Technology transfer in East Asia and its implications for regional cooperation∗

The importance of technology in economic development is indisputable. A large part of the developmental process in East Asian countries has been greatly accelerated by the transfer of technology from developed countries. This paper, based on detailed data obtained from selected samples of about 100 companies in Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia, examines several key determinants of the process of acquisition, assimilation and internalization of imported technology in business enterprises. Drawing on the findings, this paper also suggests several implications for regional cooperation in enhancing the process of technology transfer in East Asia.     

Financing investment in East Asia: Regional or global savings?

This paper investigates the extent to which domestic investment in East Asian countries is financed by domestic, (East Asian) regional and global savings in order to infer the relative importance of regional vs. global capital markets in East Asia. Panel regression results show that regional saving in East Asia plays a much more important role than global saving in financing investment in the region. The results suggest that global capital flows, despite its huge volume in East Asia, does not contribute to proper investment financing. The results also show that Japanese saving has significant effects on regional investment but Chinese saving does not.     

Regional Trade Agreements in East Asia: Will They Be Sustainable?*

By assessing the sustainability of regional trade agreements (RTAs) for East Asia, we quantitatively evaluate the likely impact of proposed East Asian RTA strategies on the East Asian economies and the world economy with respect to consumption, production, volume of trade and terms of trade effects by applying a multi‐country and multi‐sector computable general equilibrium model. These strategies include: (i) the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA: a being‐left‐alone strategy); (ii) an ASEAN Hub RTA (a hub‐and‐spoke type of overlapping RTA strategy); (iii) the AFTA versus a China–Japan–Korea RTA (a duplicating or competing RTA strategy); and (iv) an ASEAN+3 RTA (an expansionary RTA strategy). We find that an expansionary ASEAN+3 RTA could be a sustainable policy option because the members’ gains would be significantly positive, with more equitably distributed gains between members than when using other strategies. The effect on world welfare would also be positive and the negative effect on nonmembers would not be very strong. More interestingly, if the East Asian countries cooperate with Pacific Basin countries to form an APEC‐level RTA, such as a free trade area of the Asia‐Pacific, the extension of the regional trade bloc might be considered a more desirable policy option than the proposed East Asian RTAs for East Asian economies, even though countries excluded from the free trade area of the Asia Pacific are worse off.     

Use of Tractors in South Sulawesi: A Case Study Approach∗

Mathematical programming models of six farm-households in South Sulawesi were developed to investigate sample farmers' choices between tractors and draught cattle for the preparation of rice land. Selected aspects of the research are summarised here. Previous work on the impact of tractor use on crop yields and labour supply are first outlined. The study area, kabupaten Luwu, is then described. The basic structure of the programming models is presented, followed by a discussion of the most significant results of the modelling exercise. Implications regarding the importance of farmers' beliefs about the yield effects of tractor use are then discussed.

     

Property Tax Reform in Indonesia: Applying A Collection-Led Implementation Strategy∗

As part of its comprehensive 1984 tax reform, the government of Indonesia undertook a radical overhaul of the property tax system. The reform was carried out in two stages. The first entailed a major revision of the legal structure during which seven land-related taxes were replaced with a single Land and Building Tax in 1986. The second stage involved a major restructuring of the tax administration and its procedures. In addition to reorganising the tax department, the government adopted a collection-led implementation strategy for its reform activities and introduced a number of innovative procedures for property tax collection and enforcement, property information collection and management, and property valuation and assessment. This paper provides an analysis of that reform effort.

     

Toward A Financial Architecture in East Asia:A Proposed Roadmapand Chinas Perspective

I. IntroductionThe painfulness of the financial crisis in 1997/1998 and the reflection afterwards triggeredmuch consideration on the need of a close financial cooperation in the region. There aresome common thoughts shared by the countries in the region, such as: (1) financial crisisin the region has a strong contagious effect; (2) regional economies have been integratedrapidly through trade and investment, despite the diversity of the degree of economicdevelopment and maturity of financial ma…     

Rice Marketing in Indonesia: Methodology and Results of A Research Study∗

This paper summarises the methodology, results and lessons of a research program undertaken between 1989 and 1991 on the private rice marketing system in Indonesia. A method of linked interviews, starting from farmers, gave results in the two main areas of seasonal volume flows and competition in rice marketing channels. Sample survey results were used to interpret seasonality in the aggregate rice market It is concluded that price stabilisation remains a valid policy objective in Indonesia, but that targeted interventions could substantially reduce the cost of achieving this goal.

     

Public works programme in South Africa: Coming to terms with reality∗

This paper discusses the merits and demerits of public works programmes in general as well as in the specific context of South Africa. Insofar as the latter is concerned the paper recommends basic guidelines that may be regarded as prerequisites for the implementation of such a programme in this country. With regard to the proposed guidelines, the South African Government's 1985 unemployment relief package is examined critically.

In conclusion, the paper favours the introduction of a well‐conceived and adequately scaled programme of public works as a powerful means of combating unemployment and alleviating widespread poverty in the country.     

The building up of new imbalances in China: the dilemma with ‘rebalancing’

This paper offers a theoretical basis for the concept of rebalancing and applies it to China, where it is currently a topical issue. Rebalancing here means the correction of economic and social imbalances built up during industrialization. This correction is accompanied by a structural transformation towards a more inward- and consumption-driven growth path, associated with growth slowdown. Attempts to mitigate this growth slowdown by either retarding this structural reform process or by using expansionary stimulus programmes as done over the past decade in China create new imbalances that have to be corrected (rebalanced) again. Managing these multiple rebalancing tasks together is a tremendous undertaking, as this paper shows.     

Crop farming system constraints in Transkei: Implications for research and extension∗

The paper discusses the results of a farming systems research (FSR) study focusing on problem identification, diagnosing constraints and making recommendations on institutional and technological changes aimed at improving the impact of research and extension on crop farming systems in Transkei.

The study showed that the large gap between farmer yields and best potential yields is caused by both biological constraints in the sense of non‐application or poor application of technology, and by socio‐economic and institutional constraints which prevent farmers from using the recommended technology.

Knowledge of crops was found to be the most important variable determining adoption of maize practices, which emphasizes the importance of research and extension in providing appropriate knowledge and technology. Recommendations are made for institutional reform and for advancing current technology by improving draught power and tillage methods, evaluating inter‐cropping systems, integrating crop and livestock production, and developing technology for improving plant population and weed control.     

Structural change in the economy and energy needs: A South African perspective∗

The paper reviews economic structural changes and the resultant effect on the demand for energy. Seen globally, structural change is determined primarily by:

• shifts In the sectoral contributions

• technological development

• increase in the urban population

• redistribution of income.

The South African situation is analysed with respect to the following factors:

• changes In sectoral energy use as a result of the development of the economy away from an agrarian economy towards a more industrialised economy

• urbanisation and the changing energy consumption patterns especially with regard to increased food and water, housing, domestic energy, transport and waste disposal needs

• redistribution of income and projected future demand for energy.

The importance of structural change in planning for future energy needs is emphasised.     

Efficiency and Distribution :The Case of Tractors in Sawah Land Preparation in West Java,Indonesia∗

This paper uses farm management and socioeconomic data collected in the Small Farm Mechanization Prolect conducted by the International Rice Research Institute. Lo? Banos, the Philippines, during 1979 and 1980 to analye costs and benefits of tractor use in West Java. The main conclusion is that tractor land preparation is the optimum technique at market prices It is also optimum at efficiency prices provrded that tractor land preparation increaser yield and each tractor is used to its full capacity. If tractors do not increase yield. manual land preparation is the optimum technique at efficiency pnces When the analysis is conducted using distnbutional weights. animal land preparation is. in general. the optimum technique.

     

Early globalizations: The integration of Asia in the world economy, 1800–1938

This paper contributes to the debate on globalization and the great divergence with a comprehensive analysis of the integration of Asia in the world market from 1800 to the eve of World War II. We examine the patterns of convergence in prices for a wide range of commodities between Europe and the main Asian countries (India, Indonesia, Japan and China) and we compare them with convergence between Europe and the East Coast of the United States, hitherto the yardstick for the 19th century. Most price convergence occurred before 1870, mainly as a consequence of the abolition of the European trading monopolies with Asia, and, to a lesser extent, the repeal of duties on Atlantic trade. After 1870, price differentials continued to decline thanks to falling freights and to better communication after the lay-out of telegraph cables. There was only little disintegration in the inter-war years.     

Exchange-rate policy in East Asia after the fall: how much have things changed?

This paper evaluates the changes in the exchange-rate policies of East Asian economies in the aftermath of the currency crisis and the process in which the exchange-market stability was re-established. The empirical analysis evaluates the changing roles of the yen and the US dollar in the currency baskets, the shifts in the volatility of the underlying macroeconomic fundamentals and their implications on exchange-rate management, the exchange-market perception of credibility and risk of the postcrisis exchange-rate regimes, and the process of reversion to fundamental values after the massive currency depreciation.The analysis shows that after the abandonment of the quasi-dollar peg, the yen had gained a greater weight in the currency baskets and the greater flexibility in which the exchange rates are being managed serve to accommodate the greater volatility in the macroeconomic fundamentals. The improvement in the macroeconomic conditions and the greater credibility that has been acquired by the regional monetary authorities had allowed the exchange market to stabilize and enabled the exchange rates to revert back to their fundamental values.     

Cattle sales in KwaZulu: A systems based approach to an improved marketing strategy∗

A recognition of the central role of cattle in African pastoral society, and the means by which benefits derived from cattle ownership can be accommodated under changing social and economic circumstances, should be built into appropriate livestock development strategies.

The contention put forward in this paper is that it is only through the adoption of a process—orientated, systems‐based approach to the evaluation of subsistence pastoralism, in which causes rather than effects become the key issues, that it is possible to direct administrators and planners in the formulation of appropriate marketing policies.

Past experience in KwaZulu has shown that, traditionally, cattle owners have been unresponsive and conservative in the face of marketing initiatives. This paper argues that it is not economic development that is resisted so much as the ability of rural communities to adapt to economic change. Strategies based on the perspectives and requirements of subsistence herders are advocated if current low levels of commercial offtake are to be raised in the long run.     

Hard data or bleeding heart data: The value of qualitative data in research in a rural village in Matatiele District∗

Qualitative data derived from participant observation are often overlooked by development experts anxious to complete their projects speedily. But the surveys they use cannot reveal the details of poor people's lives.

This article presents the case of in‐depth research data about life in areas where development planners often intervene. It demonstrates some ways whereby poor Transkeian villagers deal with the exigencies of dependence on migrant labour, focusing on movements between domestic units and response to the availability of remittances.

It argues that developers should recognise the efficacy of such social practices as developed by the poor themselves. These practices may be usefully applied to effect development so long as this forms part of package aiming to fulfil the vital Southern African need for wealth redistribution. The development practioner's proper role is identified as one demanding direct engagement with the poor, acting as facilitators for their understanding of the structures which constrain them and intending to achieve their own carefully conceived aspirations.     

Human capital accumulation in emerging Asia, 1970–2030

Emerging Asian economies have made strong progress in improving educational capital in the past 40 years. High educational attainment, especially at the secondary level, has significantly improved emerging Asia's educational achievement. Regressions show that better parental education and income, lower income inequality, declining fertility, and higher public educational expenditures account for higher educational enrollment. But Asia's average years of schooling are forecast to increase to 7.6 years by 2030, from 7.0, significantly slower than the increase of 4.1 years from 1970 to 2010. That would put emerging Asia's educational capital in 2030 at only the 1970 level of the advanced countries, or still 3.5 years behind the level of advanced countries in 2010. For sustained human development, Asian economies must invest in improving educational quality and raising enrollment rates at the secondary and tertiary levels.     

Land tenure in Mhala: Official wisdom ‘locked up’ in tradition and people ‘locked up’ in development∗

One of the main objectives of development in Gazankulu is the economic utilisation of the area's resources. A dominant perception underlying development in the region is that land as a resource is ‘removed from productive use’ because it is ‘locked up’ in the traditional tenure system.

However, what is officially taken to be traditional patterns of land use, actually has very little to do with tradition. Current patterns of land use in rural areas of Gazankulu are directly related to the history of the creation and the development of the national entity. In Mhala it is indeed not a question of ‘land locked up in tradition’ as official wisdom holds, but of people ‘locked up’ in development.     

Agrarian Transformation? Rice Production in A Javanese Village∗

The paper examines the impact of the new rice technologies in Klaten, Central Java, a region considered the cradle of the Green Revolution in Indonesia. It is argued that the changes which have occurred since the 1960s should be viewed not as a dramatic transformation of a formerly static rural economy but rather as part of a continuous process of socio-economic change which has occurred over many decades.