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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) -
An Extension of Chinese Network Power?Jiang, Xang; Ravenhill, John (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: China is a latecomer to preferential trading agreements (PTAs), choosing to complete its accession to the WTO before embarking on negotiations for preferential agreements. Since 2001, China has become a very active player in such agreements, currently having concluded treaties or being in the process of negotiating them with close to 30 partners. China’s approach to PTAs is characterized by pragmatism; rather than following the American and European practices of using a template for all partnerships, China has been willing to tailor agreements to the specific relationships it is pursuing. Like other governments, China has a mixture of motives in pursuing PTAs. In some relationships, diplomatic/strategic considerations are paramount. In others, China seeks to pursue various economic interests, one of the most significant of which has been security of supply of raw materials. China’s various motivations in PTAs are examined through three case studies: the Closer Economic Partnership Agreement with Hong Kong; the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area; and the negotiation of a PTA with Australia. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7414 Files in this item: 1
ravenhill-yang-2007-18.pdf (220.3Kb) -
Peverelli, Peter J. (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The Port of Rotterdam is a typical European organisation that undertakes several activities towards China annually and has a clear understanding of what it has to offer to its Chinese counterparts, but does not always succeed in achieving rapport with those counterparts. This paper studies the identity constructs of the Port of Rotterdam in a selected number of Chinese contexts (central ministries, main ports, etc.). The methodology is narrative analysis using corpora of texts compiled for each context. The core theoretical principle1 is that identity is not a property, but a process of ongoing interaction. The identity of A can only be established in a particular context, by observing the interaction between A and parties in that context. A will thus obtain multiple identities in multiple contexts. The results can be used by the Port of Rotterdam to improve the effectiveness of its delegations to China. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7406 Files in this item: 1
peverelli-2007-19.pdf (192.3Kb) -
Implications for Sino-Malaysian Economic RelationsOoi, Shuat-Mei; Kok-Kheng Yeoh, Émile (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: It is a received opinion that China’s emergence as a regional and global power is the most pivotal transformation underway in East Asia. China’s enhanced economic standing in Asia has given her new political influence in the region as her trade with the neighbouring states, in particular the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to her south, has been expanding rapidly in recent years. The stunning economic growth of China has created tremendous business opportunities and signed deals has been drawing increasing volume of foreign investment into this Asian giant that was described to have shaken the world – not with her armies, but with her factories. Whether this market is really that huge with potential as has often been presumed and taken for granted is today a topic hotly debated all over the world. With increasing number of foreign companies setting up their businesses in China and the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area – projected to be the world’s largest FTA covering 1.7 billion consumers with a combined GDP of US$2 trillion and to be completed within ten years from the setting of its framework agreement in November 2002 – poised to become the core of a broader East Asian economic zone in years to come, this paper attempts to explore the implications, opportunities and challenges arising with the establishment of the ACFTA, the achievement, prospect and challenges with respect to the Early Harvest Program (EHP) and Agreement on Trade in Goods (TIG), potential competition arising from the free flow of goods, impacts on growth, production sharing, possible trade diversion effects and institutional and other factors in market penetration, within the context of both global business linkages and domestic market nexus in the light of the expanding China-Malaysian bilateral trade and China’s deepening partnership with ASEAN. Keywords: China, ASEAN, Malaysia, CAFTA/ACFTA, trade, investment URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7391 Files in this item: 1
emile 2007-17.pdf (1.073Mb) -
Reconceptualising the Chinese Diaspora in Southeast AsiaJacobsen, Michael (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper argues that the fluidity that permeates the contemporary international community is driven by especially political and economic globalisation, which has a huge impact of the relationship between the nation and the state. As the individual nation state is increasingly depending on the international community for its economic survival this dependency on the global has as a consequence that it rolls back aspects of national sovereignty thus opening up the national hinterland for further international influences. These developments initiate a process of disaggregating state and nation, meaning that a gradual disarticulation of the relationship between state and nation produces new societal spaces, which are contested by non-statist interest groups and transnational more or less deterritorialised ethnic affiliated groups and networks. The argument forwarded in this article is that the ethnic Chinese utilises these newly created spaces for setting up diasporic like networks thus providing substance for transnational ethnoscapes or nations without states. Keywords: globalisation, nation state, diaspora, ethnicity, Chinese, Southeast Asia URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7394 Files in this item: 1
michael-07.pdf (225.9Kb) -
Dragsbaek Schmidt, Johannes (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: China’s "soft power" re-emergence in Southeast Asia Johannes Dragsbaek Schmidt Associate Professor Research Center on Development and International Relations Aalborg University Email. jds@ihis.aau.dk ABSTRACT Globalization is rapidly changing the overall structure of the international division of labor with the shift of services and manufacturing from the old industrialized economies to the new emerging giants - the global office platform in India and the global factory floor in China. This dislocation in production, services and manufacturing signifies a challenge which might be more important, but nevertheless part and parcel of the inherent imbalances in the world economy. Until recently there has been much academic and layman attention on over-production, growing inequalities, the increasing North-South gap, the roaring conflicts over energy and raw materials including oil and water, turbulence and crisis in the international financial system, and not least the fact that the present phase of capitalism has led to jobless growth in the established core economies in Europe and the United States. The question for the international political economy is where and how do countries like India and China fit in? Keywords: Globalisation, Regionalism, Bilateralism, Diaspora, USA, China, Southeast Asia URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7407 Files in this item: 1
cdp-2006-013 johannes.pdf (253.9Kb) -
The Case of Chinese Indonesian EntrepreneursKoning, Juliette (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Two things characterize the ethnic Chinese overseas: their subjection to discrimination and their over-representation (relative to the local people in the place of destination) in self-employment and entrepreneurship (Chan Kwok-bun 2004:xiii). Much has been written on ethnic Chinese firms in Southeast Asia. A major part of the scholarly attention has gone into trying to understand and explain business success. As such the debate has for a long time, in a rather dichotomizing way, been divided into capitalist (profit maximisation) and cultural (personal relationship) explanations as the main drivers for this so-called success. Since the late 1990s the debate has entered a new phase, sometimes referred to as the "revisionist mood‿ enhancing the deconstruction and de-mystification of ethic Chinese businesses. Interestingly enough the debate has been rather quiet on issues of identity and ethnic self-representation. This is where this paper tries to fill a gap. By focusing on the role and meaning of ethnicity and religion (as identity markers) in enterprise development, leadership and management styles, and decision-making and networking I hope to contribute to a better understanding of the significance of "being Chinese overseas‿ and "New-Born Christian‿ in entrepreneurial identity. Empirical case material on several new-born Christian ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs of small and medium sized companies in Indonesia shall be used to explore this delicate relationship. The overtly non-Christian socio-political domination and the contested citizenship position of ethnic Chinese in parts of the region shall be features of the necessary contextual discussion. Keywords: Ethnic Chinese, Indonesia, Entrepreneurship, New Order, Chineseness. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7392 Files in this item: 1
cdp 2006-005.pdf (294.0Kb) -
WTO Membership, Free Markets (?), Agricultural Subsidies and Clothing, Textile and Footwear QoutasHannan, Kate (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper discusses three scenarios concerning China’s recent trade negotiations and relations with the United States and the European Union. Chinese commentators and academics are sure that their country ‘is firmly on the path of greater integration with the global economy’ and that this is ‘a path that has provided great benefits for China and for the world in general. However, they are also be well aware of the problems associated with entering a global economy where free trade/level playing field market principles have not ended either agricultural subsidies or import quotas on manufactured goods. Indeed, as argued in this paper, measures taken in the name of neo-liberal free market ideals have, ironically, spawned an ever-growing mass of quotas imposed by the EU and the US on the importation of Chinese clothing, footwear and textiles. Keywords: China, subsidiaries, WTO, USA, EU URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7398 Files in this item: 1
2006-008.pdf (185.9Kb) -
Transnationalism and the 'Chineseness' of Enterprise DevelopementGomez, Edmund Terence (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The concept of transnationalism is characterised by an important contradiction. While it makes an important contribution to the literature on identity by focussing on the themes of hybridity and pluralism, when it discusses the issue of transnational capital, it falls into the trap of essentialising ethnicity. Transnational theorist argue that there exists a pan-ethnic unity among the Chinese diaspora that would enable this community to emerge as a new economic force globally. The case studies in this essay reveal, however, that transnational networks do not influence the way ethnic groups do business with co-ethnics in other countries. This study argues that there is significant competition among Chinese-owned enterprises, which explains the dynamism of these firms. There is also much evidence of inter-ethnic corporate ties involving Chinese firms. These findings bring into question the importance of common ethnic identity in transnational business transactions undertaken by the Chinese companies. Keywords: Transnationalism, Chinese Identity, Networks, Enterprise Development. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7404 Files in this item: 1
cdp 2006-007.pdf (198.0Kb) -
Singapore Chinese business strategies after failing in ChinaDahles, Heidi (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The focus of this paper is on the strategies applied by Singapore-Chinese businesses upon failing in their China business ventures. It has been argued that both the increase of Singapore ventures into China and the failures are due to either cultural issues (misinterpretation of ‘shared ethnicity’) or economic factors (differences in economic practices). Singapore businessmen apply inclusive strategies combining Western management styles with Chinese ways of doing business in order to reduce the risk involved with investments across national borders into China. Though largely successful, this strategy entails its own risks. Based on 10 case studies, this paper discusses the ways in which Singapore Chinese entrepreneurs respond upon failing in China and the strategies they develop to re-find their comfort zone for transnational business ventures. Keywords: Chineseness, Ethinicity, Entrepreneurship, Singapore, China, Business Strategies. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7401 Files in this item: 1
heidi.pdf (166.4Kb) -
Kok-Kheng Yeoh, Émile (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Although China is not a federal country, its public finance system does carry features of fiscal federalism. Since 1949, although the central government has consistently sought to exercise strong control over the country, it has at times done so by decentralist rather than centralist policies. The Dengist policies since economic reform began, for example, have had a strongly decentralist element, with continuing devolvement of control to the provincial governments, sometimes to such a degree that some observers have commented: "the centre pretends to rule and the provinces pretend to be ruled". This is also a period that witnessed the revival of old regionalisms, as well as the creation of new regionalisms brought about by increased local autonomy, rapid economic growth and increasingly globalizing trade and business linkages. While the oft-cited "China deconstructs" scenario seems at present far-fetched, the challenges posed by central-peripheral conflicts, ethnic resource contest and ethnoterritorial aspirations are real, in particular as they are being exacerbated by the country’s "retreat from equality�? and growing interregional economic disparity. In the light of these daunting exigencies, this paper explores the political economy of regional development in China, focusing on the intricate link between the country’s ethnic diversity and the role of the State in the economy, as the Asian giant warily enters a new stage of economic reform. Keywords: China, regionalism, ethnic diversity, inequalities, uneven development, regional disparities URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7409 Files in this item: 1
cdp 2006-012.pdf (1.088Mb) -
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) -
The Place Branding of Denmark and SingaporeOoi, Can-Seng (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Place branding has become popular. Places brand themselves to attract tourists, talented foreign workers, investments and businesses. The brand accentuates the positive characteristics of the place; it frames the society and sells its cultures. In the context of tourism, this paper examines the branding strategies of two very different countries – Denmark and Singapore. In Singapore, the convergence between the brand message and the place reality is frequently engineered by creating new brand-related products. In Denmark, the brand tries to communicate an existing local reality; it wants to present a prevailing reality. To the Danes, the brand is descriptive and should portray the country in a positive and accurate manner. To the Singaporeans, the brand is normative and a vision of what Singaporean society ought to become. These countries share common goals when branding themselves but their branding strategies are different, why? This paper situates their strategic differences in the local social, cultural and political context. Although country branding is externally directed, domestic politics and mechanisms of local control affect how the country can brand itself. Keywords: place branding, branding strategies, Denmark, Singapore, tourism, destination URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7393 Files in this item: 1
cdp 2006-009.pdf (157.1Kb) -
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in ChinaHolst Jensen, Mads (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Taking into account a broad range of stakeholders who may affect or be affected by corporate action, the perspective of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) carries the promise of a win-win situation for all. CSR in China is highly topical, as the country is integrating into the supply chains of the major global players, but the ideals of CSR are a far cry from the realities of production in "the workshop of the world". In this paper I will discuss key issues relating to the process of adapting CSR into the Chinese context. I will focus on the position of the PRC political leadership. I argue that the leadership seems to pursue an agenda of submerging CSR under the control of the Party-State and conceptualizing CSR by reference to a blend of an eclectic interpretation of Western European welfare models and CSR conceptions with an eclectic interpretation of Chinese tradition and political culture. As a result, CSR in China lacks the element of multi-stakeholder dialogue, which is commonly recognized as the core element of CSR in Western countries. Keywords: CSR, China, Labour issue, MNCE, NGO, Politic change. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7405 Files in this item: 1
cdp 2006-006.pdf (368.9Kb) -
Its Threats and Opportunities from the Perspective of Southeast AsiaBeoy Kui, Ng (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The purpose of the paper is to examine the economic impact of China on the Southeast Asian countries, mainly in terms of trade and investment. The paper attempts to examine whether the rise of China poses a threat to Southeast Asia as a region in the area of international trade, especially competition in the third markets. Can they be comrades rather than competitors in international market? Secondly, the paper also questions the concentration of foreign direct investment (FDI) in China implies a diversion of FDI away from the region. Are the FDI in China and Southeast Asian region complement each other in the international division of labour? On the other hand, the increasing role of China as an international trader and global investor provides an opportunity for Southeast Asia countries to integrate with the Chinese economy. The huge domestic market of China also provides vast opportunities for investment, especially through connections of their respective ethnic Chinese businesses in the region. In return, Southeast Asian countries, through their respective ethnic groups can also play a middleman role between China and the West, as well as between China and India together with the Middle East. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7395 Files in this item: 1
arc2006-15pdf.pdf (343.1Kb) -
Re-Conceptualising Notions of Chinese-ness in a Southeast Asian Business cum Societal ContextJacobsen, Michael (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper explores the role of the Chinese in a Southeast Asian business cum societal context; from different approaches towards Chinese-ness over different notions of intra- and inter-ethnic relation ending up with a critique of the idea of a Chinese diaspora in a Southeast Asian context. The paper furthermore argues that a culturalist reading of Southeast Asian Chinese modes of engaging in capitalist practices and societal entrenchments constitute a deception that produces a variety of stereotypes of Chinese-ness thus disregarding the complexity and dynamic developments within the ethnic Chinese community region-wise. Finally, in relation to Chinese business practices in a Southeast Asian context the paper suggests that cultural notions of guanxi and xinyong do not form a basis for doing business the Chinese way, only options, that intra-ethnic relations do not play an important role in transnational Chinese linkages, and that contemporary conceptions of Chinese identity are always negotiated with the dominant ‘other’ so as to secure the construction of an economic ‘room’ or space from where business can be conducted in an overall societal acceptable manner. Key words: Ethnic Chinese, diaspora, entrepreneurship, ethnicity, identity URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7408 Files in this item: 1
cdp 14.pdf (134.1Kb) -
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) -
A Case of Danish Multinationals and their Subsidiaries in P.R. China and IndiaWorm, Verner; Xu, Xiaojun; Shinha, Jai b.P. (København, 2005)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: By drawing on a selective review of literature, we propose that the culture of Danish multinationals and transnational organizations interface with the Chinese and Indian societal and managerial cultures in order to create hybrid cultures in Danish subsidiaries in P. R. China and India. The hybrid culture moderates the relationships between the forms of knowledge and internationalization of multinationals on one hand and the transfer of knowledge on the other. It is postulated that stable cultural frames of the Danes and Chinese managers, both having stable cultural frame, will require long drawn efforts to overcome the cultural distance and transfer the various forms and levels of knowledge in the initial years of the subsidiaries. On the other hand, Indians’ style of switching their cultural frames will create less entry problems but more recurring problems once Danish multinationals will get going. Once the postulates are empirically validated, potential implications for strategic interventions are briefly discussed. Keywords: Knowledge transfer, culture, MNCs. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7400 Files in this item: 1
cdp2005-02worm.samlet.pdf (195.7Kb) -
Experiences from SingaporeOoi, Can-Seng (København, 2005)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper draws inspiration from Edward Said’s orientalism, and examines how the three National Museums of Singapore – the Singapore History Museum, the Singapore Art Museum and the Asian Civilizations Museums – are orientalized. The process is mediated through the museums’ close links to tourism promotion in the city-state. The tourism authorities in Singapore have found that the city destination has become too modern and western for many tourists, and the destination has embarked on a campaign to make Singapore more oriental. The creation of the museums is one strategy to orientalize Singapore; these museums assert different layers of Singapore’s oriental identities. Each museum appropriates the tourist orientalist imagination in different ways. This paper argues that the orientalist imagination can be understood as a set of knowledge resources for the construction of local identities to enhance a destination’s uniqueness and attractiveness. Besides reviewing Said’s orientalism, this paper visits criticisms of the theory, within the context of the orientalization process of museums in Singapore. Keywords: orientalism, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore History Museum, Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore tourism. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7399 Files in this item: 1
cdp05-01-csooibibl.pdf (170.2Kb) -
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)
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