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This study examines generalized trust and trust in institutions in Confucian Asia, covering six countries namely, China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam, and one dependent region, Hong Kong. Using data from the 2006 AsiaBarometer Survey, our study affirms the reliability and validity of using a two-item scale to measure generalized trust. Our analysis suggests that due to demographic differences, there are variations in the level of generalized trust of countries in Confucian Asia, despite the fact that these societies share a similar background in Confucian philosophy. The relationships between generalized trust and political trust, and between generalized trust and trust in public institutions, are weak but positive. The positive relationship between generalized trust and trust in economic institutions is only significant for some of the economies, while trust in international institutions has the weakest relationship with generalized trust for all societies. We conclude the paper with research implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The role of smoking in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remains uncertain, especially in endemic regions. We conducted an individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies to investigate the associations between smoking exposure and risk of NPC.Methods: We obtained individual participant data of 334 935 male participants from six eligible population-based cohorts in NPC-endemic regions, including two each in Guangzhou and Taiwan, and one each in Hong Kong and Singapore. We used one- and two-stage approaches IPD meta-analysis and Cox proportional hazard models to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of NPC for smoking exposure adjusting for age and drinking status.Results: During 2 961 315 person-years of follow-up, 399 NPC evens were ascertained. Risks of NPC were higher in ever versus never smokers (HRone-stage = 1.32, 95% CI = 1.07-1.63, P = 0.0088; HRtwo-stage = 1.27, 1.01-1.60, 0.04). These positive associations appeared to be stronger in ever smokers who consumed 16+ cigarettes/day (HRone-stage = 1.67, 95% CI = 1.29-2.16, P = 0.0001), and in those who started smoking at age younger than 16 (2.16, 1.33-3.50, 0.0103), with dose-response relationships (P-values for trend = 0.0028 and 0.0103, respectively). Quitting (versus daily smoking) showed a small reduced risk (stopped for 5+ years: HRone-stage = 0.91, 95% CI = 0.60-1.39, P = 0.66; for former smokers: HRtwo-stage = 0.84, 0.61-1.14, 0.26).Conclusions: This first IPD meta-analysis from six prospective cohorts in endemic regions has provided robust observational evidence that smoking increased NPC risk in men. NPC should be added to the 12-16 cancer sites known to be tobacco-related cancers. Strong tobacco control policies, preventing young individuals from smoking, would reduce NPC risk in endemic regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Childbearing behavior in East Asian countries has changed rapidly during the past half century from an average of five to seven children per family, to replacement-level fertility, and subsequently to unprecedentedly low levels, the lowest in the world. This article analyzes fertility trends in Hong Kong, Japan, singapore, south Korea, and Taiwan using cohort fertility data and methods, then examines social and economic causes of the childbearing trends, and surveys policies pursued to reverse the fertility trends. Postponement of childbearing started in the 1970s with continuously fewer delayed births being 'recuperated,' which resulted in ultra-low fertility. A rapid expansion of education and employment among women in a patriarchal environment has generated a stark dilemma for women who would like to combine childbearing with a career. Policy responses have been slow, with a more serious attempt to address issues in recent years. Thus far public and private institutions are not devoting sufficient attention to generating broad social change supportive of parenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As in Western populations, the prevalence of obesity has been increasing rapidly in Chinese populations in recent years, but if the same criteria to define obesity are used, it is still much less common in Chinese than in Caucasians. For BMI greater or equal to 30kg/m2, recent estimates suggest the prevalence ranges from 3 to 6% in different adult Chinese populations compared with figures of approximately 33% in the USA. However, it is generally accepted that the Chinese and other Asian populations have a greater amount of body fat than Caucasians at the same level of BMI or waist circumference, and that the prevalence of metabolic risk factors for cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular events start to increase at lower values of the obesity indices in Asians compared with Western people. Therefore, lower cut-off criteria have been proposed to define obesity in Chinese populations and if the cut-off value for BMI greater than or equal to 25kg/m2 is adopted, the overall prevalence of obesity in Chinese adults is approximately 21.8% in mainland China, 21.0% in Hong Kong, 25.1% in Taiwan and 27.8% in Singapore. In China, obesity is more common in the North than the South and, as in most other countries, it is more common in urban rather than rural communities. This rapid increase in obesity along with diabetes and the associated risk factors is likely to fuel a major increase in cardiovascular disease in Chinese populations in the very near future with major public health and economic consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the influence of economic and political factors that contribute to the convergence and/or divergence in value priorities of five East Asian societies—China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. We find that political and social-economic factors influence the values orientations of managers within this region. However, economic development level is an insufficient explanation for values convergence without consideration of the societal context and cultural traditions in which that development occurred. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an outbreak of a completely new infectious disease like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), estimation of the fatality rate over the course of the epidemic is of clinical and epidemiological importance. In contrast with the constant case fatality rate, a new measure, termed the‘realtime’ fatality rate, is proposed for monitoring the new emerging epidemic at a population level. A competing risk model implemented via a counting process is used to estimate the realtime fatality rate in an epidemic of SARS. It can capture and reflect the time-varying nature of the fatality rate over the course of the outbreak in a timely and accurate manner. More importantly, it can provide information on the efficacy of a certain treatment and management policy for the disease. The method has been applied to the SARS data from the regions affected, namely Hong Kong, Singapore, Toronto, Taiwan and Beijing. The magnitudes and patterns of the estimated fatalities are virtually the same except in Beijing, which has a lower rate. It is speculated that the effect is linked to the different treatment protocols that were used. The standard estimate of the case fatality rate that was used by the World Health Organization has been shown to be unable to provide useful information to monitor the time-varying fatalities that are caused by the epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is too often analyzed without regard to the example of other developing countries. A discussion of development models suggests that China's situation can fruitfully be analyzed as similar to that of the four "Little Dragons" (Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong), and to Japan in an earlier era. Because of the unusual size of Hong Kong and Singapore, and the special political status of Hong Kong, most attention is focused on China, Taiwan, and South Korea. Various implications for management and the external environment for management are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article a study on the impact of the per capita income differentials on Newly Industrialized Countries (NIC) trade patterns and revisits the Linder hypothesis on international trade. The study applies a gravity-type trade model to analyze the validity of the Linder hypothesis from the perspective of NIC for the period 1980-1999, focusing on Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan.