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Through a case study of Taiwan, this paper seeks to address recent debates surrounding the transformation of developmental states in East Asia. Whilst a number of authors have cited the Taiwanese state as being both cautious and resilient in the midst of global restructuring, this paper seeks to critically engage with such arguments by highlighting the dynamic and mutually constitutive relations between the forms of social relations that underpin late development and the wider geopolitical system in which such development occurs. Specifically, Taiwanese industrialisation can be viewed as an outcome of the US intervention in the Chinese civil war and subsequent exclusion of China from the regional political economy in the period between the Korean and Vietnam Wars. The Kuomintang (KMT)'s retreat to Taiwan established the basis for the autonomous developmental state, and the US underpinned this state through military protection, aid and access to its own domestic market. However, the relative decline of US hegemony and the readmission of China into the international system have posed significant challenges to Taiwan's developmental state. The US sought to redress its trade imbalance with East Asia by placing pressure on Taiwan to liberalise its political economy. Furthermore, the very process of development itself served to undermine the autonomy of the state as it came under pressure from new social forces. Taiwan has more recently been faced with a dilemma of closer integration with the mainland or the maintenance of its de facto economic and political independence at the risk of becoming isolated from the global trading system. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The central question of this paper is whether China can go beyond simple technological transfer and toward innovation in this age of globalization. By adopting an institutionalist perspective, this paper argues that China has developed a dualist model during its economic transitional period in which the foreign sector has been isolated from domestic firms, while the domestic industrial sectors have also failed to develop organic linkages among themselves to facilitate technological learning and generate innovation. This paper discusses four major institutional arrangements that deeply influence China's technological development – the institutional logic of economic reform, the state's industrial policy, the financial system and the industrial structure. It suggests that, owing to these institutional elements, China has neither developed economies of scale, as compared with the South Korean case, nor has it built up a network-type of economy similar to its Taiwanese counterpart in order to generate the mechanisms needed for technological innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article tests Gellner's theory that, once a closed society has been globalized and therefore has initiated contact with the outside world, relationship then becomes the distinction of "you" and "me." While this perspective is applied to analyze the national identity trend in Taiwan, one can assume that the contact frequency between Taiwan and China might have an impact on people's national identity preference in Taiwan. Accordingly, two variables, (1) the frequency of visiting in China and (2) investing in China, will be adopted to examine the above assumption. Although some results of the analysis in this paper reflect the theory assumption and some do not, an updated survey for further clarification of the relation between the dynamics of globalization and its impact on Taiwan's national identity preference is urgently needed for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This study aims to explore subsidiaries' diversification strategies, both internationally and with regard to their product offerings. The study seeks to examine, at the subsidiary level, the relationships between subsidiary size, internationalization, production diversification, and performance. Design/methodology/approach - Based on the archival data of an officially conducted survey, the study used ordered logit regression analysis to test its hypotheses using data from 920 Taiwanese subsidiaries in China. Findings - The study's results revealed: larger subsidiaries tend to engage in internationalization and product diversification activities to a greater degree, and, as a result, tend to exhibit superior performance; and subsidiaries that pursue outward internationalization and that reinvest in related businesses enjoy enhanced performance. Research limitations/implications - This study examines Taiwanese firms that have one foreign subsidiary in China. Future research should examine larger firms with numerous foreign subsidiaries in developed countries, and should employ more fine-grained measurements of subsidiary size to provide a clearer picture of subsidiary-specific advantages. Originality/value - Unlike the existing literature, which has tended to take the perspective of the multinational corporation, this study examines internationalization and product diversification at the subsidiary level. By extending the resource-based view to the subsidiary level, larger subsidiaries might be able to exploit their advantages so as to more successfully implement international and product diversification strategies and improve their performance in a host country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article compares the changes that have occurred in the industrial relations systems in Taiwan and China. In order to compete in a globalizing world, the governments of both countries have promoted political and economic reforms. The establishment of trade unions in Taiwan has begun after the country's democratic transformation in the 1990s. In China, unilateral employer activities in industrial relations were allowed when the state has decentralized the business sector.