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The article presents Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Trade Policy working paper titled "Modal Estimates of Services Barriers," by Nora Dihel and Ben Shepherd. It demonstrates improved approaches to measurement of services barriers by using alternative weighting methods and improved econometric specifications, such as data that include barriers affecting each mode of services supply and additional sector-specific regulatory variables. It provides illustration of improvements for banking, insurance, telecom, and distribution services in selected countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

The article presents the "White Paper on International Economy and Trade 2006," in Japan. Structural changes to which the country must adapt includes globalization, a rising Asia and an aging society. Strategies must be taken to deal with such changes and ensure sustainable economic growth. An index is needed to measure the levels of economic prosperity.

The author comments on the paper "Markets Matter: The Potential of Intra-Regional Trade in ASEAN and Its Implications for Asian Regionalism" by Lurong Chen, Philippe De Lombaerde and Ludo Cuyvers. He examines the impact of economic integration by ASEAN on international trade during the period from 1990 to 2013. He recognizes the paper for providing straightforward results, including the success of ASEAN to increase trade with non-member countries.

Several initiatives have emerged for regional economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region. The United States has led the negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, and ASEAN countries have recently started to promote the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. This paper estimates the net economic impact of these initiatives by eliminating the overlapping portions of free trade agreement--related economic gains through the use of a dynamic computable general equilibrium model. The paper analyzes the economic and political feasibility of these two initiatives and assesses their economic impacts. Finally, the paper provides implications for economic integration in East Asia based on a quantitative assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author comments on the paper "Markets Matter: The Potential of Intra-Regional Trade in ASEAN and Its Implications for Asian Regionalism" by Lurong Chen, Philippe De Lombaerde and Ludo Cuyvers. She investigates the potential for further deepening the economic integration in the region. She also assesses the potential of ASEAN to export more to the regional market and the importance of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to ASEAN.

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 Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), ostensibly a connectivity and developmental program, was launched by the Chinese President Xi Jinping with the primary objective of connecting the common people in Asia through trade, infrastructure and culture. The initiative is designed to enhance connectivity in areas such as trade, infrastructure, investment, capital and people. That said, since its inception, the project seems to confront certain hurdles such as regional geopolitical complexities and launching of other alternative proposals that tend to hamper its progress. As part of the BRI, the BCIM--EC proposes to connect eastern China with South Asia that will also ultimately connect Southeast Asia through different modes for better economic and cultural connectivity. This paper attempts to evaluate the challenges and opportunities of the BCIM--EC project in the context of South and Southeast Asian nations. The paper concludes that the challenges are rather overriding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an overview of the operational implementation of negative interest rates in Europe and Japan. Drawing attention to the fact that there is precedent for negative policy rates and negative money market rates, the paper addresses conceptual issues and summarizes measures which define negative interest rate policy. Based on detailed institutional analysis and an examination of the interaction of interest rate policies with balance sheet policies, it is argued that there exists substantial heterogeneity in the purpose, design, and operational specificities of negative interest rate policies across economies, with significant consequences for effective market rates, private sector funding conditions, and expectations. Summarizing transmission channels of negative rates, benefits, and risks of the policy, the paper calls attention to potential adverse effects resulting from the interaction of negative interest rates with tighter liquidity and capital standards adopted since the Global Financial Crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the debate over whether China's emergence as an economic superpower has been a complement or threat to ASEAN by examining data in the eleven years following China's accession to the WTO. Employing a qualitative approach, it seeks to understand whether China's growing dominance has hindered ASEAN GDP growth, exports and attractiveness as a destination for FDI. The evidence suggests that China's rise has caused a shift in global trade patterns, with China dominating Western markets at the expense of ASEAN countries. Despite this, China's dominance does not appear to have had a significant negative effect on growth rates for ASEAN GDP, exports, or FDI stocks. Given this, the paper concludes that while China is crowding ASEAN out of Western markets, increased Chinese demand for ASEAN imports has more than offset this effect. The result is that ASEAN exports and GDP have grown despite shifting trade patterns in the short run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper will analyse building and stumbling blocks of possible formation of the Northeast Asian Community in the foreseeable future. Analysis will be primarily based on system-theory, but only transnational and international levels (understood as inter-state level) will be taken into account. Supranational level, being at a very early stage of development in Northeast Asia, will be mentioned in a model, however, not fully analysed in this paper. The hypothesis of presented paper is as follows: building blocks of NE Asia Community exist at the transnational level (especially economic cooperation) and stumbling blocks at international (inter-state) level, especially in the political sphere. Azja Północno-Wschodnia jest bez wątpienia kluczowym obszarem nie tylko dla regionu Azji i Pacyfiku, lecz dla szeroko pojętego systemu międzynarodowego. Niestety spory polityczne i militarne czynią z niej również jeden z najistotniejszych obszarów niestabilności czy potencjalnie przyszłych intensywniejszych konfliktów militarnych. Z tego powodu inicjatywa Korei Południowej z 2008 r. mająca na celu stworzenie Szczytu Trójstronnego Chin, Japonii i Korei Południowej wydaje się szansą na stabilizację tego regionu. Analiza opiera się na teorii systemowej, przy czym tylko dwa poziomy systemu będą szerzej omawiane, tj. poziom transnarodowy oraz międzynarodowy (rozumiany jako międzypaństwowy). Poziom ponadnarodowy, został tylko wzmiankowany w tworzonym modelu. Przedstawiona hipoteza zakłada, że czynniki wspierające integrację trójstronną istnieją w wybranych obszarach poziomu transnarodowego, szczególnie w zakresie współpracy gospodarczej, podczas gdy czynniki tę współpracę utrudniające mieszczą się głównie na poziomie międzynarodowym (międzypaństwowym), szczególnie w sferze politycznej. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional integration in Asia has been considerably enhanced over the past 20 years or so. Whether integration helps Asian countries reduce their vulnerability to external shocks or is a channel for spreading external shocks remains an open question. This paper assesses the spillovers from US monetary policy shocks to Asian countries while taking into account country‐specific characteristics in explaining differences in timing and magnitude of responses across Asian countries. The results indicate that policy interest rates in Asian countries generally respond to innovations in the Fed rate in the same direction, but typically with a lag of one quarter. However, the size of the responses varies across Asian countries with respect to country‐specific characteristics. These results suggest that an independent monetary policy may not be feasible for an Asian developing country that adopts a pegged rate regime while being extensively integrated into the world economy. However, the hypothesis of the impossible trinity may not be relevant in the case of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the effect that the APEC ‘currency union’, loosely defined, has on trade and, via trade, on output per capita. A gravity model is used to measure the impact of exchange-rate variability on trade flows within APEC. The gain in trade flows from eliminating nominal exchange-rate variability through the formation of a currency union is less than 1%. Furthermore, every 1% increase in trade (relative to GDP) raises income per capita by roughly 0.3% for twenty years. Adopting the dollar currency union is much more profitable than adopting a yen currency union for each country in APEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cluster policies around the world take many shapes and forms. This statement is particularly true in case of Asian countries where cluster policies are as much differentiated as the economies of the region. This diversity is illustrated by the following examples: the Knowledge Clusters in Japan, Specialized Towns Program in China, provincial cluster development policy in Thailand, craft villages in Vietnam and Micro and Small Enterprises - Cluster Development Programme in India. This paper indicates the policy creation process based on multi actors and multi levels as the source of this diversity. On the road to the best possible cluster policy mix, one should take into consideration the cohesion and adequacy of the policy established in the particular economy. Polityka klastrowa przyjbiera rózne formy i ksztalty w roznych miejscach swiata. Widac to wyraznie chociazby w krajach azjatyckich, gdzie podejscie do klastrów jest zróznicowane tak samo, jak zróznicowane sa gospodarki regionu, co zostalo pokazane na przykladzie klastrów wiedzy w Japonii, wyspecjalizowanych miast w Chinach, regionalnej polityki rozwojowej w Tajlandii, wiosek rzemieslniczych w Wietnamie oraz klastrów malych i srednich przedsiebiorstw w Indiach. Niniejszy artykul jako zródlo tego zróznicowania wskazuje proces tworzenia polityki oparty na wielu aktorach i wielu poziomach decyzyjnych. Dazac do idealnej kombinacji skladników polityki klastrowej (policy mix), musimy zaczac doceniac spójnosc i adekwatnosc polityki realizowanej w warunkach okreslonej gospodarki. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faced with the negative impact of regional and global financial crises, Asian countries have established joint-solution mechanisms over the last two decades in order to better protect themselves from short-term outflows of capital and from currency speculation. Despite some progress being made in regional financial cooperation, especially by the countries of the ASEAN+3 grouping, the overall degree of financial integration within the region remains surprisingly low, however. This contrasts sharply with the keen interest of many Asian countries in gaining a stronger voice within the multinational finance institutions (MFIs), and especially within the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Unable to initiate major governance reforms of the MFIs, Asian countries have not only set up regional support liquidity arrangements but also their own multilateral development banks (MDBs). While the USA and to some extent Japan have tried to prevent a rebalancing of power within the global financial architecture, major European countries have actively supported these changes by becoming founding members of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Taking a New Institutional Economics (NIE) perspective, the paper aims to explain why some regional financial institutions are more attractive for Asian countries than others and why European countries are supporting Asia's attempt to gain more weight in global financial governance (GFG)-and, thus, contribute to the acceleration of the power shift away from the USA toward emerging Asian economies in general and China in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we empirically examine the determinants on utilization of the Korea–ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (KAFTA) by employing a database provided by the Korea Customs and Trade Development Institute. We find that, although three effects, namely preferential margin (margin effect), rules of origin restrictiveness (ROO effect), and average export volume (scale effect), contribute to determining the utilization of the FTA, the scale effect has the greatest impact. Our results suggest that, since firms with relatively small volumes of trade are usually small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), policy assistance for reducing administrative costs should be geared toward SMEs. Our results further indicate that policymakers should also try to negotiate more extensive tariff reductions on products not only where MFN rates are high but also where shipments are large. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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]

The rise of mega-regionalism in the Asia-Pacific has become a significant development for the region itself as well as the global trading system. Europe, in particular, has a great deal at stake in this process. This paper considers the economic costs of EU exclusion from Asia-Pacific economic cooperation initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel and simple measure of the world's economic centre of gravity. Over the recent decades, this centre has shifted towards Asia, but is still located in Europe. [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 examines the impact of bilateral real exchange rate volatility on real exports of five emerging East Asian countries among themselves as well as to 13 industrialised countries. We recognise the specificity of the exports between the emerging East Asian and industrialised countries and employ a generalised gravity model. In the empirical analysis we use a panel comprising 25 years of quarterly data and perform unit-root and cointegration tests to verify the long-run relationship among the variables. The results provide strong evidence that exchange rate volatility has a negative impact on the exports of emerging East Asian countries. In addition, the results suggest that the pattern of bilateral exports is influenced by third-country variables. An increase in the price competitiveness of other emerging East Asian countries has a negative impact on a country’s exports to a destination market, but the magnitude of the impact is relatively small. These results are robust across different estimation techniques and do not depend on the variable chosen to proxy exchange rate uncertainty. The results of the GMM-IV estimation also confirm the negative impact of exchange rate volatility on exports and suggest that this negative relationship is not driven by simultaneous causality bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to address an imperative topic in Asian economic development: the relationship between China's economic expansion and Asian economic growth. It tries to answer the all important query, whether China's economic ascent is a threat or an opportunity for the Asian economies. Due to the size of its economy, its openness and the rapidity of its GDP growth, China is swaying the individual Asian economies as well as the regional economy. When a significant-size economy is growing almost three times as rapidly as the global economy, the neighboring economies cannot possibly expect to remain impervious. Various issues are analyzed in the paper, including foreign direct investment inflows and impacts, regional production networks, plausible scenarios for China and the remaining Asian economies, and strategy for coping with China's rapid development. Although some Asian economies and some sectors will face adverse effects—short- or long-term—of China's rapid growth, the apocalyptic predictions are grossly overdone. For the most part, the impact of China's rapid growth can be mutually beneficial. This is the conclusive idea of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that the Chinese government’s ‘belt and road’ initiative – the Silk Roads vision of land and maritime logistics and communications networks connecting Asia, Europe and Africa – has its roots in sub-national ideas and practices, and that it reflects their elevation to the national level more than the creation of substantially new policy content. Further, the spatial paradigms inherent in the Silk Roads vision reveal the reproduction of capitalist developmental ideas expressed particularly in the form of networks, which themselves have become a feature of contemporary global political economy. In other words, the Silk Roads vision is more of a ‘spatial fix’ than a geopolitical manoeuvre. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we present evidence of the long-run effect of trade openness on income per worker for two regions that have followed different liberalisation strategies, namely Asia and Latin America. A model that re-examines these questions is estimated for two panels of Asian and Latin American countries over the 1980-2008 period using a novel empirical approach that accounts for endogeneity as well as for the time series properties of the variables involved. From an econometric point of view, we apply recent panel co-integration techniques based on factor models that account for two additional elements usually neglected in previous empirical literature: cross-dependence and structural breaks. The results point to a positive impact of trade openness in both Asia and Latin America although the size is smaller in the second region. We associate this finding with the degree to which trade was managed in both regions of the developing world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a summary of the general discussion on the paper "Markets Matter: The Potential of Intra-Regional Trade in ASEAN and Its Implications for Asian Regionalism" by Lurong Chen, Philippe De Lombaerde and Ludo Cuyvers. The paper explores the potential for further deepening the region's economic integration. It also discusses the potential of ASEAN to export more to the regional market and the importance of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to ASEAN.

Copyright of Research Papers of the Wroclaw University of Economics / Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wroclawiu is the property of Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny we Wroclawiu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Asia is Europe's largest trading partner and EU-Asia trade relations have undergone a rapid change since the global financial crisis. On a global scale, the new multilateral trade agreements such as the now stalled Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) involving European Unions' (EU) major trading partners such as Japan, Singapore and Vietnam also have the potential to change the trade equations. In this paper, we evaluate the new EU trade policy which has been designed to ensure that the EU benefits from the changing global trade scenario and also look at the steps which have been taken by the EU to promote trade relations with its major trading partners in Asia in the predicted 'Asian century'. We look into the Free Trade Agreements, which are being negotiated with its Asian partners and seek to understand the reasons which have resulted in delays in their signing and negotiations. We evaluate new policies pushed forward by its Asian partners such as the One Belt One Road policy by China and Japan's policy of securing a large number of trading agreements in the America. Moving ahead, we also shed light on the indirect factors that may influence the success of EU trade negotiations in Asia such as the EU policy on granting China market economy status and the commencement of the 'Brexit' process. Lastly, we try to present a list of immediate priorities for EU in Asia, which will ensure that it secures a toehold in trade with the region. All in all, it is shown that the EU has not one and the same approach for all Asian countries but it negotiates flexibly and individually country by country. Because of this 'country by country approach' the EU is also not ready to enter into general EU-ASEAN trade negotiations again. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aggregates the state of India–China economic relations with a specific focus on trade at the borders. It explicates the potential for economic activity at the border regions to generate self-sustaining and/or externally linked local development for both countries. By an examination of the existing trade and investment policies and practices, it shows how geographical contiguity is yet to be transformed into opportunity along the India–China border, a practice consistent both with the history of these regions as well as with the blueprints being drawn up for the future of these regions. Informed by the Liberal school of IR theory, the paper studies border trade through the paradigmatic optic of being an important, yet underutilized, avenue of dyadic interaction, and makes a case for upgrading the status of border trade in the overall schema of bilateral trade relations between India and China. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Socio-Economic History / Shakai-Keizai Shigaku is the property of Socio-Economic History Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Economics / Ekonomia is the property of Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny we Wroclawiu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Research Papers of the Wroclaw University of Economics / Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wroclawiu is the property of Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny we Wroclawiu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Research Papers of the Wroclaw University of Economics / Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wroclawiu is the property of Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny we Wroclawiu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article presents abstracts on economic development and foreign relations topics including the history of African and Asian economic relations, China's influence on Brazil's economic development, and industrial policies in North African countries.

It is widely known that China's influence on Southeast Asia has been growing rapidly since the Asian financial crisis of 1997. However, determining the true dimensions of China's influence in this region is still controversial. It seems quite conspicuous that the growing economic relations between China and the region give China more bargaining power, due to the expanding role of the bilateral trade and China's foreign aid in promoting the regional economic growth. However, this does not give us a clear picture of how China has been able to exercise its influence on the behavior of the states in the region for its own interests. Therefore, this paper tries to assess China's influence on Southeast Asia by analyzing the specific case of Taiwan. Recently, China's rising influence has significantly affected Southeast Asia's relations with Taiwan. Southeast Asian states are paying more attention to the cross-Strait relations when considering attempting to improve relations with Taiwan. This research defines "influence" as the capability of state A to affect the behavior of state B, either directly or indirectly, to comply with state A's policy interests. If the diplomatic behavior of state B changes accordingly due to the action, then it can be said that state A has illustrated its influence over state B. By studying the Taiwan issue, this paper reveals that China has been quite successful in exercising its influence on Southeast Asian states to comply with China's policy toward Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By the nineteenth century, with the advance of British colonial activities, British corporate laws had been transplanted to maritime Asia with varying degrees of vigour. In British Hong Kong, these laws often clashed with native customs. Through a reconstruction of the legal disputes found in urban Hong Kong, this paper discusses how British and Chinese business traditions interacted with each other during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Before assessing the historical implications and consequences of these legal decisions, this paper will also explore whether the Chinese institution of tong is compatible with British law in urban Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are claims that China's influence on ASEAN is direct in that she has encouraged more exports to flow into her huge markets and changed trade flows amongst member countries. Demand and supply are deemed to have therefore become more China-centred. This paper looks at the plausibility of China as a 'factor' that influences bilateral intra-ASEAN trade flows through demand (exporting country) and supply (partner country). The key finding of the study is that China's trade association with the region increases intra-ASEAN exports. China is therefore the most practical choice for the ASEAN+1 FTA to initiate deeper trade integration within the region. China, as the 'core' country of the ACFTA can provide complementarities in the export performance of ASEAN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bilateral free trade agreements (BTAs) have been proliferating. The outcome of this proliferation of often overlapping BTAs and plurilateral free trade agreements (PTAs) is described as the spaghetti bowl effect or, in the Asian region, the noodle bowl effect. This is costly, and welfare reducing. How do we remedy the situation? In this paper, we consider the various options proposed in dealing with the spaghetti bowl, and assess their ability to do so. A general limitation of these proposals is their tendency to group all kinds of BTAs together, treating them as a homogeneous group. Thus, the proposals ignore underlying differences in motivation in forming BTAs. To overcome this, we develop a taxonomy for classifying BTAs by motivation before considering the effectiveness of the different remedies proposed. We find that each proposal has its pros and cons, and can cater for different types of BTAs. Thus, a combination of the various proposals may be warranted, even in the event of an expeditious and bona fide conclusion to the Doha Round. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper measures and investigates the welfare costs, other effects and recovery process of the 1997 Asian crisis, and evaluates the impact of the policy program supported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The main findings are as follows. First, the ratio of ‘whole cost’ to the level of consumption in a hypothetical economy is high: 50% for Indonesia, 39% for Hong Kong, 36% for Korea, 30% for Thailand and 18% for Malaysia. Second, the dynamic process of ‘cost at period t’ quickly converges to 40% immediately after the crisis, though the costs for Indonesia and Hong Kong gradually increase toward 100%. Third, the IMF-supported programs in Thailand, Indonesia and Korea were implemented straight after the peak cost. Finally, the cost of the IMF-supported program was relatively inexpensive compared with the welfare cost of the crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade, essentially since the Asian crisis of 1997-98, the economic integration of Northeast Asia has been marked by three overarching trends. Economic relations have become: 1) more institutionalized; 2) more "Asian;" and 3) more China-centric. These macro-trends are demonstrated and analyzed in the paper. But by way of anticipation, numerous counter-cutting facts need also to be kept in mind. In essence, recent trends, notable as they are, have by no means reversed three counter-realities: 1) economic ties are still largely driven, less by governments and formal arrangements, than by corporations in search of profits and production efficiencies; 2) despite growing economic interdependence across Northeast Asia and between that sub-region and Southeast Asia, Japan, China and South Korea remain heavily linked to global, and particularly US, markets; and 3) though China is an ever important hub in Northeast Asian trade and investment, Japan remains by far the most powerful economic player in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the conflicts between the West and Asia in the age of globalization and its concomitant ideology of liberal values. It concludes that while the material wealth of the West is welcome everywhere, Asia has resisted, and will continue to resist, the attempts to homogenize Asian culture. The paper argues that the West should accept differences in human rights, ecological policies and forms of governments, and limit itself to the equalization of opportunities for commerce and trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that the evolution of APEC and the rejection of Japan's 1997 AMF proposal reflect a failure of Japanese and US leadership. Not only have the two countries failed to exercise either individual or shared regional leadership. Instead, both have used their considerable structural power negatively to block the other's proposals for regional collective action, rather than positively to exercise leadership. After developing the concepts of leadership and blocking power, the paper provides case studies of the APEC and AMF. It concludes that if a post-hegemonic US no longer has the willingness and/or the ability to undertake collective action single-handedly, and if in a post-Cold War world neither the US nor Japan has sufficient incentives to bridge their differences and sacrifice some interests to achieve a unified stance, then continued stalemate and under-supply of regional collective goods can be expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to explain why Taiwan was able to cope with the East Asian financial crisis more successfully than other economies in East Asia. It pinpoints Taiwan's competitive industrial sector as the most likely relevant underlying factor. It also shows that while sound macroeconomic policy and prudent financial policy all contributed to allowing Taiwan to avert the crisis, an effective industrial policy that fostered industrial restructuring, strengthened industrial competitiveness, as well as helped to restore macroeconomic equilibrium, was the most instrumental factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'Silk Road' had predominantly been a series of trade routes that intertwined their way through Europe, Central Asia, Persia to China to facilitate exchanges of trade, commerce, culture and knowledge roughly between 130 BC and 1453 AD. Known for trades of silk and spices, it was a significant economic corridor for almost one-and-half millennium connecting major regions of the world. In 2013 Chinese President Xi Jinping resurrected the idea to re-open trade corridors between China and its neighbors in the west and notably Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe, and put-forth the idea of 'The New Silk Road'. In May 2017 China held first summit of 'Belt and Road Forum' (BARF) to unveil the idea of 'New Silk Road' before world. The New silk routes are different from the historic silk routes as the former served as a mode of connection for trade and cultural exchange with little political significance. Contrarily, the New Silk Road (also called Belt and Road Initiative-BRI) is an overt expression of China's power ambitions in the 21st century and is regarded as hedging strategy of China against the eastward move of USA. It is assumed a game-changer strategy with a potential to shift the center of geo-economics towards Eurasia instead of Asia-pacific region which is dominated by the USA and its allies. The New Silk Road has brought certain apprehensions with it. The idea of 'New Silk Road' by many nations is viewed as a form of neo-colonialism to grab local resources. Contrary to 'Old Silk Road', it is opaque and ambiguous for it is motivated in the power politics of China. Against this backdrop, the paper will make a comparative study of old and New Silk Road and examine various challenges to the New Silk Road. There is a need to analyse the implications of the New Silk Road and also explore the future prospects of the same amid the challenges that it faces presently, this paper shall try to meet these objectives [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the mid-1990s, the idea of a trilateral or tripolar world order based on the economically most advanced macro-regions North America, Western Europe and East Asia — the new Triad — has gained much acceptance in Asian and European policy-making circles. Though the triangle imagery is still quite far from what seems to be reality, it provided the major rationale for the creation of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) process which was designed to strengthen the 'weak leg' in the triadic interregional relationship. The paper analyses the role of ASEM in the construction of the new Triad and identifies five functions of ASEM in this context. It concludes that the recent Asian economic crisis tends to undermine the rationale on which ASEM was built, at least temporarily, whereas ASEM itself may not lose its importance for the countries involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how to keep a balance between liberalistic and realistic perspectives in Korea's free trade agreement (FTA) with China by analyzing nations' FTA strategies. The United States uses the FTA as a supplementary to fulfill its grand strategy, while China employs it as a way to prevent the emergence of an anti-China bloc and to reduce its vulnerability. Their strategic thinking marks the FTA as crucial in attaining these non-economic and economic objectives. Differed FTA strategies pose a task for a higher-cost economy to take a balanced posture in its FTA with a low-cost economy. This feature urges Korea to attempt it for the sake of fostering economic prosperity as well as security in its FTA with China. As a way to practice it, Korea should reconsider Japan's and ASEAN's reoriented behaviors in their relations with China. Under growing asymmetrical interdependence, they resort to the alliance with the United States while maximizing economic benefits in trade with China. Korea can also take a balanced posture by increasing economic benefits in its economic relations with China and by consolidating its ties with the United States. Growing Korea-China interdependence increases their opportunity costs of troubles in trade. Not only the costs, but also the Korea-US ties would constrain China to have an incentive to use its economic advantage in managing the power relations with Korea. Another way to practice it is to undertake a hub and participate at more multilateral regimes. Currently, the Trans-Pacific Partnership would be an alternative. Reshaping resources diplomacy and improving Korea's image from a Chinese perspective could be adopted as supplementary to attaining economic security in the relations with China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the bilateral and multilateral relations in South and East Asia -- with a focus on "BCIM Regional Cooperation" and the related proposal to create an economic corridor -- "Southern Silk Route" connecting China, India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The aim is to analyze the relationships shared by the four countries to understand the opportunities, challenges and overall benefits of a successful cooperation. This idea, first coined as the "the Kunming Initiative" in 1999, faced years of inactivity. Morphed into the "BCIM Initiative," it has garnered much policy traction through official recognition from all the four governments involved. The sub-region, though a natural economic zone boasting a market size of 2.8 billion people, has remained largely neglected and underdeveloped. Northeast region in India and the adjoining parts in Bangladesh, Myanmar, and South West China are some of the least developed parts of the countries. For many years, internal as well as international politics had kept the countries from opening up borders and promote economic development in the region. While China pushed for greater integration, unresolved border-disputes among other security apprehensions had India hesitant, preventing any substantial economic connectivity. At the same time Myanmar was struggling with international sanctions and domestic political complications. With Myanmar's entry into the global economic system and India easing up on security apprehensions, the BCIM Forum experienced a new lease of life since 2012. The priority for Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar appears to be creating "alliances for prosperity" and that is the driving force behind the BCIM framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with current issues of the regional spatial organization based on the identification and analysis of key factors and prerequisites for the formation of urban agglomerations as the most important growth centers, integrated with global and regional markets in the conditions of a qualitatively new stage in the history of the Great Silk Road. We assess promising directions and negative effects of development of agglomerated formations and zones of their influence in the Republic of Kazakhstan as a region having an advantageous geostrategic position in the Eurasian space. In Kazakhstan, the current process of urbanization has a multiple-vector nature, and the course of formation of urban agglomerations provides convincing evidence of an increase in their share in settlement and in the total population. It is agglomerated forms of urban development that are a kind of indicator of the onset of maturity in settlement, specifying key points of the socio-economic space, namely: cores of regions, nodes of foreign economic relations and contacts, main areas of new territories development, the most important links in the internal infrastructure, etc. It is urban agglomerations that should act as a kind of special platform of integration processes, on the basis of which the Republic of Kazakhstan should revive its historical role in the development of the global project 'New Silk Road' and become a major trade and logistics, finance and business, innovation and technology, and tourism hub of the Central Asia region, a bridge between Europe and Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]