Browsing Asia Research Centre (ARC) by Title
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How Headquarters Facilitate Business Model Innovation at the Subsidiary LevelCao, Yangfeng; Ping Li, Peter; Skat-Rørdam, Peter (Frederiksberg, 2013)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Primarily due to the large gaps in economic and institutional contexts between the developed and emerging markets, business model innovation (BMI) at the subsidiary level plays an important role for the success of small and mediumsized firms (SMEs) from the developed markets operating in the emerging markets as top-down venture. While some studies claim that the direct involvement of headquarters (HQ) of SMEs in the activities of their subsidiaries is essential, surprisingly little is known about how HQ specifically facilitates BMI at the subsidiary level, especially in the context of top-down venture. Adopting the method of comparative and longitudinal case study, we tracked the BMI process of six SMEs from Denmark operating in China. The emergent framework indicates that entrepreneurial aspiration and flexibility at the HQ level 2 Asia Research Centre, CBS, Copenhagen Discussion Paper 2013-42 are two primary facilitators of BMI at the subsidiary level via the mechanisms of commitment and cooperation. We also found that BMI performance would influence the two facilitators in a feedback loop. Hence, we can contribute to the literatures on international entrepreneurship and strategic entrepreneurship by integrating the two previously separated research streams via their shared theme of accelerated learning. In particular, this study helps solve the puzzle concerning fast and successful international venture. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8679 Files in this item: 1
Yangfeng_Cao.pdf (521.1Kb) -
Jakobsen, Michael (Frederiksberg, 2015)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The main aim of this article is to identify key external and internal factors that are capable of impacting and thus influencing directly or indirectly state performance in Southeast Asia with special emphasis on Myanmar, Vietnam and Singapore. The theoretical aim is to develop a framework for partly being able to delineate some external boundaries for state manoeuvring and partly delineate the internal size of the space or ‘room’ that conditions state performance in an international cum national context respectively. On the basis of the above this article thus argues that the state is sandwiched between external and internal factors as the two respectively define the outer boundaries and internal size of the room in which the state has to perform. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/9142 Files in this item: 1
2015-48.pdf (886.1Kb) -
Ghosh, Maitri; Roy, Saikat Sinha (Frederiksberg, 2016)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Using firm-level data, this paper investigates whether Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and hence Multinational Enterprise (MNE) presence, explains India’s improved export performance during post-reforms. The recent literature stresses that firm heterogeneity gives some firms an edge over others to self select into export market. Apart from ownership, this paper takes into account firm heterogeneity and various other firm-specific factors while understanding firm-level export performance. Hausman-Taylor estimation results show that foreign ownership does not have significantly different impact on export performance over domestic firms across sectors in Indian manufacturing. Rather firms acquire internationally competitiveness from imported raw materials, foreign technical know-how and local R&D. Further, firm heterogeneity measured in terms of sunk costs significantly impacts on firm-level export intensity. The study further reveals that there are ownership specific factors that determine firm-level exports. The results have significant implications for policy in order to attain international competitiveness of firms in India. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/9292 Files in this item: 1
CDP-57.pdf (475.2Kb) -
Substitutes or Complements? Exploring the Indian Experience NanditaDasgupta, Nandita (Frederiksberg, 2016)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The recent phenomenon of rising outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) flows has raised serious policy concerns about its effects on the domestic investment and capital formation in the countries of origin of such FDI flows. Does OFDI stimulate domestic investment or does it crowd it out? The concern arises because OFDI activities could shift not only some of the production activities from home to foreign destinations but also could possibly threaten the availability of scarce financial resources at home by allocating resources abroad. All this have the potential to reduce domestic investment, thus lowering the long run sustainable economic growth and employment of the home economies. The central goal of this paper is to empirically explore the evidence of the macroeconomic relationship between OFDI and levels of domestic capital formation in India. Our study reveals that OFDI has long run strong positive causality with domestic investment and thus figures out to be a significant factor affecting domestic investment in India. It becomes imperative therefore that the nation make special effort to promote its OFDI through the designing of appropriate OFDI policies that would help stimulate its domestic investment now and in the future so as to sustain economic growth and development in the long run. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/9294 Files in this item: 1
CPD-59.pdf (437.8Kb) -
A Case Study of PakistanAnwar, Amar; Mughal, Mazhar (Frederiksberg, 2016)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This study examines the differential response of various international financial flows to the post 9/11 episode of terrorism in the context of a South Asian country. Using monthly data for the period from January 2003 to December 2014, we analyze the impact of terrorism in Pakistan on the inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI), portfolio investments, and migrant remittances. We find that FDI decreases substantially as a result of terrorist activity, whereas portfolio investments show little change. In contrast, migrant remittances show a significant increase. These differences are also evident in financial flows from major source regions and top sending countries. The results are robust to the use of alternative definitions and indicators of terrorism as well as the inclusion of various macroeconomic variables. These findings indicate that foreign private capital flees an economy suffering from terrorism whereas migrant remittances are the only financial flows that increase during difficult times. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/9291 Files in this item: 1
CDP-56.pdf (381.7Kb) -
Inter-Ethnic Relations and Economic Development in Penang, MalaysiaJacobsen, Michael (, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Identity formation is probably one of the most discussed aspects of strategic positioning within anthropology, sociology and political science. In general notions of identity have been based on either an absolutist or primordial understanding of belonging or a constructionalist view in which social and political positioning in terms of identity formation are governed by a given societal context. This paper bases its understanding of identity formation on the latter approach. This means that depending of context individuals have several different although related identities to choose between when manoeuvring in a complex and dynamic social environment. Identity formation, achieved or ascribed, and its various forms of externalisation are thus negotiated and not absolute. The dynamic behind this notion of identity formation is individual agency strategically manipulating social, economic and political positioning in a given societal setup. To illustrate the complexities and in this case negative ramifications of social engineering the article focuses on inter-ethnic relations and industrial development in Penang, Malaysia. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7909 Files in this item: 1
CDP 2009-030.pdf (164.5Kb) -
Trade Unions in the Korean and Malaysian Auto IndustriesWad, Peter (København, 2005)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The paper aims to address the question whether the dynamic of autoworker unionism in South Korea and Malaysia was conditioned by, and eventually also influenced the globalization processes in the local auto industry? The conclusion is a contextualized "yes", and the core argument is the following: The financial crisis in 1997 was the dramatic peak of financial globalization in East Asia in the 1990s, and it did accelerate the existing trend in Korea towards centralized unionism in the auto industry, while it suspended the trend in the Malaysian auto industry towards decentralized unionism. Although the Korean and Malaysian unions were affected by the financial crisis from different structural and strategic positions, and were exposed to different national policies and corporate strategies of crisis management, the Korean unions and Malaysian unions generally followed, respectively, a more radical and militant and a more pragmatic and moderate strategy. In the global-local perspective we face two paradoxes. The first paradox is that in spite of the difference in union ideology, the outcome in terms of industrial relations (IR) institutions was rather similar in the sense that the auto industry contained a mixture of industrial and enterprise unions and formal or informal federations of these unions, and that collective bargaining was by and large undertaken bilaterally at the enterprise level. This situation was generated by a dynamic, which took the Malaysian system down from a centralized IR system within the low technology assembly industry (the globally subordinated local OEMs) to a rather decentralized IR system within the SOE-MNC controlled industry. The Korean system became more centralized through the confrontations between radical enterprise unions and authoritarian employers and authorities within an auto industry, which over time become much more indigenized, technologically advanced, export-oriented and diversified into multiple auto manufacturers and an under-wood of component suppliers. Yet, in both auto industries the large enterprise unions resisted organizational centralization, which could impede their autonomy. Due to the strength of unions of the market leading firms a breakthrough did happen neither in Korea nor in Malaysia, although the Koreans were a step ahead of the Malaysians having established a federation of metalworkers unions, including the important autoworkers unions. The second paradox is that the radicalism of the Korean autoworker unions was maintained during 1990s globalization of the auto industry, while radicalism was abandoned by the Malaysian autoworker unions in favor of union pragmatism, when the indigenization of the Malaysian auto industry unfolded since the early 1980s and a local auto supplier industry had been formed. This cross-country difference is partly explained by the different position held by the Korean and Malaysian auto companies in the global and local auto value chain. The radicalism and effectiveness of Korean autoworker unions sustained the development of dynamic efficiency among Korean auto manufacturing firms. In the same way, the intra-industry differences in wages and working conditions among auto manufacturing firms and components supplier firms were also related to the stratification of the domestic auto value chain, and this uneven distribution of benefits created obstacles of centralized unionization and collective bargaining. The centralized IR system in Malaysia evolved in an auto industry composed primarily of firms assembling imported CKD kits of components. The inequality of employment conditions between auto manufacturers and component suppliers was a driver of the strategy of centralized unionism and collective bargaining in Korea, while the inequality was not perceived as that significant by the Malaysian industrial union, since they had been dealing with these problems by the early 1990s. Keywords: Globalisation, trade unions, automobile industry, global value chain theory, East Asia, Malaysia, South Korea. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7410 Files in this item: 1
cdp2005-03wad samlet.pdf (172.8Kb) -
Li, Xin (Frederiksberg, 2014)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: (1) The essence of Yin-Yang is that yin and yang are contrary yet complementary. 阴阳的本质是阴阳是相生相克的关系。 (2) This contrary yet complementary relationship can be described by three characteristics of Yin-Yang: nonexclusivability, transformability, and coopetitionability. Nonexclusivability means that anything contains yin and yang elements and neither yin nor yang elements can be excluded because within both elements there is a seed of the opposite element. Due to the existence of a seed of the opposite element, the yin and yang elements can be mutually transformed when the opposite seed grow to a certain size. Due to this possible growth of the inside opposite element, the relationship between yin and yang and their inside opposite element is one of competition and cooperation, i.e. coopetition. When the configuration ratio of an element’s opposite seed is within the range of 1% to 25%1, their relationship is more co-operative than competitive, and therefore there is more synergy than tradeoff between them. The closer the ratio is to 25%, the stronger the synergy. When the ratio is within the range of 25% to 49%, their relationship is more competitive than cooperative, and therefore there is more tradeoff than synergy between them. The closer the ratio is to 49%, the stronger the tradeoff. 阴阳的相生相克关系可以描述为三个特性：不可排除性、相互转化性、竞 争合作性。不可排除性是指任何事物都包含阴阳两个对立元素，二者之任 何一个均不可能被排除在我，这是因为在阴或阳元素内部天然的包含着对 立元素的种子。正是因为这个种子的天然存在，阴和阳元素可以互相转 化，这种转化发生在对立元素种子成长到一定程度的时候。正是由于这种 对立元素的成长可能性，阴或阳元素和它内部的对立元素之间的关系是既 竞争又合作的。当内部的对立元素占总体元素的力量比例在1%到25%之 间时，两者的关系是合作多于竞争，越靠近25%这个点，这种合作的协同 效果也强烈。当这个搭配比例处于25%到49%之间时，它们的关系将是 竞争多于合作，也就是他们更多互相排斥而非互相促进。当这个比例越靠 近49%，这种排斥效应越强烈。 URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8891 Files in this item: 1
Xin_Li_CDP 2014-46.pdf (332.2Kb) -
An Alternative ApproachAggarwal, Aradhna; Sato, Takahiro (Frederiksberg, 2015)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Over the past two decades, considerable interest has grown in high growth firms (HGFs). However, the concept of HGFs still remains controversial. One of the most controversial issues is size and age of these firms. The present study argues that the current literature on HGFs may offer little help in addressing this issue given the constantly changing population of HGFs. This study uses an alternative conceptual framework and proposes a concept of ‘High Impact Group of Firms’ (HIGF). It explains the HIGFs in the framework of a new stream of literature that focuses on business dynamics, productivity growth and industry evolution, formulates testable hypotheses, and uses a novel methodology to identify it. The empirical analysis is based on the plant level panel data of 22 manufacturing industries in Indian manufacturing during the period 2000-01 to 2005-06. Our empirical results reveal that much depends on the industry/sector specific characteristics. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/9119 Files in this item: 1
Aggarwal_Sato_CDP_2015-47.pdf (969.0Kb) -
In Searching the Meaning of Chineseness in Greater ChinaCheung, Gordon C. K. (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Among the people in Greater China (People’s Republic of China [PRC], Taiwan and Hong Kong), needless to say, economic incentive, political relations and business relations all conjure up an ethos of relations, if not close bonds, among Hong Kong, Taiwan and the PRC. The rise of China matters to everyone who lives in Greater China. Hong Kong is already part of China. Taiwan, according to the PRC, cannot be independent without running the risk of a war. Yet, my question is that are those Chinese the same in Greater China? Do they have different identities? If living with China is inevitable, do they need to search for a new identity to face the challenges? Keywords: Chineseness, Greater China, identity, national boundaries, Hong Kong, Taiwan URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7396 Files in this item: 1
cdp 2006-010.pdf (189.7Kb) -
Kokko, Ari (Frederiksberg, 2015)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: China’s impressive development since the introduction of market-oriented reforms in the late 1970s has had a considerable impact on the world economy. After a first decade and a half of cautious experiments with liberalization, markets, and internationalization, Chinese reforms accelerated in the early 1990s and the Chinese economy started growing at a rate that has not been matched by any other country. The GDP growth rate has averaged nearly 10 percent per year since that time. China has become the world’s largest exporter and one of the largest importers, with a huge domestic market driven both by export-oriented industry and nearly 1.4 billion increasingly affluent domestic consumers. It is one of the main destinations for foreign direct investment (FDI) and has also become an important outward investor. The emergence of this new economic superpower has created both opportunities and challenges for other countries. The purpose of this paper is to focus on some of the challenges and to discuss three imbalances that put pressure on the relationship between the EU and China. These concern the large deficit in Europe’s trade with China, the unequal conditions for European investment in China and Chinese investment in Europe, and the EU’s inability to agree on a common China policy. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/9146 Files in this item: 1
2015-50.pdf (1.008Mb) -
Cao, Yangfeng (Frederiksberg, 2013)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Business model innovation plays a very important role in developing competitive advantage when multinational small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from developed country enter into emerging markets because of the large contextual distances or gaps between the emerging and developed economies. Many prior researches have shown that the foreign subsidiaries play important role in shaping the overall strategy of the parent company. However, little is known about how subsidiary specifically facilitates business model innovation (BMI) in emerging markets. Adopting the method of comparative and longitudinal case study, we tracked the BMI processes of four SMEs from Denmark operating in China. Using resource-based view (RBV), we develop one theoretical framework which indicates that initiative-taking and improvisational capability of subsidiary are the two primary facilitators of business model innovation in emerging markets. We find that high initiative-taking and strong improvisational capability can accelerate the business model innovation. Our research contributes to the literatures on international and strategic entrepreneurship. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8814 Files in this item: 1
Yangfeng_Cao_1.pdf (664.6Kb) -
A Case Study of the Laundry Detergent Market in JapanFujiwara, Masatoshi (Frederiksberg, 2011)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper aims to describe how a commercially successful innovation occurs with the altering of the existing competitive structure in a market under environmental and competitive pressures. I study the history of the laundry detergent market in Japan and elucidate the manner in which Kao accomplished an innovation and increased their market share during the late 1980s. Kao introduced their new detergent Attack through a biotechnological innovation and dramatically changed the competitive structure to their advantage. The innovations introduced were of two kinds 1) fermentation engineering technologies to improve the cleaning performance of detergents by using alkaline cellulase, and 2) concentration of detergents to four times their earlier strength through changes in their powder processing technologies. This historical innovation that occurred in the laundry detergent market in Japan has a contemporary implication because combining firms’ activities and environmental sustainability has been one of the most crucial topics over recent years. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8440 Files in this item: 1
Masatoshi_Fujiwara_CDP_2011-37.pdf (268.8Kb) -
Assessing the Impact of Global Economics on Industrial Developments and Inter-Ethnic Relations in Penang, MalaysiaJacobsen, Michael (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Due to the increasingly integration and thus inter-dependency between the global economy, a given national economy and their societal embedment a triangulation between the three elements is a must if one is to understand the dynamic processes between them. This article focuses especially on the national economic and societal aspects of such a triangulation thus positioning the national dependencies of the global economy in the background. The notion of triangulation is perceived by the author to be more holistic and relational oriented compared to an approach based on decoupling. The latter aims through sector defined studies to assess the level of connectivity between global and national economics as well as between them and their societal embedment in order to detect whether there are potential fault-lines between the three thus mitigating the notion of decoupling. This article applies a triangular approach on the electronic and electrical manufacturing sector in Penang. It concentrates in particular on how companies within this sector relate to pertinent governmental initiated industry policies and the impact of the inter-ethnic related affirmative action policy in this connection. The global aspect of the triangulation has thus been put on a back burner in this study, as the article emphasises the importance of pointing towards the inter-dependency between the political, the inter-ethnic and the economic sectors in Penang, as they are perceived to condition each other. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8203 Files in this item: 1
Michael Jacobsen CDP 2010-35.pdf (172.5Kb) -
Exploring the ‘Black Whole’ in Institutional TheoryJakobsen, Michael (Frederiksberg, 2014)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The aim of this article is to take a critical look at how to perceive informal institutions within institutional theory. Douglas North in his early works on institutional theory divided the national institutional framework into two main categories, formal and informal institution or constraints as he called them. The formal constraints consisted of political rules, judicial decisions and economic contracts, whereas informal constraints consisted of socially sanctioned norms of behaviour, which are embedded in culture and value systems. As formal constraints are straight forward to deal with the informal ones are much more vaguely defined and thus more difficult to grasp analytical. This imprecise perception of informal constraints is surprising as they basically constitute the foundation of the society in question, whereas formal constraints ‘only’ constitute the functional aspects of the state apparatus in that particular society. In order to, however, begin excavating what lies further behind the informal constraints and their impact on the functionality of the formal constraints it is important to take an overall critical look at the way in which institutional theory relate to a given societal context. This article suggest that this is done by first employing an overall international business (IB) approach to analyse a national economy, in this case the Malaysian economy. This will not, however, be done according to the generally accepted procedure in IB studies using either a firm specific or a generic market-based approach, but rather by employing a combination of selected IB theories and a ‘glocalised reading’ on how the relationship between the global economy and a national economy pan out and how this translate into impacting a given societal setup. In other words, IB theories are not only employed in the economic sphere, but also confronted with a variety of societal factors that have a positive or negative impact on the explanatory power of the individual IB theories employed. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8869 Files in this item: 1
Michael_Jakobsen.pdf (230.8Kb) -
Labour Issues in the Construction Industry in the New ChinaCostello III, Charles S. (Frederiksberg, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The crane has been an ancient symbol of longevity in China carrying with it intimation of distinctive principles of ancient China; harmony, patience and graceful coexistence with nature. It is ironic that the construction crane is the new symbol of a changing land, where old hutong neighborhoods are disappearing as fast as the bird and its habitat. Is this new crane helping to create a harmonious society, as the HuWen administration would have you believe? The economic boom fueled in large part by the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games brings with it many new construction jobs, labour issues and in some cases new forms of corruption. Does this development reinforce solidarity and good working conditions in a country where unions are largely controlled by the government? Or do business networks, guanxi, continue to dominate business relationships and hamper the achievement of good working conditions? These questions will be examined, including issues such as corruption, safety and working conditions. Comparisons to labour issues in the United States will be included. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8944 Files in this item: 1
21costello arc.pdf (357.1Kb) -
A Comparative Analysis of foreign and local firms in Indian IndustriesAggarwal, Aradhna (Frederiksberg, 2016)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This study examines how inter-firm heterogeneities in technology modes and intensities are linked to ownership of firms in India, using a panel dataset of 2000 odd Bombay Stock Exchange listed firms for the period from 2003 to 2014 drawn from the PROWESS database of CMIE. For the analysis, foreign ownership is categorised according to the control exercisable by them as defined under the Companies’ Act of India. A comparative analysis of domestic and different categories of foreign firms was conducted at two time periods: the global boom period of 2004-2008 and post crisis period of 2008-2014. The propensity score matching (PSM) analysis reveals that the majority owned foreign companies spend less on R&D and more on technology transfers than their local counterparts. Overall, threshold equity holding and global conditions matter. A panel data regression analysis on matched sample confirms the findings and validates the PSM findings. A horizontal cluster analysis on 3-digit industry level data shows that foreign firms cluster in high technology industries. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/9293 Files in this item: 1
CDP-58.pdf (524.4Kb) -
Feminist Responses to Reproductive Policy in SingaporeLyons, Lenore (København, 2005)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper examines recent debates about reproductive policy in Singapore by examining the responses of two different groups of women - women Members of Parliament and feminist activists. Women currently make up 10% of MPs in Singapore. Although this figure is low when compared to average rates of female representation globally, it is the highest level in Singapore since Independence. All these women are members of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) in power since 1959. While publicly supportive of the view of the PAP male elite, this group of women has introduced a level of critique into reproductive policy not previously seen by the Singapore public. Local women’s groups too have played a visible role in public debates about population policy. The feminist group, the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) has had a long interest in reproductive policy issues and released its own position paper to address the government’s recent policy making. This paper examines the responses of these two groups of women towards the PAP’s pro-natalist stance. It explores the extent to which these women have challenged the PAP as well as the obstacles to an independent feminist voice on population matters Keywords: Singapore, population policy, reproductive policy, total fertility rate, feminism, women in politics URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7402 Files in this item: 1
05-04 cdp lyons bibl version.pdf (139.5Kb) -
Some Theoretical and Methodological ReflectionJakobsen, Michael; Worm, Verner; Li, Xin (Frederiksberg, 2016)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: When analysing modes of navigating cross-cultural business communities most IB studies employ an etic approach that delineates how ethnically owned companies thrive and manoeuvre in complex cross-cultural business environments. This approach implies employing theoretical models and empirical observations that from a methodological point of view identify a local entrepreneur either as an objectified agent or as an anonymous ‘other’ thus pointing towards the assumption that such an approach has its roots in an ethnocentric academic tradition. This article goes beyond an etic approach and introduces an emic approach in which it is the local entrepreneurs themselves, who provide the main bulk of data on why and how they position themselves in a cross-cultural business environment the way they do. The main objective of this study is thus to show how local entrepreneurs develop business strategies so as to navigate and grow their companies in a complex cross-cultural business environments. The discussion on local entrepreneurship begins by outlining a theoretical framework for how to approach emic studies and from there proceeds towards suggesting a methodological approach that is capable of providing the empirical data that supports a theoretical framework based on an emic approach. The focus in this paper is thus to excavate how local entrepreneurs manoeuvres in a multi-cultural business context by combining both an etic and emic approach. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/9300 Files in this item: 1
CDP-62.pdf (181.0Kb) -
[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The paper addresses the importance of network trade between Malaysia and China and assesses the extent of product upgrading in components traded. The study brings to the fore the following. First, China is emerging as an important market for component imports relative to component exports. As such the increase in two-way flows of parts and components for further processing and development, implying a shift away from assembly-end operations, remains insignificant. Second, network trade appears to have improved the quality of exports (reflecting the ‘moving up of the value chain’) destined to China, but the gaps between the unit values of export and imports have narrowed in the recent past, implying less product development. network trade, two-way trade, unit values, relative unit values, product upgrading URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7403 Files in this item: 1
devadason_clean.pdf (157.4Kb)