India’s contribution to the British balance of payments, 1757-1812

The East India Company’s “regulated” trade monopoly more effectively served Britain’s national interest during the French wars than might be inferred from contemporary complaints and recent scholarship. The Board of Control’s assessment of India’s importance to the British balance of payments in the 1780s was well informed and was borne out by subsequent developments. British net inflows from India remained substantial through 1765-1812 and were arguably least dispensable. British trade with Asia most frequently outgrew the worldwide totals and retained some of the acquired gains to the end of the period. The real constraints faced by private traders should be weighed against the external economies and scale advantages rendered by the East India Company to a wider range of British interests.     

The Expansion of High School Education in Poor Regions: The Case of East Nusa Tenggara,Indonesia

This paper explores the continuing labour market dilemmas resulting from the expansion of upper secondary and higher education in Indonesia. The situation is more acute in the poorer provinces such as East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) with their limited demand for high school graduates. The findings presented here are based on a sample of 800 high school students in the West Timor region of NTT. The authors point to the problems inherent in the Indonesian government's goal of nine years' compulsory education by the year 2004, and suggest policy measures to avoid the wastage of talent in provinces such as East Nusa Tenggara.     

The shift from sterling to the dollar, 1965–76: evidence from Australia and New Zealand

The management of foreign exchange reserves has recently attracted attention from both policy‐makers and historians. Historical research has focussed on the nineteenth century and the interwar period, with less attention to the strategies of smaller countries in the final transition from sterling to the dollar in the post‐1945 period. This article examines the evolution of reserve currency policy from the perspective of Australia and New Zealand in the 1960s and early 1970s. As in the 1930s, economic uncertainty and a shift in global economic power prompted changes in reserves strategy. Patterns of trade and debt and falling confidence in British economic policy prompted a move away from sterling, but the timing and extent of this transition were affected by the fragility of the sterling exchange rate, lack of alternative assets, and continued dependence on the London capital market. The choices for Australia and New Zealand were thus constrained, but they were able to leverage their position as holders of sterling to engage in agreements that provided an exchange rate guarantee for their sterling holdings and continued access to the London capital market. This mitigated the effect of the final global transition from sterling to the dollar while protecting their interests.     

Myopia or strategic behavior? Indian regimes and the East India Company in late eighteenth century India

The East India Company's conquest of India was facilitated by the behavior of its Indian rivals who not only did not ally against it, but often supported it militarily. Historians have typically attributed this to myopia, the failure to understand the long-term threat represented by the Company. We examine the negotiations leading up to a key conflict, the Third Mysore War, and find that the Company's allies were not myopic. The British parliament had, in 1784, passed Pitt's India Act, which limited the scope for unprovoked military aggression by the Company in India. This had changed the behavior of the Company, making its promises more credible. This enhanced credibility made it possible for the Company to secure as allies Indian regimes that were acting strategically in their self-interest. This is a new explanation for an old puzzle.     

East and South Asia: Managing Difficult Bilateral Relations and Regional Integration Globally

This paper analyzes the economic integration of the East and South Asian economies in the global economy. East Asian economies are shown to be achieving much more of their potential trade than South Asian economies, both in terms of intra‐regional trade and in trade with the rest of the world. Examination of the China–Japan, India–Pakistan and Taiwan–mainland China bilateral relationships shows that integration of these economies into the global economy has allowed economic relations to dominate and constrain difficult bilateral political relations in East Asia while in South Asia adverse political relations have hampered development of bilateral economic relationships.     

Sectoral FDI cycles in South and East Asia

This study aims to analyze how sectoral foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in South and East Asian economies respond to changes in the business cycles of the host countries, as measured by their output gaps. We focus on 15 economies during the period 1980–2011 and examine inflows of FDI in extractive industries, manufacturing and services in addition to aggregate FDI by using a dynamic panel Blundell–Bond GMM methodology. We find evidence of countercyclical behavior of services FDI and acyclical behavior of both extractive industries FDI and manufacturing FDI. The coutercyclical behavior of services FDI in South and East Asia has important policy implications.     

Building a World Class Region: Regional Strategy in the South East of England

The South East of England sits uncomfortably within the English regional project. Public support for regional government is relatively low and political appetite for a debate on its future is limited. We argue that the South East poses a problem for English regionalism. The incorporation of this economic heartland is imperative if the project it is not only to be associated with economic development and regeneration in more deprived areas. However, the South East is fragmented and fraught with tensions that institutions of regional governance cannot easily overcome. In particular this relates to the highly differential economic trajectories of different economic sub-regions and to the institutional separation of the South East from London. The future of regional government in the South East of England and the role that the region plays in the wider English regional project remain highly uncertain.     

英国在西藏森巴战争中的态度剖析

1841~1842年,在英国对我国进行第一次鸦片战争期间,印度锡克王国辖下的一个封建土邦—查谟(森巴)裹胁拉达克、巴尔蒂斯坦等小邦悍然发动了对我国西藏的入侵。查谟(森巴)在近代印度史里充当了英国瓦解锡克王国的重要角色,因而成为英国殖民统治的重要工具,而森巴人对西藏阿里的入侵,也是在征得英国同意并表示"并无异议"的情况下进行的。就是说,森巴入侵西藏是"道格拉统治者对外扩张和英国对印、对华政策的必然结果"或者"亦即克什米尔的道格拉人在英国的唆使下,大举东犯,侵入我国阿里三围"。     

Understanding India's Regional Initiatives with East and Southeast Asia

In recent years, India has concluded several bilateral and regional agreements with countries in East and Southeast Asia. This paper discusses four motivating factors underlying these initiatives: (i) the recognition by other Asian countries of India's growing importance as an investment and export market, as a supplier of manpower, and as a counterbalance to China's growing regional dominance; (ii) India's recognition of Asia's growing importance in the world economy; (iii) India's desire to prevent its marginalisation and to create a sphere of political and economic influence within East and Southeast Asia; and (iv) geo-political considerations such as securing energy interests, and addressing transport and connectivity concerns and long-term political and sub-regional stability objectives. India's approach to these integration efforts has been largely defensive and its future integration initiatives are likely to be more geo-political and strategic in nature.     

Britain as a debtor: Indian sterling balances, 1940–53

The British war effort in the Second World War depended on US Lend‐Lease and the accumulation of sterling balances by other countries, including the Empire. By the end of the war outstanding balances were equivalent to 60 per cent of British net receipts under Lend‐Lease. Of the total sterling balances, about a third was accumulated by India. This article seeks to evaluate the costs incurred by India in the reduction of balances after the war. The accumulation of balances and their use to repatriate India's sterling debt is described. British efforts to convince India to accept a partial cancellation of the balances are analysed, singling out the crucial role of Keynes. The negotiations after independence are detailed, including releases, transfers to Pakistan, settlement of pensions, purchase of military stores, and gold sales. The possible contribution of British divestment to reduce outstanding balances is assessed. The Indian case is compared with those of other holders, such as Portugal, Brazil, Argentina, and Egypt. The links between the accumulation of sterling balances and inflation are considered. In the end there was a significant reduction in the purchasing power of sterling balances, but not for the reasons anticipated by London.     

The ecological basis of irrigation institutions: East and South Asia

The form and operation of canal irrigation institutions are strongly conditioned by a small set of ecological variables. The paper shows that contrasts and similarities in irrigation institutions between East Asia and South Asia can be related to differences and similarities in these variables. It also suggests that the tendency of social scientists and environmentalists to overlook ecological conditions can impair the usefulness of their policy suggestions on appropriate irrigation institutions.     

Trade, empire, and the fiscal context of imperial business during decolonization

Recent studies have shown convincingly that no 'neocolonialist' conspiracies were hatched to perpetuate British commercial dominance in the former colonies after independence, and that relations between individual firms and policy-makers were frequently troubled. In acknowledging the force of this general proposition, however, there is a risk of neglecting the still significant place of commercial considerations in state policy making. By relocating the relationship of trade and empire in the 1950s in an examination of a hitherto neglected dimension of British taxation policy, this article demonstrates that the Conservative government sought to assist British business with colonial interests at a time when these firms faced new uncertainties.     

Structure and Ownership of East German Enterprises

This paper investigates the process by which East German enterprises have been privatized and their resulting ownership and control structure. A corporate system with a very high level of concentration of ownership has been created. This is particularly closely associated with ownership and direct control by West German companies. The paper argues that this has allowed East German enterprises to gain access to finance, markets, and managerial skills which they might otherwise have been denied. The resulting "insider" system of corporate control will over time allow East German companies to participate in the control of their own and West German companies. The Treuhandanstalt has organized the privatization process to achieve certain industrial and social objectives. It has broken up the large multiplant enterprises to an extent that East German enterprises are now smaller than their West German counterparts. It has used informal liquidations rather than formal bankruptcies to be able to achieve its objectives. Privatizations have not involved the flotation of companies on the stock market. Instead, the Treuhand has arranged share and asset transfers on a scale which is in excess of merger activity commonly observed in the West. J. Japan. Int. Econ., Dec. 1995, 9(4), pp. 426–453. University College London, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin, and CEPR; Oxford University and CEPR     

East European aid to India

The aid-relationship is part of a wider economic relationship between India and the East European countries, in a far more integrated sense than is the case with some of India's other donors. The group has been a significant though not a dominant source of aid to India, the USSR being the most important member of the group. Easy generalizations about the terms of East European aid, in comparison to aid from other sources, are not possible. The same is true for India's experience in the actual utilization of aid from various sources. The main usefulness of the East European countries as a source of aid has lain in their willingness to give aid for particular public-sector projects and in improving India's bargaining powers vis-à-vis other donors.     

East Asian Export Competitiveness: New Measures and Policy Implications

This paper demonstrates the remarkable competitiveness of East Asian countries in world export markets for manufactures and develops some policy implications, both for developed and other developing economies. Using constant market share analysis, applied to data for exports from three East Asian countries–Korea, China and Indonesia–to markets in the industrially advanced economies (IAEs), it shows that East Asian countries have increased their share, not merely in IAE imports, but in total IAE market sales at the expense of exporters from other countries and of domestic IAE producers.     

Can East Asia rise again?

In recent times, the economies of East Asia have been confronted by two major economic recessions, the first caused by the East Asian financial crisis, and the second by the slump in the ‘new economy.’ The causes of these two recessions, their scope and their influences differ significantly and during these periods of economic downturn the economies affected have adopted various monetary policies aimed at reducing interest rates and tax rates, and pursuing the expansion of government expenditure. However, these policies have obviously not yet been as effective as expected.This paper sets out to determine those factors affecting the possibility of East Asia rising again from the recent economic slump, a slump which has stemmed from excessive investment in the electronics and information industries. The paper begins with an overview of the East Asian economy, with particular reference to the recent serious decline following the steady recovery from the East Asian financial crisis and a review of the measures taken to counter it. Proposals are then made with regard to a number of lessons to be learned from the recent slump.There are three major issues involved in the question of whether East Asia can rise again from the current economic slump. First of all, many of the economies of East Asia have tried their utmost to upgrade their industrial structures from labor- to technology-intensive, or towards a knowledge-based economy and, to some extent, have actually been quite successful in achieving their goals. Secondly, almost all of the East Asian economies have paid particular attention to educational development, with many families having sent their children to foreign countries to receive advanced education in the hope that when they return they can make a substantial contribution to the progress of their home economies—examples of this trend are provided by Taiwan and India. Thirdly, there are abundant natural resources in East Asia along with rich sources of manpower with a hard-working spirit; these two factors can create comparative advantages and strengthen the competitiveness of these economies.In view of the recent developments towards regionalism, it is imperative for the economies of East Asia to form an East Asian Community in the near future, and many of the economies in this region are currently endeavoring to realize this vision, despite many obstacles still facing East Asia which will ultimately need to be overcome.     

Sinews of trade and empire: the supply of commodity exports to the East India Company during the late eighteenth century

It has long been thought that the East India Company's export trade was of little importance to the domestic economy. This article challenges such a view by providing a detailed reconstruction of the supply systems through which goods were procured for shipment to Asia. As well as quantifying Company expenditure on commodities and identifying regional industries linked to the East India trade, the article demonstrates how manufactures and raw materials needed to be adapted to the special demands of Asian markets. It concludes that the Company's domestic economic influence was far more widely felt than has hitherto been acknowledged.     

华东7省市利用FDI业绩和潜力比较研究

采用联合国贸发会议（UNCTAD）提出的“业绩指数”和“潜力指数”评价方法,对华东地区7个省市利用外商直接投资（FDI）的业绩和潜力进行了定量比较分析,特别是通过对业绩指数和潜力指数的交叉分析,得到了更有价值和意义的政策性启示。最后,根据分析结论,提出了华东地区7省市利用FDI的政策建议。     

The relationship between china and Siberia/Russian Far East: Economic cooperation and security conflicts*

This paper analyzes the current relationship between China and Siberia/Russian Far East from the economic and political‐security perspectives. The relationship between China and Siberia/Russian Far East is that of cooperation and conflict. China gains natural resources and energy from Siberia/Russian Far East, while Siberia/Russian Far East secures consumer goods, food and labor to fill its shortage from China. The two regions are in an economically complementary relationship. However, they show differences in their interests in issues such as the Tuman River Development Project. If their economic cooperation could be called the “bright” side of their relationship, there exists the “dark” side of their relationship, which is the border dispute. The paper argues that as a way to reduce conflict and increase cooperation in Northeast Asia, a multilateral security/economic organization, tentatively called the “Organization for Security and Cooperation in Northeast Asia,” should soon be established.     

Food Price Policy in East Asia

The primary objective of this survey is to examine the extent to which the available empirical literature suggests that economies of East Asia are following the policy trend of earlier industrialising economies in gradually changing from taxing to assisting food producers in the course of their economic development. More specifically, the survey attempts (a) to summarise the trends in agricultural incentives in East Asia; (b) to examine briefly the literature on motivations for those policy trends; and (c) to mention some of the future trade and policy implications.