has shaped India-Australia relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Economic Society of Australia has made the decision to stop producing hard copies of its journals in an effort to reduce paper and plastic usage and cut costs. Starting in January 2024, all financial members of the society will have free access to the journals through the society's website. The article also mentions that the 52nd Australian Conference of Economists will be held in July 2024 at the University of Adelaide, with Professor Leonardo Bursztyn as one of the keynote speakers. Additionally, the text pays tribute to the late Professor Max Corden, a highly respected economist known for his contributions to international economics and Australian economic policy. The first part of the text provides an overview of Max Corden's career and his impact on Australian public policy. The second part is an obituary for Brian Parmenter, a colleague of the author, highlighting his personality and contributions to economic modeling. The author also shares personal experiences working with Brian and describes his coaching and mentoring abilities. The text concludes with a summary of Brian's employment history. [Extracted from the article]

The article focuses on the twenty-five national objectives for Australia relating to society, culture and economic relations. It mentions that the objectives will give attention to educations, infrastructure, and macroeconomic factors. It states that the government of Australia should understand the benefits of Asian language and culture to build a bond with Asia.

This collection of papers focuses on the domestic and international politics of Australia's recent engagement with Asia. The theme of Asian engagement appears to be of particular pertinence to the current study of Australian politics given numerous pronouncements that we are entering an 'Asian century' during which key Asian economies will gain greater ascendancy and certain Asian states will come to play a more prominent role in global politics. We employ the idea of 're-engagement' in order to show how engagement with Asia has been turned to again and again by Australian governments, albeit in different political and strategic contexts. This collection aims to consider the politics of re-engagement from a number of different theoretical positions, as well as from a number of different perspectives (be it international relations/foreign policy, domestic politics, identity politics, or from the perspective of bilateral Asian partners). Emphasis is placed not simply on the foreign policy prerogatives behind re-engagement but also on the implications of the 'Asian century' for domestic politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Colombo Plan and Point Four program were programs that provided technical and economic assistance to the newly independent countries of Southeast Asia. They represented Commonwealth and American attempts to promote economic development in the region. This paper will investigate how these policies, which were framed by US policy‐makers and academics, were adopted in Australia. In so doing, it will demonstrate the ways that development was perceived as an important consideration in the foreign policies of both Australia and the United States. It will also examine the place of these programs in the Cold War and postcolonial world of the 1950s. As this paper will show, the interaction of these factors would affect Australian foreign policy for decades to come, revealing much about the complex nature of the Australian‐American relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is strong evidence that innovation is a primary driver of a nation's economic growth. As Australia continues to compete in the global economy, it is imperative that businesses should be innovative to improve their performance. In this paper, we evaluate the status and main drivers of innovation in small businesses in the food sector in Australia. Discrete choice modelling and bootstrapping procedures are applied to a panel of firm‐level data collected through the ABS Business Characteristics Survey (2006–2007 to 2010–2011 for the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Business Longitudinal Database Confidential Unit Record File) to investigate the factors affecting the likelihood of small food businesses to innovate. Results show that businesses are more likely to innovate if they collaborate, have higher information and communication technology intensity, and use science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills. We also found that small food businesses, even at the subsector level, do combine different types of innovation when innovating. The propensity to innovate also increases for small businesses that have flexible working arrangements, face moderate‐to‐strong market competition, operate overseas and seek finance through debt and equity. The relative importance of these factors was found to vary between agricultural and nonagricultural food subsectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the late 1990s, many developed states and customs territories have been seeking out preferential trade deals. This article examines this trend, which has been especially evident in the Asia-Pacific, and focuses specifically on Australia as a leading exponent of preferentialism in the region. The article has two distinct aims. First, to shed light on the thinking behind Australia's foreign economic policy and, specifically, to examine the motivations for moving away from multilateral and non-discriminatory means of advancing its free trade agenda in the region. Second, it aims to examine the developing dynamics of regional economic co-operation in the Asia-Pacific given the stasis of existing institutional efforts. This paper begins with a brief examination of the regional context and Australia's approach to trade policy. It then considers the nature of Australia's preferential bilateralism and its aims and motivations. The article shows that Australian policy-makers believe that preferential agreements can provide trade creation through market access, as well as broader benefits which derive from market expansion. Australia is motivated to pursue preferentialism by concern about existing institutions, by the technical appeal of bilateral agreements, and by the broader trend toward preferentialism in the international system, as well as shifts in its own domestic politics. The paper concludes with a short examination of the character of regionalism in the Asia-Pacific in the light of burgeoning regional bilateralism. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The increasing importance of China to Australian businesses dictates the need to have a good understanding of the Chinese corporate tax system. Due to the different economic and legal environment, some provisions of the EIT Law may come as a surprise to foreign observers. This is so despite that the Chinese tax system has become more sophisticated and its government in general has strived to align its tax policies with international norms in recent years. The aim of this paper is to identify and analyse three key policy objectives of the EIT Law – namely, neutrality, competitiveness and anti-avoidance – which provide the framework for a better understanding of the regime. These policy objectives have shaped to a large extent the EIT Law in China. This paper critically evaluates how these three policy objectives were achieved through the design of key features and provisions of the EIT Law. The analysis also serves to highlight some interesting differences with their Australian counterparts wherever appropriate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asia's middle powers face a trilateral dilemma stemming from their relationships with the U.S. and China. This paper uses the Australian example to examine the dilemma. It shows that Australia has bound itself to the U.S. because of domestic political factors, cost considerations, a belief that it can keep its interests separate, and its perception of regional threats. The paper then argues that others are likely to resolve their trilateral dilemmas in ways that make the regional strategic dynamic more competitive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that Brazil can only be classified as a middle power by engaging in what Sartori criticized as the process of conceptual stretching. Moreover, it is argued that Brazil neither sees itself as a middle power, nor conducts itself as one despite superficial appearances. After the context is set with a survey of thinking on middle power theory, attention is turned to explaining how Brazil might be mistaken for a middle power before explaining in more detail why the country is not one. Evidence is drawn from Brazil's multilateral engagement in institutions such as the WTO, the inter-American system, the NPT, and the wider context of global development. Ultimately the paper advises policy-makers and academics against using the concept of middle power as a conceptual guide or shortcut to understanding Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The first decade of the 21st century has been characterised by complex and interrelated changes that have affected development. Development studies as a discipline has traditionally been concerned with the impact of colonisation and neocolonialism, and with neoliberal-related growth models. This paper argues that, since around the turn of the century, there has been a major shift in development, driven by a series of fundamental changes, including the relative failure of the neoliberal project in the 1980s and 1990s, which by the 2000s was partly replaced by a greater concern with addressing security issues with aid; the rise of China and other middle-income countries as large resource providers for development; and the rapid increase of remittance flows to lower and middle income countries. The paper looks at how both development studies and aid policy in Australia and elsewhere have been relatively slow to engage with this rapidly changing context. The big challenges for development studies will be: engaging with developing countries as development donors with different agendas for development; the decline of much of the current neoliberal paradigm; alternative sources of development finance; and the securitisation of Western aid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Short-run response of the trade balance to currency depreciation is summarised by the J-Curve or S-Curve. While the J-Curve relies upon regression analysis applied to a trade balance model, the S-Curve relies upon cross-correlation function between the exchange rate and past as well as the future values of the trade balance. All past studies that have analysed response of Australian trade balance to changes in the real value of the Australian dollar have estimated the J-Curve with not much support for it. In this paper, we rely upon the S-Curve phenomenon constructed for 146 industries that trade between the United States and Australia. The S-Curve hypothesis receives support in 89 of the 146 industries providing a breakthrough in this part of the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing theoretical insights offered by the Copenhagen School, in conjunction with a critical assessment of environmental security, the intention of this paper is to examine the ways in which Australia's 're-engagement with Asia' is getting increasingly securitized through both speech acts and practices relating to climate change and energy security. These acts and practices are dictated and driven by the state-centric 'national security' discourses on the one hand, and by the geo-economic imperatives of fossil fuel-driven models of economic growth and energy security on the other hand. The key question, in our view, then becomes: What are the actual or potential linkages (and contradictions) between Australia's self-image as an energy superpower, alongside its increasingly embraced normative role as a responsible international (and even Asian) citizen committed to effectively mitigating climate change? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses major features of and issues in Australia-Indonesia economic relations, focusing on merchandise trade, investment, services trade and aid. There is disappointment in both countries that the economic relationship is not stronger, although there are obvious reasons — both related to policies and to economic structures — why bilateral commerce has not expanded more rapidly. The paper also points to areas of strength in the economic relationship, and to future challenges and opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of Pacific Basin Economic Council (PBEC) in the economic relation between Australia and Japan. The organization was formed in 1962 and its goals were properly discussed in September of 1964 during the meeting of the Australia-Japan Business Cooperation Committee (AJBCC) in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. Among the goals formulated are the fortification of AJBCC, attracting foreign leaders, and to include the trade union representatives and the state as members of the committee.

This paper analyzes China's impact on Australia-U.S. relations from 1949 to 1996, including how far Australia's China policy followed the American lead. The conclusion: American influence was dominant, but Australia's own initiative was enough to belie the suggestion that it was no more than a blind follower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies concepts developed in the Policy Agendas Project (PAP) literature to an analysis of Australian tax policy over the post war period. It argues that a major turning point in the Australian tax policy agenda occurred during the second term of the Hawke Government (1984-87). Beyond this turning point, and despite the fierce partisan conflict concerning tax policy over the past two decades, there has been remarkaly little difference between Australia's two major parties at the level of substantive policy content. The Australian tax policy agenda over the post war period can be characterised by remarkable policy continuity punctuated by a period of change in the mid 1980s when structural change in the international political economy precipitated unprecedented domestic liberalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India and Australia have assumed a greater role in international affairs, emerging as regional powers with great power potential. Changes in the international environment, particularly the rise of China as a common source of concern and growing economic relations between the two countries in an era of increasingly complex interdependence, have provided an impulse for the two countries to enhance their bilateral ties. Part of that includes developing a robust maritime capability that can project force across blue water as well as on land, and which works in concert with allied maritime forces in assuring the defence of common interests. The paper provides an overview of the Indian–Australian relationship, focusing the analysis on India's changing maritime outlook, Australia's strategic priorities and a forecast of the possibilities for their developing a strategic partnership in the Indo-Pacific region. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the strategic arguments articulated in calls for the teaching and learning of Asia in schools. “Asia literacy” is currently framed as a necessary “solution” for Australian education, but acceptance of this “solution” into the mainstream educational policy agenda has been problematised as a neoliberal and neocolonial construct. Subsequent policy debate indicates the dominance of an economic rationale that is seemingly impossible to resist. This paper suggests that critical policy approaches can be used to identify alternatives to these dominant frameworks, which imagine Asia literacy in alternate ways. Re-imagining the “solution” offers three alternatives: working within an economic agenda; restructuring Asia literacy away from a distinct policy agenda; and treating policy gaps as spaces in which teachers can generate locally relevant possibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Australia's relationship with India stands in apparent contrast with its relations elsewhere in Asia. Most accounts of Australia's links to India liken them to recurrent bouts of amnesia, arguing that Australia has not put the same efforts into engaging with India that it has into fostering ties with Japan, China and Indonesia and that, like a patient with injury to the hippocampus who has lost the ability to lay down long-term memories, Australia appears to approach each episodic moment of contact without recollection of the past. Australia's relationship with India has passed through distinct phases, from a brief moment of warmth in the years immediately after India achieved independence, through frosty decades of the Cold War. In contrast to many other accounts, the paper argues that since the 1980s Australia has sought with considerable consistency to engage with India and that the tenuousness of the relationship is primarily due to Indian indifference. Recent bilateral issues, including the supply of uranium to India and attacks on Indian students, have led to an enlargement of contacts which may signify that the engagement is at last becoming a mutual one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese investment in Australia is emerging as an important part of the Australia-China economic relationship. This paper overviews the major characteristics of Chinese investment in Australia up to the present: its volume, form, sectoral distribution, and major players. It then discusses the policies that have been driving recent increases in investment and those that are likely to have a more profound impact over the longer term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies that tested the J-curve phenomenon for Australia used trade data either between Australia and the rest of the world or between Australia and its trading partners on a bilateral basis. They were unable to find support for the J-curve in the short run nor any significant relation between the trade balance and the exchange rate in the long run. In this paper we disaggregate the data between Australia and its second largest trading partner, the US, and consider the trade between 108 industries. Using annual data over the 1962–2003 period and bounds testing approach to cointegration and error-correction modelling, we are able to discover short-run effects of currency depreciation on the trade balance in 64 industries. The long-run and positive effects were only evidenced in 35 cases, supporting the J-curve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Broadly framed in terms of performance theories by Turner and Beeman, this paper weaves together the historical, mythical, ritual and performative aspects of a 1997 encounter in Sulawesi between Yolŋu (an Aboriginal people of northern Australia) and Macassans (people from southern Sulawesi, Indonesia). The focus of the paper is an indigenous opera called Trepang, which is based on the centuries-long history of trading relations and family connections between the two groups, and the way its performance was used by the Yolŋu and Macassan cast members to renegotiate their often turbulent shared history, along with the contemporary social and ritual order. In this light, Trepang can be understood as a restorative social process, a means of pursuing a common path and a way of ameliorating the discrepancies of the past - bringing the parties finally together as one. Analysing the social context in which the performance of historical 'truths' was negotiated, I unpack key events in the staging of this 'play within a play' and demonstrate the need to transgress the dualism of ritual and spectacle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this paper is to first identify and describe the salient culturally sensitive events that impacted upon the business relations of a “Western and Eastern” nation, namely Australia and Malaysia between 1986-2000, and then develop a model to explain these events and their consequences in more generic terms. Although there is common consensus among academics that culture is multi-dimensional in nature, most authors differ heavily in terms of identifying some common dimensions of cultural sensitivity differences. The insensitivity of Western nations to cultural distinctions prevalent in the Asian countries is identified in this paper as one of the impediments towards the establishment of successful and sustainable business relations. The study takes a case study and qualitative approach to specific “events” from an inter-country relations (ICRs) perspective, and identifies four distinct phases in which specific culture-based issues triggered major incidents that ultimately impacted bi-lateral trade. This paper culminates with an international business paradigm incorporating a matrix of differing competitive inter-relationships between countries and the resultant international business consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper considers the effects of tariff cuts in the intermediate inputs market Traditional trade theories predict that upstream industries would contract and downstream industries would expand. In contrast, new trade theories show that trade liberalisation of the intermediate inputs market may expand both upstream and downstream industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of its economic diplomacy, Australia has directed intense effort into both bilateral and plurilateral trade negotiations such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. According to then Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb, with no major multilateral trade deal in decades, you have to ‘row your own boat’ or risk missing out. With the fundamentals of trade and the nature of trade negotiations changing, trade liberalisation has become an increasingly sophisticated and difficult negotiating area. A case study of the controversial TPP shows the tensions for a middle power navigating this space. The benefits of the TPP are contested and the government faces criticism of the adverse impacts of the agreement, especially investor-state dispute settlement clauses, impact on human rights and suspicion that the TPP is motivated by geopolitical drivers. In order not to lose more than it gains in moving away from the multilateral trade system, Australia must ensure that trade agreements are consistent with WTO rules and have open and fair accession regimes as a basis for signing. Finally, there is the need for higher levels of transparency and democratic accountability than has historically applied. A new white paper is necessary to make the case for trade liberalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Economic adjustment, a political priority for Labor governments throughout the second half of the 1980s, and in contrast to earlier Australian scholarship and practice, is now recognised to be an internationally, as well as a domestically, determined and constrained enterprise. Theoretical developments in international political economy in North America of late have provided a variety of approaches for conceptualising this twofold enterprise. Taking two cases (the development of the Cairns Group and its activities in the Uruguay Round of Trade Negotiations and the development of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) this paper looks at two of these approaches-to show how they can contribute to the understanding of international economic policy under Labor in the late 1980s and early 1990s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper undertakes an analysis of bilateral trade linkages between Australia and Thailand over 1990 to 2011, analysing changes in trade competitiveness, and possible role played by the Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA) that came into force in 2005. Trade competitiveness changes are measured by the revealed comparative advantage index (RCAI) at an aggregate and value-added level, as well as a constant market share analysis (CMS) analysis. An export-demand model utilizing interaction effects in presence of the TAFTA is then estimated, hitherto not attempted earlier in the empirical literature on Australia-Thailand trade. The findings of the paper suggest that the Thailand-Australian trade relationship has undergone further adjustment since the establishment of the TAFTA. However, the changes in trade patterns are not necessarily due to TAFTA but more of a long term trend. CMS analysis suggest that Thailand's export competitiveness significantly contributed to the remarkable growth of exports to Australia experienced over the period, and the strongest trade link between the two countries has been the export of automotive vehicles from Thailand to Australia. However, value-added RCAI reveals that Thailand's domestic industry have been contributing to its exports to a much lesser extent than as actually observed in its gross exports, and this reflects the increasing role of foreign firms and imported inputs in Thailand's machinery and transport equipment sector. The export demand model therefore finds a significant positive impact of the TAFTA only on Australian exports to Thailand, but not vice-versa. The observed statistically insignificant impact of the TAFTA on Thai exports to Australia could be due to the limited impact of the TAFTA on trade barriers in Australia, as Thai exporters already enjoyed low tariffs prior to implementation of the TAFTA. The insignificant income effect observed in presence of TAFTA confirms that the TAFTA agreement had no impact on Thailand's demand for Australian exports even while the Australian economy was growing. The results imply that Australia and Thailand's membership with the same country in three different FTAs (bilateral, regional and cross-regional) could throw up additional challenges of utilization of these agreements for actual business purposes in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a critical overview of Australian, Chinese, and American perspectives on trilateralism, with a detailed discussion of Australian debates on the matter. Its aim is to trace the evolution of the changing discourse on the rise of China, examine major debates in Australia, and provide both an intellectual background and an overview for this special issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1926, the Empire Marketing Board (EMB) was established to foster empire trade without the use of tariffs. It was to simulate imperial preference by redirecting consumer choice away from ‘foreign’ goods and towards the produce of ‘home and empire’. Using newspapers, pamphlets, film, exhibitions and poster displays, the EMB aimed to ‘bring the empire alive’ to British consumers. This paper analyses the presentation of three settler dominions—Australia, New Zealand and Canada—in the EMB's advertising campaigns. The EMB's large visual archive has been the subject of only limited study, most of which has focused on a homogeneous reading of empire. This article argues that the work of the EMB reveals the presence of a separate discourse of empire—a ‘dominion discourse’—that has not been recognised in cultural histories of empire, which, with the recent exception of ‘British world’ studies, have been more interested in mapping and conceptualising the formation of identities in other colonial settings. The ‘dominion discourse’ emphasised the familiar, white and ‘British’ nature of the former colonies of settlement, attributes that are clearly displayed in the campaigns of the EMB, but can also be found in settler culture much more widely. In doing so, the white dominions stressed not only their difference from the dependent colonies, but their similarity to Britain. Though the inter-war period is often associated with the rise of distinctive national identities and the loosening of imperial bonds, the production of these attributes in an imperial and metropolitan context draws attention to both the transnational nature of identity formation and the continuing importance of Britain and empire in the construction of settler culture in this period. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Few people inside or outside government have had a greater impact on public policy in Australia than Ross Garnaut. His report in 1990 provided a blueprint for Australia's economic 'engagement' with Asia, whether or not one agreed with its underlying logic and analysis. The reception of his report on climate change in 2011 could hardly have been more different. Why is it that some ideas enjoy wide support from influential actors and are enthusiastically taken up by policymakers, while others struggle to gain traction, even when backed by government? This paper provides some possible answers to this puzzle by identifying factors that facilitate or obstruct the influence and impact of 'policy entrepreneurs'. 在澳大利亚政府内外，对公共政策影响最大的人士莫过于郜若素了。他发表于1990年的报告，你同意其逻辑分析也好，不同意也罢，反正它都为亚澳经济关系提供了蓝图。他于2011年发表的环境报却得到迥然不同的反应。何以一些观点能够得到重要社会主体的广泛支持以及政策制定者的积极采纳，而另一些观点哪怕是有政府做后盾，也难得推广呢？本文通过寻找有利或有碍"政策专业户"发挥影响的因素，对这个问题作了回答。 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia's Trade Policy Review by the WTO in 2011 was positive about Australia's openness and its progress in removing residual barriers to trade. But it glosses over the fact that Australia's current strategy of supporting the multilateral system while signing, negotiating and concluding preferential agreements is not consistent. The paper focuses on the question of Australia's role in the multilateral system as it prosecutes preferential agreements, and examines ways of multilateralising some of those preferences, especially in a broader regional setting and under the WTO. One priority is to multilateralise the preferences in trade agreements - by reducing the MFN tariffs and extending the preferential access that some investment and services providers enjoy. Another priority is to get domestic regulations and reforms right so that there is no discrimination between foreign and domestic firms, let alone between foreign firms from different countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the strategic response of Australia to growing economic dependence upon China since 2000. The study examines the elements in Australia's China policy such as the policy on human rights in Taiwan, Tibet and China, and the regulations on Chinese investments in the mining sector of Australia. Results show that during the period Australia has become more dependent on China, it has pursued internal and external balancing tactics in response to the rise of China.

Surprisingly little theoretical or empirical research is available on Auckland's actual functional and geographic connectivity, including developments relating to closer economic relations with Australia. This paper draws on the geography of accumulation literatures to argue that close attention must be given to developments in the three circuits of capital (trade, production and finance) if the changing character and contributions of globalising firm networks are to be discerned and understood. The empirical investigations show that for Australian owned firms globalising rather than purely Australasian networks are the norm, network complexity is considerable and that it makes sense to think of Auckland's economy in globalising terms. A globalising networks perspective means that estimates of the magnitude and assessments of the character of employment contributions of Australian owned firms to the Auckland economy reflects these interdependencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia and India have had few reasons in the past to develop systematic and significant levels of economic engagement. This was due to very different positions they have held in the world-system since the Second World War. De-colonization, the fall of the British Empire, the weak status of the British Commonwealth, and the realpolitik of the Cold War saw India and Australia located on different parts of the geo-political and economic world map with small demographic and cultural flows, and insignificant economic trade. Both countries developed similar economic policy regimes that were essentially state-led nationalist projects of economic development with concomitant policies of import-substitution, local industry-subsidization, highly-regulated financial systems, and high tariffs. The last quarter of the 20th century saw a radical revision of both nations’ economic strategies, with Australia moving first to drop many of its trade barriers in the 1970s and ’80s. It is now one of the most open economies in the world. India’s liberalization programme commenced much later in 1991 but nonetheless has had a dramatic impact on its economic fortunes and growing status in the world economy. With these changes there are increasing opportunities for bilateral trade and a greater economic enmeshment in regional engagements and alignments in the Indian Ocean and in wider Asian fora. One significant indicator of change in growing Australia-India economic engagement is to look at Foreign Direct Investment (hereafter FDI). Currently, the movement of FDI between these two countries is still not very large but has a strong potential to grow over the short to medium term. This paper looks at the future prospect of this growth and asserts that, by engaging in areas of comparative advantage, it will benefit both national economies. Moreover, economic flows are also indicators of great social and cultural traffic. The movement of FDI between the two countries will not only encourage greater flow of peoples, especially outward migration from India to Australia, but also trigger more Australian expatriates living in India (from a very low base). Greater economic trade promises more cultural exchange. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since their inception around 1960 the international System of National Accounts (SNA) constant price accounts (chained volumes) have mismeasured real GDP. The domestic production effects of changes in the terms of trade have been excluded and international trade values misreported. Most of the time the SNA mismeasurements have little real effect. But when there are large changes in the terms of trade they become statistically significant. Real GDP estimates may transform into mere counterfactuals. This is particularly so when the terms of trade are declining. After September 2011, did the mismeasurement of international trade hamper the economic management of the Australian economy? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a sample of 135 Australian firms with operations in Greater China (Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan), this paper seeks to examine whether members of an ethnic diaspora can facilitate trade between Australia and their countries of origin. Specifically, it found that companies that are owned by immigrants and/or hired immigrants in key decision making positions (immigrant effect or IE, in short) were (a) more likely to resort to a higher resource commitment when entering into the target market; and (b) used more extensively in target markets where there are greater variations in customer behavior. There was no significant difference (a) in the deployment of immigrants between Australian firms operating in Mainland China vis-à-vis those in Hong Kong/Taiwan; (b) where there were variations in product life cycle stages between the home and target markets; (c) based on the length of operations in the target market; and (d) in performance between firms with IE and those without in the target markets. The influence of firm size, overall international business experience, variations in political-legal, economic, and competitive environments between the home and target markets, and industry type were also examined. The findings of the study with implications for theory and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of Indigenous community development in Australia has been disappointing for all stakeholders, none more than the community members. One of the important contributions to this state of affairs has been the over estimation of community capacity by consultants, bureaucrats and community leaders. This leads to inappropriate interventions that are unsuccessful not because they are flawed, but because they assume entry levels that are incorrect. In the absence of adequate research regarding the Critical Success Factors for Indigenous communities in Australia, the Harvard Indian Project provides some useful indicators of areas of concern. When the indicators from the Harvard Indian project are combined with the developmental framework for organisations proposed by Bill Torbert, the combination provides a useful framework for assessment of the current capacity of the community. This allows better targeting of capacity development interventions for the community, which ultimately will improve the sustainability of the community. A trial application of the framework in nine Indigenous communities is reported in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia's relationship with South Africa was founded on their being two groups of colonies, and later dominions, in the British Empire. As remote settler societies there were certain affinities, anxiously promoted by South Africa and usually resisted by Australia. Australian prime ministers played a major role in helping to bring about majority rule, but since 1994 the relationship has stiffened. For South Africa, partly for geopolitical reasons, the Commonwealth remains a functional concept; for Australia, it has lost much of its efficacy. Australia and South Africa have also exchanged two significant migrations: of Australian miners and artisans to the Rand around the turn of last century, and of South African emigrants to Australia in our own time. Trade between the two countries is increasing, and a new range and diversity in contact has occurred, with the resumption of full relations since the apartheid years. Given South Africa's disjunction from its immediate past, it is difficult at present to indicate what forms the relationship might take in future. The paper therefore sketches the whole history of interaction between the two countries, drawing attention to its phases and reconfigurations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is there a revolution occurring in the Australian suburb? From a brief examination of demographic, economic, political and aesthetic changes, it appears that the suburbs of the new century are very different from those of the last. With the demise of key underpinnings of the older suburban form—the sexual division of labour, particular family forms, localised communities and bucolic private gardens—has gone an end to official support of the expansive suburb and a major shift in their politics, planning, economies and relationship to the CBD and other centres. With falling household sizes has gone a seemingly contradictory trend toward larger houses on smaller blocks of land. In the context of these many changes along with urban containment and consolidation, this paper argues that there is a convergence occurring between the design of inner, middle and outer suburban dwellings. The negativity long heaped upon the suburban bungalow by the custodians of taste is being revisited. The style wars are easing, as suburban homes increasingly resemble those appearing in densified cities across the nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Pacific Islands Forum, the regional organization comprising 14 Pacific Island countries (PICs), Australia and New Zealand is committed to strengthen regional cooperation and integration. This paper examines progress in real and financial integration in the region. Utilizing the methodology based on international parity conditions: purchasing power parity and uncovered interest parity, the study concludes that while PICs’ integration amongst themselves and with Australia and New Zealand, is relatively advanced with respect to goods and services, the financial market integration remains incomplete. The policy implication is impact of further liberalization is likely to be substantial on financial markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multiproduct spatial equilibrium model of world steel trade is presented in this paper. The model is used to analyse the impacts of the safeguard trade barriers brought about by the USA in order to protect their domestic industry from the so-called unfair competition. Emphasis is placed on the likely effect on the Australian industry and possible policy responses available to the industry. A case study is made of Australia's three largest export products; namely, slab, hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel, which share some substitutability in supply and demand because of the nature of the industry. As a result of the safeguard barriers to steel trade, world steel prices fell and trade shifted away from the USA to other importing regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper examines the very long-running trade dispute between Australia and New Zealand concerning a ban on the importation of apples on the basis of fire blight disease present in New Zealand. This particular example illustrates the more general case of the frequent conflict between science and politics in regard to technical trade barriers. This same issue of fire blight disease in apples became the subject of a protracted World Trade Organization dispute between the USA and Japan, with New Zealand a third party to the USA, and Australia a third party to Japan. The World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement Body, and subsequently the World Trade Organization Appellate Body, ruled in favour of the USA (and thus New Zealand) on this issue. Despite this ruling, Australia has continued its ban on New Zealand apples and the issue has become highly politicized in Australia. • This case highlights the need for World Trade Organization rules to be changed to ensure that its rulings become binding on third parties and other World Trade Organization members. This would ensure that once an issue is decided through the full World Trade Organization conflict resolution process, the principles established should become generally applicable to other instances of the same scientific issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper explores the extraordinary interest in trade with Australia evinced by the Nazi regime in Germany. The presumed orientation of Berlin was then towards the expansion of international trade, to become 'domestic' after the outbreak of the Second World War, with eastern and southeastern Europe. Yet a considerable effort was expended up the development of commercial ties with distant Australia. The effort expended upon the Antipode in part met the desires of German individuals and businesses with an interest in the area. It was no doubt intended as a contribution towards focusing the attention of Whitehall upon the British Empire, to leave the Nazi regime with a 'free hand in Europe'. The effort also, however, lends support to the notion that the ultimate objective of that regime was a global hegemony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intense controversy over Japanese investment in Australia in the late 1980s continues to attract academic attention as a significant episode in Australia-Japan relations. This paper addresses two limitations of the existing literature. Firstly, it situates the controversy in the political economy of foreign investment policy liberalisation. This is important to an understanding of to what degree it was fundamentally a Japan-related or a foreign investment-related issue. How it became both provides insights into the dynamics of Australia--Japan relations in that era. Secondly, why the Australian government reaffirmed its commitment to liberal non-discriminatory policy in the face of popular disquiet is examined directly. This complements the existing rich literature on the negative reactions to Japanese investment and may help to provide a fuller picture of the domestic sources of stability in Australia--Japan relations in that period. It also highlights the historical magnitude of the Howard government's recent apparent abrogation of the non-discriminatory principle in foreign investment policy with the Australia--US Free Trade Agreement of February 2004 and the questions so raised about the Australia--Japan bilateral relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines and analyses the main issues in the current bilateral economic relations between Australia and South Korea, particularly focusing on the Korean perspective. Above all, the trade imbalance continuously favouring Australia has been an issue of great concern on the part of South Korea. Australia and South Korea have shown disagreement over the lopsided trade issue, regarding attitude, approach and standpoint in addressing it. While the Korean side broadly converges on the view, that the bilateral trade imbalance needs to be redressed, there are four differing viewpoints on explaining the lopsided bilateral trade: (i) the Korean government's view; (ii) the Korean business sector's view; (iii) the relevance of culture; (iv) Korea's favourable perception of Australia. This paper seeks to answer an important question in the context of the two nations" economic/trade relationship: why South Korea has ever engaged with Australia on good terms, albeit with disadvantageous trade relations. In this case, the nexus of economics and politico-security is largely in action. That is, on one plane, South Korea is ranked as an important trading partner and a major export market of Australia. On another plane, South Korea politically needs strong allies like Australia which can give an unswerving support for it in both the regional and international arenas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the comparative politics literature there are two main approaches to the impact of international economic change on national policy patterns. The first — new institutionalism — has been very influential in comparative industrial relations scholarship. The second, which focuses on the role of interests, has been less prominent. Comparing industrial relations reform in Australia and New Zealand during the 1980s and 1990s, this paper argues that there are a number of limitations to an institutionalist approach and outlines a framework for the comparative study of the impact of international economic change on national patterns of industrial relations which integrates both institutionalist and interest-based approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authorities in a number of advanced countries have produced intergenerational reports that seek to determine the fiscal sustainability of current policy parameters. The Australian government will publish its intergenerational Report in May 2002. This paper attempts to place these reports in analytical perspective. We examine the notion of intergenerational equity, the conceptual basis for generational accounting, Australian efforts at constructing generational accounts, and then review the intergenerational reports of several other countries. The paper concludes with a brief synoptic discussion of various policies that can help Australian governments achieve intergenerational balance in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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