Outward FDI from and intraregional FDI in ASEAN : trends and drivers

Developing-country transnational corporations (TNCs) are increasing in importance in the global economy. Outward FDI from developing countries is a proxy indicator to measure how much of an important role enterprises of developing countries have played in the world market and how they benefit from globalization where border barriers are reduced. This study finds that ASEAN enterprises have extended their business activities within ASEAN, East Asia, and then to the world, as both regional and global players.

台湾WTO加盟後の対中政策手段とFTA外交

WTO加盟は台湾にとって、初めての国連組織への加盟となる。また、FTAへの参加資格を得た点において大きな外交得点であった。しかし、中国との経済関係の自由化を迫られるデメリットがあるが、中国との政治的な緊張関係を利用して台湾は自由化を遅らせることもできる。一方、他のWTOメンバーとのFTA締結は法的障害を除去しても、中国の反対がネックとなっている。

Regional Cooperation of Small & Medium Firms in Japanese Industrial Clusters

This study examines the effects of intra-regional cooperation among firms and institutions on the growth of firms, using the unique data set of questionnaire survey collected in the three major industrial clusters in Japan. In contrast to the existing studies on regional innovations or agglomeration economies, this study explicitly focuses on the detailed contents of cooperative activities with two specific viewpoints: 1) the contents of regional cooperation in each of the three production stages of R&D, commercialization, and marketing, and 2) the detailed types of alliance partners. Our results demonstrate three points: 1) positive correlations are observed between the intensity of regional cooperation and the firm growth rate and R&D expenditure, 2) horizontal cooperation such as alliances with universities and cross-industry exchange organizations has positive significant effects on the growth rate of firms, which is in contrast with the previous studies that stressed only the role of vertically integrated inter-firm linkages in Japan, and 3) contents and partners of regional cooperation are different among the three clusters based on different dominant industries.

アジアは一つになれるか？: ASEAN型「統合」からの脱却の必要性

東アジア共同体の議論は、FTAが基礎になる。だが、FTA自体が本当の統合なのか疑問が残る。もし、アジアがEU型の本格的な深い統合を目指すなら、ASEAN中心主義や中国の深い関与が足かせになる。経済発展と民主化が一定水準に達したアジアやオセアニアの先進国による新たな統合の核が必要である。

IT Clusters in India

One of the facilitating factors that enabled the rise of IT industry in India is the evolution of IT clusters. A study of these clusters can provide interesting insights. The rise of the Banglaore IT cluster was due, among other things, to some of the policies the Indian government took three decades or earlier. It would be difficult to talk of "benign neglect" of the government towards this sector. Different factors worked in the case of Hyderabad. A comparison between the IT clusters in India has much to tell the new emerging IT clusters in India as well as those outside of it.

IT Offshoring and India: Some Implications

There has been a large spurt in the offshore outsourcing of Information Technology (IT) recently. India has been a major recipient of such work. There have been loud protests against the "loss" of jobs in the US as work was shifted to India. The large inflow of IT related work has also had major impact on the Indian economy. There are implications on the foreign policy level as well. While the economic implications are well known, we try to see a little of the foreign policy implications in this paper.