Production fragmentation and trade integration: East Asia in a global context

This paper examines the implications of international production fragmentation for global and regional trade patterns, with special emphasis on countries in East Asia. It is found that, while trade in parts and components (fragmentation trade) has generally grown faster than total world manufacturing trade, the degree of dependence of East Asia on this new form of international specialization is proportionately larger than in North America and Europe. International production fragmentation has certainly played a pivotal role in the continuing dynamism of the East Asian economies and increasing intra-regional economic interdependence. There is, however, no evidence to suggest that this new form of international exchange has contributed to reducing the region's dependence on the global economy. On the contrary, growth dynamism based on vertical specialization depends inexorably on extra-regional trade in final goods, and this dependence has in fact increased over the years.     

Foreign Market Strategies of European and United States Transnational Management-Consulting Firms in South East Asia: The Case of Thailand

ABSTRACT

The share of transnational corporations' (TNCs) foreign investment in the global investment has increased over the years. In this context, the international activities of transnational service corporations (TSCs) have become an important topic of discussion for international managers, governments, researchers, and academics. An even greater expansion has taken place in the case of management consulting services. The core subject of this study are entry strategies and FDI motives observed among transnational management-consulting firms (TMCFs) from the United States, Europe and Asia operating in Thailand. A management interview approach was the major tool for data collection in this study. Eighteen foreign TMCFs operating in Thailand were the main source of primary research data, which were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The results indicate that TMCFs prefer full-ownership participation as an entry mode into the Thai market. As to their FDI motives, the most important one identified is to exploit the existing market opportunities in host countries. Other important motives include: market expansion, exploitation of competitive advantage, and following the client's international involvement.     

Fragmentation and vertical intra-industry trade in East Asia

East Asia experienced an unprecedented change in its international trade patterns in the last 10–15 years. To investigate this development, the paper decomposes machinery trade into one-way trade, vertical intra-industry trade (vertical IIT), and horizontal intra-industry trade (horizontal IIT), using finely disaggregated international trade data. Our empirical analysis confirms that the significance of vertical IIT drastically increased, while the relative importance of one-way trade dropped. In addition, our empirical results show no evidence that most vertical IIT conforms to the vertical product differentiation model. Rather, the explosive increase in vertical IIT is largely due to the expansion of back-and-forth transactions in vertically fragmented cross-border production processes. The findings show that vertical international production sharing did become an essential part of each economy in East Asia in the 1990s, particularly with the explosive increase in vertical transactions of machinery parts and components.     

Vertical specialization across the world: A relative measure

This article investigates the dynamics and the international distribution of vertical specialization (VS) - the use of imported inputs to produce goods that are afterwards exported. We propose a relative measure of VS-based trade that combines information from Input-Output matrices and international trade data, producing results for a large sample of countries with a detailed product breakdown. We illustrate this measure by showing the evolution of VS activities at the world level over the 1967-2005 period. The results are consistent with partial evidence existing in the literature, pointing to a substantial increase of VS in high-technology products and in East Asia.     

A fuzzy bi-level method for modeling age-specific migration

Modeling and forecasting international migration are significant research areas since migration forecasts are vital in decision making and policy design regarding economy, security, society, and resource allocation. The methods for modeling and forecasting migration rely on strict subjective or statistical assumptions which may not always be met. In addition, lack of a universally accepted definition of the term “migrant” and the ambiguities in data due to recording and collection systems result in inconsistencies and vagueness in migration modeling. Considering these, in this paper, a fuzzy bi-level age-specific migration modeling method is proposed. The bi-level structure embedded in the model makes use of the well-known Lee-Carter method as well as fuzzy regression, singular value decomposition technique, and hierarchical clustering to reflect the general characteristics of the country of concern together with the distinct emigration and immigration behaviors of the age groups. Bayesian time series models are fitted to the time-variant fuzzy parameters obtained through the proposed method to forecast future migration values. The proposed method is applied on female and male age-specific emigration and immigration counts of Finland for 1990–2010 period and Germany for 1995–2012 period, and the future values are forecasted for 2011–2025 and 2013–2025 respectively. The method is compared with an existing Bayesian approach and the numerical findings display that the proposed fuzzy method is superior to the existing one in modeling and forecasting age-specific migration values within significantly narrower prediction intervals.     

International migration: facts,figures, policies

Recent trends in international migration in OECD member countries are summarized using data from the SOPEMI system, under which OECD countries report annually on international migration affecting them. The synopsis includes a review of recent changes in migration policies, as well as a summary of the impact of immigration on employment and demographic trends.     

What If Immigrants Had Not Migrated?

A bstract .   Despite strong theoretical arguments and models about international migration, very few empirical studies rigorously test these arguments and models. The purpose of the present study is to analyze determinants and consequences for international migration, focusing particularly on the returns to post-hoc international migration. The present study compares residential well-being of Korean international migrants in the United States with that of their hypothetical well-being if they had not migrated. Our suggested models of the selectivity corrected returns to various characteristics for immigrants and nonimmigrants enable us to estimate the "opportunity well-being" of individuals and households; that is, the well-being of immigrants-had-they-stayed and of nonimmigrants-if-they-had-immigrated. The data for our analyses are drawn from the 1990 Korea Census Data and the Public Use Microdata Samples (PUMS) of the 1990 U.S. Census. In either case of migrants-had-they-stayed or of nonimmigrants-had-they-migrated, international migration to the United States has a significant and positive effect on the probability of homeownership, especially for women. The results show that the predicted probability of homeownership attainment increases as a result of migration by 15 percent to 16 percent for women and by 8 percent for men. The study concludes that migrating to the United States offers better opportunities for homeownership than staying in Korea does, particularly for women.     

Fragmentation and parts and components trade: Comparison between East Asia and Europe

This paper argues that fragmentation theory is well suited for explaining the mechanics of international production/distribution networks in East Asia, in contrast with the traditional horizontal product differentiation model fitted for intra-industry trade in core Europe. Using finely disaggregated international trade data, patterns of international trade in East Asia and Europe, particularly trade in machinery parts and components, are carefully examined, and the gravity equation approach is applied to check the validity of the theoretical framework.     

Egyptian men working abroad: Labour supply responses by the women left behind

Female labour force participation has remained low in Egypt. This paper examines whether male international migration provides a leeway for women to enter the labour market and/or to increase their labour supply. In line with previous studies, we find a decrease in wage work particularly in urban areas. However, women living in rural areas and affected by migration are much more likely to be employed in non-wage activities (i.e. unpaid family work) and subsistence work compared to women in non-migrant households. Furthermore, we find evidence that this labour supply response is driven by the household's need to replace the migrant's labour rather than by a loosening of a financing constraint on family enterprises made possible by the flow of remittances.     

Foreign bank lending during a crisis: The impact of financial regulations

This study examines foreign bank lending during crises by using data on 1,558 individual banks in Asian and Latin American countries during the period 1987-2013. Our results reveal that, in a crisis period, Asian banks with a higher level of foreign ownership tend to reduce their lending. Nevertheless, during crises banks consistently increase their lending in order to support their borrowers; in fact, in Latin America, crises stimulate foreign banks to lend more. Our evidence on lending during a crisis supports credit rationing theories with a flight to quality. The international substitution effect also holds based on our results. Taking financial structures and regulation into consideration, for banks with more foreign ownership in a highly concentrated financial system in Asia, the crisis has less effect on a cut in lending, while it has a greater effect on cuts in lending for countries with a higher level of government-owned assets. This paper contributes to the existing literature on the bank lending channel and provides implications for policymakers.     

Fragmentation and agglomeration matter: Japanese multinationals in Latin America and East Asia

This paper analyzes micro data of Japanese multinational enterprises (MNEs) to investigate differences between Latin America and East Asia from various viewpoints of their corporate activities. One of the crucial factors to make a sharp contrast is the development of international production/distribution networks utilizing the benefit of fragmentation and agglomeration. Japanese firms have played an important role in developing international production/distribution networks in East Asia while they have not yet either constructed a critical mass of industrial clusters or formulated efficient vertical chains of production in Latin America, where proper international commercial policies are the key for success.     

Migration transition or migration transformation in the Asian dragon economies?

There has been a marked tendency to interpret the recent transformation of international migration systems in Eastern Asia in terms of a ‘migration transition’ model. The transition in these countries from net emigration to net immigration, with major inflows from poorer adjacent countries, is seen as being driven by an intricate regional pattern of uneven development but growing economic integration. This paper challenges this view through an examination of the trade, investment and migration linkages of the region’s four dragon economies (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan). It argues that the key influences on their international migration streams reflect, above all, the functions of these states as second-order, global city regions. Their place in the global capitalist system creates a shared demand for very particular types of both highly skilled and unskilled labour, but the migration policies of the four states are independently, and therefore distinctively, socially constructed. — Il y a une tendance à utiliser un modèle de ‘transition de migration’ pour interpréter les transformations récentes des systèmes de migration internationaux en Asie de l’est. La transition de l’émigration nette à l’immigration nette dans ces pays, avec des arrivées massives des pays adjacents plus pauvres, est supposée être due à un modèle régional complexe de développement inégal mais d’intégration économique croissante. Cet article questionne ce modèle et examine les liens entre le commerce, l’investissement, et la migration dans les quatre économies dragons de la région (Hong Kong, Singapour, la Corée du sud et Taï?wan). Il soutient que les influences majeures sur leur flux de migration internationale reflète avant tout les fonctions de ces états en tant que régions urbaines globales de deuxième ordre. Leur place dans le système capitaliste global crée une demande pour un type très particulier de travailleurs qualifiés et non qualifiés, mais les politiques de migration des quatre états sont indépendemment, et donc distinctement, socialement construites.     

电子商务在国际贸易应用中面临的主要法律问题

电子商务在国际贸易应甩中面临的法律问题，从狭义上讲，只属于商法或国际商法的范畴，主要涉及在电子商务活动中出现的各方当事人之间的法律关系，如电子合同、电子身份认证、电子证据的确认等方面所引起的法律问题：不过，从广义上讲，它还包括税收征管、知识产权的保护、发展中国家电子商务发展等多方面的法律问题。需电子商务立法解决的法律问题是十分庞杂的，本文简单分析目前电子商务在国际贸易应用中存在并需通过立法来解决的几个主要问题.     

大连国际航运中心软环境建设问题研究

在全球经济和贸易向亚洲转移的背景下,东北亚地区逐步成为最具发展潜力和竞争力的区域,这为大连建设东北亚国际航运中心带来了发展契机,同时也提出了挑战。大连国际航运中心的硬件环境已初具规模,但其软环境建设相对滞后。通过分析大连国际航运中心软环境建设中存在的问题,研究如何建立并增强航运服务产业等软实力,能够为大连国际航运中心建设向纵深发展,提高竞争力带来实际的指导意义,并推进大连向综合资源配置型航运中心转型。     

MIGRATION THEORIES AND EVIDENCE: AN ASSESSMENT

Abstract. This paper presents a critical survey of theories of migration, their welfare and policy implications and their empirical relevance. We also develop some extensions to the theory beginning with the Harris and Todaro (HT) model. In particular, the HT model is extended to examine risk averse behaviour within families where the migration of members of families serves to diversify risk. The welfare implications of the individual migration decision and government intervention in the form of employment subsidies are examined. Recent evidence on international migration is presented. It is shown that migration does not flow automatically in response to wage differentials. Characteristics of migrants and the process of self-selection are found to be important determinants of the rate of migration.     

我国外贸企业国际结算的风险及防范

目前,我国外贸企业在进出口业务中主要使用三种国际结算方式:汇付、托收、信用证。随着出口竞争的日趋激烈化,灵活多变的支付方式已成为外贸企业增加市场份额的重要手段,由此也带来了进出口收付汇风险的增加。本文在分析各种结算方式特点和风险的基础上,探讨了国际结算风险的防范措施。     

THE EFFECT OF KNOWLEDGE ACCESSIBILITY ON INTERNATIONAL INCOME INEQUALITY

Using a structural model of new economic geography, we estimate the effect of accessibility to foreign knowledge on international income distribution. Whereas previous literature has mainly focused on the importance of geographical accessibility to foreign markets, this paper emphasizes the role of accessibility to foreign knowledge in determining international income inequality. Using cross-country data of income per worker, bilateral trade flows, and number of flight passengers, we find evidence that the accessibility to foreign knowledge raises per capita income significantly.     

数字经济背景下税收征管体系的国际经验与政策建议

数字经济不断发展背景下,中国的税收征管制度亟需改革,而其他国家在数字化税收征管制度改革中已取得一些经验,可为中国的改革提供重要参考。本文就数字经济对全球税收征管体系的影响进行利弊分析,并结合当前国际税收征管体系中间接税和直接税层面存在的税收征管制度漏洞而导致的税收流失问题,总结其他国家的税收征管制度改革经验,分析我国在数字交易税收三要素确定、税收归属权划分及传统代扣代缴制度等方面存在的问题,并提出我国税收征管制度改革与完善的对策建议:完善相关税收制度,进一步深化数字经济时代税制改革的研究,正确评估税收征管新技术的可行性,进一步加强国际交流与合作以提升我国的话语权。     

Globalisation: A New Growth,New Trade Perspective

The current crisis in Asia has seen the case for more open economic policy come under attack in the developing world. In this article Michael Chui, Paul Levine, Mansoob Murshed, and Joseph Pearlman argue that any reversal of the trend towards globalisation would be a great mistake for policymakers. The association of openness with higher growth is one of the most robust empirical results in economics. Here we explore the mechanisms that explain this result. We argue that current high growth rates in Asia are unsustainable and there is a long-term as well as a short-term problem of ‘over-investment’ in Asia. However, we report research findings that show how international knowledge spillovers and free trade can enable the world economy to grow, the developing countries to progress, and the developed countries to benefit.     

Firm value,the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and cross-listing in the U.S., Germany and Hong Kong destinations

This paper presents empirical evidence on the effects of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 on the value of firms and on the cross-listing choice of firms destined to three major markets in North America, Asia and Europe. We use dynamic panel data methods and treatment effects methods and find that Sarbanes-Oxley has had a negative impact on the value of firms worldwide. Our evidence indicates that Sox may have segmented markets, with many lower valued firms destined to Hong Kong, thus crowding out the market where regulation is more stringent.