Empirical global value chain analysis in electronics and automobile industries :An application of Asian international input-output tables

This study aims to examine the international value distribution structure among major East Asian economies and the US. The mainstream trade theory explains the gains from trade; however, global value chain (GVC) approach emphasises uneven benefits of globalization among trading partners. The present study is mainly based on this view, examining which economy gains the most and which the least from the East Asian production networks. Two key industries, i.e., electronics and automobile, are our principle focus. Input-output method is employed to trace the creation and flows of value-added within the region. A striking fact is that some ASEAN economies increasingly reduce their shares of value-added, taken by developed countries, particularly by Japan. Policy implications are discussed in the final section.

Asian Industrial Development from the Perspective of the Motorcycle Industry

This paper discusses the diversity of industrial development among Asian countries that emerges through an investigation of the motorcycle industry despite its uniform industrial attributes. The paper then explores factors that generate diversity, focusing attention on the differences in knowledge-based assets accumulated in each country. It finds that diversity is brought about through the differences in domestic industrial resources and the capabilities of local firms. The analysis underscores each country’s intrinsic logic in industrial development, contrary to the current trend of stressing assimilation through the global production networks of multinational corporations.

Recent trends in Asian integration and Japanese participation

In East Asia, de facto integration is taking place because Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) are flourishing in the region. ASEAN aims to form an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015 with the completion of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA). Surrounding countries have been competing with each other to forge FTAs or EPAs with ASEAN, including China, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand, and India. As a result, ASEAN has become a trading hub in East Asia. Bilateral FTAs/EPAs are also partly in place among 16 countries (ASEAN + 6). These economic ties in trade, services and investment are accelerating this region’s development as the world’s largest production base and biggest consumption market, helping to turn around the global recession in the aftermath of the so-called Lehman Shock. However, some problems also need to be pointed out in the East Asian integration such as the spaghetti bowl effect, severe competition, labor issues, environmental destruction and power struggles.

Impact on Asian firms of product-related environmental regulations through global supply chains : a study of firms in Malaysia

This paper sheds light on the important role played by global supply chains in the adaptation to product-related environmental regulations imposed by importing countries, with a focus on chemicals management. By utilizing a unique data collected in Penang, Malaysia, we depict the supply chain structures and how differences among firms in participation to global supply chain link to differences in chemical management. We found that firms belonging to a supply chain are in a better position to comply with these regulations because information and requirements are transmitted through global supply chains. In contrast, those firms that are neither exporters nor a part of a global supply chain lack the knowledge and information channels relevant to chemical management in a product.

Emergence of Asian GAPs and its relationship to global G.A.P.

Global G.A.P. is a one of the most influential private standards in the area of food safety and sustainability. With increasing impacts of Global G.A.P., many Asian countries have introduced the country versions of GAPs; China GAP, Japan GAP, Viet GAP, Thai GAP and ASEAN GAP. Each has been influenced by Global G.A.P. but ways of implementation, implementation bodies as well as focus differ from each other. This paper examines the development and motivation behind how the Asian GAPs have been introduced both from current situation and from historical perspectives. Then we compare current situation of different Asian GAPs.

The stakes of politics and electoral administration : a comparative study of Southeast Asian democracies

Elections play a crucial role in political stability in post-democratization, and electoral administrations are the key to the electoral process. However, not all newly democratized countries have established reliable electoral administration. New democracies in Southeast Asia, such as the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand, have independent election commissions which have different characteristics, especially in terms of neutrality. Based on three cases, this paper claims that the stakes of politics are the major determinant of the variations in neutrality. The high stakes of politics in Thailand brought about the partisan election commission, while the low stakes in Indonesia made the electoral system relatively neutral. Like Thailand, the high stakes of politics in the Philippines also cause political intervention in the electoral administration.

Comparing the economic impacts of Asian integration by computational simulation analysis

The Geographical Simulation Model developed by IDE-JETRO (IDE-GSM) is a computer simulation model based on spatial economics. IDE-GSM enables us to predict the economic impacts of various trade and transport facilitation measures. Here, we mainly compare the prioritized projects of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) and the Comprehensive Asia Development Plan (CADP). MPAC focus on specific hard or soft infrastructure projects that connect one ASEAN member state to another while the CADP emphasizes the importance of economic corridors or linkages between a large cluster and another cluster. As compared with MPAC projects, the simulation analysis shows that CADP projects have much larger positive impacts on ASEAN countries.