Exploiting information technology: A case study of Singapore

While many developed nations and newly industrializing economies have major initiatives to promote information technology (IT), Singapore has perhaps had the most comprehensive and coordinated effort of all. Singapore's experience represents a good example of a very proactive government strategy. Elements of the government strategy include: skills development; state-of-the-art telecommunications; funding for small to medium-sized IT companies; an international approach to standardization, and special demonstration projects. Singapore's success with IT could be largely attributed to its compactness; however, one can also take the view that Singapore's highly sophisticated IT infrastracture is an early indication of the infrastructure requirements in developing countries.     

The Technology Ladder in Development: the Singapore case

This paper by Singapore's former Deputy Prime Minister explains Singapore's industrial development in which the electronics industry was a major propellant. The growth of industry from the late 1960s cleared the backlog of unemployment, created demand for technical staff which transformed the education system and facilitated technology transfer to Singaporean companies. It also proved a developmental force as it moved into neighbouring countries when labour shortage in Singapore became a constraint. The article traces the role of multinational companies and of technical education in Singapore's ascent of the technology ladder and, more briefly, that of Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan and Indonesia.     

Income tax reform for a globalized world: The case for a dual income tax

Countries that are industrialized, or becoming so, must adopt tax systems that are capable of raising considerable amounts of revenue efficiently, equitably and with administrative simplicity, while at the same time coping with the competitive features of a globalized world economy. A component of that tax system will be direct taxation of households alongside general sales and payroll taxation. This paper addresses the role that capital income taxes should play in the income tax system. Arguments for the preferential treatment of capital income are summarized, and a case is made for adopting a schedular approach in which capital and labor income are taxed according to separate rate structures. The particular case of the dual income tax system used in the Nordic countries is advocated whereby capital income is taxed at a low, flat rate and non-capital income is taxed progressively. It is argued that this system best combines the objectives of a good tax system in an internationally competitive environment.     

Urban tourism in the developing world: The case of Johannesburg

Urban tourism has attracted a growing literature in the context of cities in the developed world. In this article, the role of urban tourism is explored in the developing world setting of Johannesburg. As in the case of the developed world, in Johannesburg the promotion of urban tourism is linked to economic regeneration and urban economic development. Johannesburg's tourism economy exhibits distinct geographical and sectoral clustering, with business tourism being the most vibrant subsector for tourism development. New development initiatives by both provincial and local government are seeking to further enhance the role of tourism in Johannesburg's economic development.     

Manufacturing Sector Growth: A Case Study of Singapore

Abstract

This paper attempts to highlight some of the challenges faced by the Singaporean economy in general and the manufacturing sector in particular. Statistical analysis is used to demonstrate the role of human capital and foreign investment on manufacturing output for the period 1980–2004. The paper shows that a long-run relationship exists among the real manufacturing output per-unit of employment, real foreign investment per-unit of employment and real human capital per-unit of employment. The paper also provides time series forecasts for the growth rates of real output, productivity and investment in Singaporean manufacturing sector.     

The use of information technology by the port of Singapore authority

Singapore, the world's busiest seaport and the world's leading container port, has invested heavily in information technology (IT), including equipment, software, and training. Two major IT projects, CITOS (Computer Integrated Terminal Operations Systems) and CIMOS (Computer Integrated Marine Operations System) use command-and-control computers to direct every operation in the container terminal and in the port. Application of IT to the port operations in Singapore has shown real effective gains in cost reduction and better customer service.     

Evaluation of market efficiency for supplementary accounting disclosures: The case of pension assets and liabilities*

Abstract. This paper examines the extent to which stock prices fully reflected the off-balance-sheet item net over- (under-) funded pension liabilities during the four-year period 1979–82. The evidence suggests that the market was informationally inefficient and that it displayed a general underreaction relative to the net pension liability. Significant excess returns could have been earned by using the net pension liability as an instrument for portfolio selection. The empirical analysis fails to identify the existence of confounding variables such as beta risk, size, or industry effects. Résumé. Les auteurs examinent dans quelle mesure le cours des actions a reflété l'évolution du poste net hors bilan de l'excédent (ou du déficit) de provisionnement de la dette au titre des régimes de retraite, pendant la période de quatre ans écoulée entre 1979 et 1982. Les constatations des auteurs laissent supposer que le marché était inefficient sur le plan informationnel et qu'il a enregistré une réaction générale mitigée à la dette nette au titre des régimes de retraite. L'utilisation de la dette nette au titre des régimes de retraite comme critère de sélection de portefeuilles aurait permis d'obtenir des rendements excédentaires importants. L'analyse empirique ne parvient pas à déterminer l'existence de variables contradictoires telles que le risque Beta, la taille ou les effets du secteur.     

Growth and Productivity in Singapore Manufacturing Industries: 1975–1998

Consistently defined price and volume relatives are constructed for 18 manufacturing industries under the two-digit industry classifications officially adopted in 1996. Industry-specific output and materials price deflators for the period 1974–1998 are also constructed. Where the comparison is possible, we arrive at a markedly different conclusion from those in Tsao (1982, 1985 ) and Young (1994 ), and narrow the cause to a difference in the choice of output measure. The updated accounts show that the conventional index number measure of total factor productivity growth (TFPG) for Singapore manufacturing is 2.7% per annum for the period 1975–1998, and exhibits a cyclical pattern over time.     

Pollution in a neo-classical world: The classics rehabilitated?

Summary In this paper it has been examined under what conditions the increasing costs of pollution will put a limit to the growth of output in a growing economy. On the assumption of a certain type of aggregate production function, labour- and land-augmenting technical progress and pollution costs progressively increasing with the stock of capital, the analysis led to the conclusion that only under very restrictive conditions economic development will not peter out in secular stagnation or semistagnation. Only if the rate of land-augmenting technical progress is sufficiently high with respect to the growth rates of capital and effective labour pollution costs will not be a barrier to economic growth. We thank Mr. A. F. Gerritsma, Roden, for drawing the figures.     

新加坡工业化住宅发展对我国的借鉴和启示

文章首先明确了工业化住宅的定义,分析了工业化生产方式在生产效率、资源和能源节约以及环境保护等方面不可替代的优势,肯定了工业化住宅在我国的发展方向。分析了新加坡在发展建筑工业化初期所进行的三次工业尝试,得出结论：建筑工业化业不一定适合所有的工程项目,更适合于住宅建设,工业化住宅建设需求达到一定数量才能降低建筑成本,而工业化生产的重要环节就是要保证预制构件产品的生产和现场工作计划的协调。最后,文章提出新加坡建筑工业化发展历程对我国发展工业化住宅的借鉴之处：一是国家主导并制定合适的行业规范;二是对有预制经验外资承包商的经济支持;三是工业化建筑方法的本土化。     

The impact of affinity on world economic integration: The case of Japanese foreign direct investment

This paper finds that a country's affinity with a foreign country has a positive effect on foreign direct investment flows from it to that country, by analyzing Japanese foreign direct investment outflows during the period of 1995–2009. A rise in a country's affinity with a foreign country is thought to enhance its trust in that country and as a result lower the transaction costs of its economic activities with it, thereby helping to promote its foreign direct investment flows to the country. These findings imply that a rise in affinity among countries is likely to facilitate international economic integration.     

The world economic crisis and the children: A United States case study

This is a review of the United States experience with issues of child health and services, as they relate to changes in economic trends. No existing data systems are entirely adequate for reporting on the current health status of children, an important consideration for the monitoring of children's health in the United States is the focus on subgroups such as those who are disadvantaged for reasons of poverty, discrimination or geographic isolation. Ample evidence exists that children living in poverty suffer adverse health consequences and that the proportion of children living in poverty in the United States has increased steadily since 1975 and dramatically since 1981. Most measures of health status and health risks for children show steady improvements througout the 1970s. The exercise of public responsibility for financing and providing essential services and supports held constant or improved during this recession period, especially during the recession of 1974–1975. The health status and risks for children since 1981 appear to be adversely affected which must be attributed to a combination of circumstances that include serious recession, increased poverty rates for households with children and diminished health benefits and social support services. These findings suggest that when either local or widespread economic reversals are anticipated, health services and social supports for children need to be expanded rather than contracted.     

战略要冲的新加坡港

一、概况 在新加坡现代化建设的几十年间,新加坡港的立法、管理和经营权一直属于新加坡港口管理局(PSA)。 新加坡港是投资建造集装箱码头的第一个东南亚港口。在1972年第一艘集装箱船挂靠新加坡港之前,它只是一个散货中转港。 从20世纪70年代末到80年代初,新加坡港集装箱吞吐量迅速增长,年增长率高达30％～40％。促成这一大发展的主要原因包括: 1.港口地处战略要冲;     

Diamond model for the transfer of world science and technology centres

Since the end of the Middle Ages, Italy, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the United States, has successively become the world’s science and technology centre. The combination of societal factors, such as economic prosperity, ideological emancipation, education development, and government’s strong support, and timely appearance of scientific achievements, jointly lead to the formation, evolution and transfer of the centre whilst a diamond model composed of these five elements can be utilized to analyse of this process. The innovation of global science and technology has entered an unprecedented period featured by its intensity, providing a perfect "window of opportunity" for China to become a world science and technology centre. It is vital for china to emancipate the mind, improve the personnel system, create an innovation-friendly environment, speed up the establishment of a world education centre, enhance government’s support, solve problems occurring during development, preemptive frontier research and subversive technological innovation.     

South-south technology transfer: The case of China's Kpatawee rice project in Liberia

Despite the call for more technical cooperation between developing countries (TCDC) as spearheaded by the United Nations Development Program, the literature contains few examples of actual cases of TCDC. Kpatawee Farm was developed during 1978–1989 by the People's Republic of China as a state-owned rice seed plantation in rural Liberia. The article analyzes this experience of TCDC. It concludes that technical cooperation between developing countries may offer unexpected problems. In this case, operating Kpatawee as a state farm effectively transferred China's own difficulties with state-controlled, overmechanized, and uneconomic production. Privatizing Kpatawee is unlikely to improve its performance. Even China's small-scale irrigation techniques, when considered separately from the rainfed area of the state farm, appear at best only marginally competitive with imports, and offer limited promise as a viable farming system for rural Liberia.     

Higher education responsiveness through partnerships with industry: The case of a university of technology programme

ABSTRACT

In the context of mid-level skills shortages and the promotion of industry–education partnerships, this article examines the case of a longstanding partnership between the pulp and paper industry and a university of technology. The partnership resulted in the development of a focused qualification. We explore the experiences and understandings of academics and students in order to examine the benefits and pitfalls of such partnerships in addressing the needs of business, higher education and the students. The results show that while the university of technology has benefitted through work placements for their students and funding for industry-seconded lecturers, the partnership’s links are weakening. The programme is unattractive to high-achieving ‘matric’ graduates and is taken as a stepping-stone to other engineering fields. The article explores why this has developed. The curriculation of qualifications that are narrowly focused on one industry may limit articulation and portability of skills between different industries by graduates.