Institutional Development of Capital Markets in Nine Asian Economies

This paper is conducting a comparative analysis of the development of securities markets in nine Asian economies: Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and China. This study focuses on two aspects: the history and institutional development of securities market, such as legal systems, payment systems, etc. From the analyses, this paper reveals several common features of the development of securities markets in nine Asian economies. First, most economies had an informal capital market in the early period of their history. Second, the background of the foundation of their official markets was influenced by experiences of colonization. Third, most governments recognized the importance of the capital market for economic development and had a positive attitude in promoting the market. Fourth, statistics clearly showed that most economies experienced several booms in their capital market from the late 1980s.

An Institutional Analysis of Environmental Pollution Disputes in Taiwan: Cases of 'Self-Relief'

During the late 1980s and early 1990s in Taiwan, people's protests against environmental pollution often took the form of "self-relief," meaning that they attempted to fight polluters using their own resources, without relying on legal or administrative procedures. Why did such an extreme form of disputes become so widespread? What institutional changes did these movements bring about? These questions are analyzed using the analytical framework of "law and economics." Our research shows that "self-relief" functioned to a certain extent as a means of realizing quick compensation for victims, and for reflecting the opinions of local people concerning development projects; in addition, it served to promote the formulation of law and administrative systems. However, as it was based on direct negotiations between the parties concerned, the outcome of each dispute only reflected the transient balance of forces, and the experience gained in negotiations was not accumulated as a social norm.

Prospects for Development of the Garment Industry in Developing Countries: What Has Happened Since the MFA Phase-Out?

On January 1, 2005, the controlled trade regime on textiles and clothing which was based on the Multi-Fiber Arrangement (MFA) made in 1974 was abolished. This institutional change wrought great impacts on the world market for textiles and clothing.This paper reviews the impacts of the changes on the main markets and examines the prospects for the markets and the source countries. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) after the renewal of quantitative restrictions on Chinese garment exports were agreed with the US and the EU, the post-MFA surge in Chinese garment exports was significantly attenuated; (2) instead, the growth in garment exports from other Asian low-income countries to the two markets was revived in 2006; (3) the Japanese market has been kept almost intact from the impact of the regime shift; (4) some developing countries, such as Bangladesh and Cambodia, not only survived the liberalization but also have steadily expanded their garment exports throughout the transition; and (5) an indicative fact is that the profitability of the garment industry in Bangladesh and Cambodia was high on average according to surveys conducted in 2003, which might have bolstered the steady growth of garment exports in the past, and possibly future growth, too.

Yangtze River Delta's system integration: institutional barriers and countermeasures

This paper addresses the issue of institutional barriers to the Yangtze River Delta integration and the resulting slow development. It analyzes the problems including the coordination of local interests and regional interests, market segmentation during the regional integration, competition for the local government‘s investment on the public goods, labor movement within the delta. The paper argues that to reduce the negative impacts of these barriers and to promote the further integration of the Yangtze Delta region, the central government should strengthen the coordination between local governments, regulate their disorderly competition and reform the official evaluation system.

Sustainable development goals and Japan -- sustainability overshadows poverty reduction

The Development Cooperation Charter of Japan, which took over the ODA (Official Development Assistance) Charter in February 2015, drives Japan's cooperation towards non-poor countries and non-poverty issues. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) put Japan forward in these directions. As a result, in Japan the focus on global poverty reduction is overshadowed by its national interests and sustainability under the concept of universality, which was a core principle of the SDGs as differentiated from the Millennium Development Goals.