Fast but fragile: British restructuring for foreign direct investment in a global era

In the ‘globalization’ debates of the early 1990s, the Anglo-American practices of rapid restructuring to achieve ‘attractiveness’ to foreign direct investment tended to be presented as the universal panacea for dealing with the pressures of global change. However, the East Asian economic crises of the late 1990s have precipitated a widespread questioning, both of the export-oriented ‘Asian model’ of development, and of the possible contagion spreading to the western financial market and ‘FDI attracting’ western states. This article considers the ‘fast but fragile’ nature of Anglo-Saxon style restructuring in the light of the political-economic and social crises experienced by East Asian state-societies. The discussion focuses specifically on the British approach to restructuring for FDI, arguing that this reflects and embodies both a distinctive set of state-societal relations, and a distinctive understanding of what the process of globalization implies for these relations.     

Economic Governance,Accountability and Accounting Change in East Asia

The development of economic governance is now thought to require the remaking of respective accountabilities along with significant corresponding accounting change. On the basis of key discourses about a particular ‘critical’ period in East Asia's recent history, this article considers whether certain regional and individual country accountabilities were actually remade and whether the role of accounting changed accordingly. It finds that the preferred strategies governing economic recovery after the East Asian crisis were partial and incompletely realized. It concludes that ‘higher order’ governance has been unexpectedly problematic and requires more East Asian sourced research in future.     

FDI对东亚区域经济一体化的影响研究

文章通过使用1990～2008年度的数据,利用时间序列分析方法对东亚国家的FDI与区域内投资和贸易一体化的关系进行了详细的实证研究。研究结果表明:长期而言,在区域生产网络机制的作用下,FDI的流入将促进东亚区域内国家(地区)之间的贸易和投资流动,有利于推动东亚区域经济一体化。在当前东亚区域经济一体化进展缓慢的背景下,通过一系列激励措施吸引外资,是促进东亚区域经济一体化发展的不错选择。     

Emerging Asia: Decoupling or Recoupling

In this paper, we investigate the degree of real economic interdependence between emerging East Asian and major industrial countries to shed light on the heated debate over the ‘decoupling’ of emerging East Asia. We first document the evolution of macroeconomic interdependence for emerging East Asian economies through changing trade and financial linkages at both the regional and global levels. Then, by employing a panel vector autoregression (VAR) model, we estimate the degree of real economic interdependence before and after the 1997/98 Asian financial crisis. Empirical findings show that real economic interdependence increased significantly in the post‐crisis period, suggesting ‘recoupling’, rather than decoupling, in recent years. Output shocks from major industrial countries have a significant positive effect on emerging East Asian economies. More interestingly, the reverse is also true. Output shocks from emerging East Asia (and China) have a significant positive effect on output in major industrial countries. The result suggests that macroeconomic interdependence between emerging East Asia and industrial countries have become ‘bi‐directional’, defying the traditional notion of the ‘North–South relationship’ as one of ‘uni‐directional’ dependence.     

Working miracles? regional renewal and East Asian interlinkages

This contribution considers the arguments surrounding claims that a ‘New’ North East is arising as a particular result of an upsurgent regional economic miracle whose frontal East Asian interlinkages promise continuing business and organizational transformations ahead. Largely off-circuit for other economic miracle claims before, this ‘New’ North East benefits from both any supposed British economic miracle at large and that recently associated with East Asia generally. But while current British state-public narratives constantly reiterate miraculous transformational possibilities, others constitute their chances very differently. Using a concept-led social constructionalist perspective this contribution explores alternative interpretations of the North East economic trajectory which constitute any East Asian interlinkages several other ways. It finally acknowledges differing debates over what roles these interlinkages actually play while posing further questions about where else the North East regional economic trajectory might be headed instead.     

BOOK REVIEW

Using panel data methods to analyze data from 14 Latin American countries from 1978 to 2003, this paper empirically examines the links between foreign direct investment (FDI), local conditions, and economic growth. The results suggest that FDI plays an important role in contributing to economic growth. However, the effect of FDI on economic growth is dependent on host economy–based conditions. The empirical results from this study show that there is a positive interaction effect of FDI with technology gap and a negative interaction effect of FDI with the level of school attainment on economic growth. Furthermore, the empirical results from the FDI equation suggest that inflation, trade, school attainment, and telephone lines are the most determinant of location decisions for foreign investors. To explore the relationship between FDI and economic growth further, this paper examines Granger-causality between FDI and economic growth. Our empirical evidence shows that the direction of causality is from economic growth to FDI and not the reverse for Asian countries. Therefore, the causal link between FDI and economic growth is unidirectional. We also provide evidence that the link between FDI and economic growth is bidirectional for Latin American countries, which indicates that economic growth initially could attract more FDI, which, in turn, would then result in accelerated economic growth.     

东亚区域内贸易的发展趋势及面临的问题

东亚区域内贸易飞速发展是当今世界经济两大潮流——经济全球化和区域经济一体化趋势下的一个独特现象,已经引起学者们的广泛关注,纷纷对其作出大量研究。东亚区域内贸易未来发展面临的主要问题是东亚经济体间存在多种冲突;贸易摩擦问题不断;区域货币金融合作进展缓慢。     

从FDI看世界经济波动对我国经济增长的影响

随着我国对外开放的不断发展,外国直接投资已成为世界经济波动影响我国经济增长的一个重要经济变量。世界经济增长率下滑,我国外国直接投资流入增长率上升,推动我国经济高速增长;世界经济增长率上升,我国外国直接投资流入增长率下降,阻碍我国经济高速增长。本文对近20年来世界经济增长率与我国外国直接投资增长率以及国民生产总值增长率的相关性进行分析,充分验证了上述论点。     

FDI,Growth and the Asian Financial Crisis: The Experience of Selected Asian Countries

This paper studies the trends in foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into selected South‐East Asian and East Asian economies after the Asian crisis. Empirical evidence indicates that South‐East and East Asian economies are recovering from the Asian crisis with strong output growth driven largely by export growth. However, output growth in the post‐crisis period is also accompanied by rising unemployment rates, growing government deficits, and declining FDI inflows into the South‐East Asian region. The declining FDI inflows into South‐East Asia after the crisis is of concern, as our empirical results show that FDI is important for output growth in the region. Our results also suggest that there might have been structural changes in the regional economies that could have led to a downward shift in the output growth of Asian economies in the post‐crisis period. This raises the issue of the sustainability of their output growth in the post‐crisis period.     

技术引进模式与东亚经济的发展

通过技术引进实现技术进步和经济发展,是战后东亚经济增长创造奇迹的重要因素之一。在此过程中,东亚形成了三类特点各异的技术引进模式,并对不同国家和地区产生了不同的经济绩效。然而伴随着知识经济社会与信息时代的到来,东亚技术引进模式上的差异与积弊不仅影响到了各经济体自身的发展,也制约了整个东亚地区经济的可持续发展。因此,原有的东亚经济引进模式必须做出适时的调整。     

中国是否应该继续大量引进FDI——多重视角下FDI对中国经济的影响分析

随着中国经济的发展和改革开放的深入,在经济全球化的推动下,FDI源源不断地流入中国,文章着重分析了FDI流入中国的产业经济学基础,同时对FDI对中国经济的影响做了分析。中国在国际贸易中的位置和全球要素禀赋结构的变化决定了即便在几十年后仍然会有大量FDI流入中国。流入中国的FDI可分为港澳台外资企业和其他外资企业,因为这两种FDI的战略定位不同,对中国经济的影响也存在差异。“增量改革”使得中国区域间和产业间发展极不平衡,各产业和各地区之间的情况差异也很大,两种FDI对中国经济的影响也需要分情况研究。文章把中国分为东部中部西部三个区域进行了分区域分析,又把工业行业分成四组分别进行了分行业分析,得到了较为具体的分区域分行业分析结果,同时针对中国的具体情况给出了政策建议,并认为在引进FDI时应针对不同的FDI采取不同的策略,同时积极培育具有国际竞争力的本土企业才是保证中国经济长久稳定增长的关键。     

东亚经济一体化的贸易与投资效应

20世纪80年代以来,东亚区域(10+3)经济一体化取得长足的进展,经济区域化给东亚地区带来显著的经济绩效。文章根据区域经济一体化理论,深入地分析了东亚经济区域化带来的区域内贸易和投资效应,并通过计量模型对东亚地区的FDI与贸易的关系进行了检验,发现在东亚FDI与进口和出口都是互补关系,即FDI促进了东亚地区的贸易发展。     

FDI对安徽省国内投资挤出挤入效应研究

通过以安徽省为研究对象,采用实证分析的方法,较为全面而系统的研究了外商直接投资对该省国内投资所产生的影响.研究结果表明:对安徽省来说,FDI对国内投资产生了挤入效应,即FDI在安徽省对国内投资产生了积极的影响,其大小为3.51,有利地促进了安徽省地方经济的发展.在以后的经济发展过程中,安徽省应将招商引资做为地方经济发展的重要手段,采取各种措施吸收和利用外资特别是FDI,以有利于经济发展和繁荣.     

The internationalization of the RMB: a perspective vis a vis East Asian economic and financial integration

The People’s Republic of China has achieved remarkable progress in the internationalization of the RMB by introducing a number of concrete measures to boost the RMB’s status on the world stage since 2009. The ongoing RMB internationalization is being promoted under the background of deepening economic and financial integration in East Asia. In this article, we attempt to analyse RMB internationalization from the perspective of East Asian regional integration. We hypothesize that East Asian regional integration lays a broad foundation for China to push RMB internationalization forward. An internationalized RMB, we argue, will play more important roles in the process of East Asian regionalization. Thus, RMB regionalization could be an important and necessary step of internationalization. The Chinese authorities should not only push the RMB toward internationalization under China’s framework of domestic financial system reform, but they should also integrate RMB internationalization into the process of East Asian economic and financial integration. Therefore, a win–win strategy of RMB internationalization for both China and East Asian countries is needed.     

Openness to Foreign Direct Investment in Services: An International Comparative Analysis

This paper quantifies and analyses the extent of restrictions on inward foreign direct investment (FDI) in the service sector in developed and developing countries. Services account for an increasing share of global FDI. Recognition of the economic benefits of FDI clashes with nationalistic economic, political and national security concerns about foreign takeover of ‘strategic’ sectors, such as telecommunications, finance and transport. Consequently, almost all countries impose restrictions on FDI in services. Several different types of restrictions are considered: limitations on foreign ownership, screening or notification procedures, management restrictions and operational restrictions. These restrictions on FDI are computed at the industry level and then aggregated into a single measure for the service sector as a whole for 23 developed and 50 developing countries. Notwithstanding the worldwide trend towards liberalisation of restrictions, there remain substantial disparities between regions and individual countries in the severity of restrictions on inward FDI in services. The lowest restriction scores are in Europe and Latin America, whereas East Asia, South Asia and the Middle East have the highest levels of restrictions. The evolution over time of FDI restrictions is also presented for developed countries over the period 1981–2005, showing liberalisation in all countries, especially since the early 1990s, although to varying extents across countries. The severity of restrictions also differs considerably by sector, with electricity, telecommunications, transport and finance most restricted. The paper also finds a strong negative correlation of restrictiveness with inward stocks of FDI in services, suggesting that restrictions impede FDI.     

地方经济增长目标对外商直接投资的影响与机制研究

经济增长目标管理是中国宏观经济的重要现象,外商直接投资的注入为经济增长提供了重要的源泉。文章基于中国各地级市政府工作报告公布的年度经济增长目标,形成284个地级市2001~2016年面板数据,检验经济增长目标对吸引外资的影响。研究发现,经济增长目标的提高显著增大了实际利用外资数量,该发现是稳健的,在进行了变换度量变量、回归样本和考虑内生性的稳健性检验之后,结论依然成立。究其机制,在既定的经济增长目标的激励下,地方政府扩大土地出让面积,增大人均财政支出,以此吸引外商直接投资。文章还发现,地方经济增长目标的提高将导致外商直接投资显著增加的效应,仅在欠发达的中西部地区成立,在2012年之前出现。文章的发现为进一步优化政府目标管理实现经济高质量发展提供了有益的参考。     

The Political Economy of Trade Integration in South Asia: The Role of India

The South Asian regional trade integration process to date has generated only limited enthusiasm. It suffers from significant shortcomings, primarily on account of a very cautious approach adopted to achieve the ultimate objective of ‘free trade’ within the region. In turn, this has led to a fragmentation of the integration process, with some of the partners of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) bloc opting for a speedier and more liberal bilateral process with India. India’s engagement remains the critical feature as the single most important trading partner for almost all the other South Asian countries. However, the dynamics of Indian economic integration initiatives too have been changing rapidly, whereby it is looking increasingly to strengthen its economic relations with the wider Asian region. In this context, the question of India’s willingness to give leadership to carry the rest of South Asia as the bridge that connects the region to East Asia needs to be examined. The current evidence suggests that India has attempted to do so via a host of bilateral and regional arrangements, but that the divergences in strategic interests amongst SAARC countries has left Pakistan on the margins of an evolving scheme of overlapping trade initiatives in South Asia. Thus, while something approximating ‘free trade’ in South Asia appears to be taking shape, it is unlikely to take the form of an inclusive South Asian regional integration process envisaged by SAARC.     

Outward foreign investment and export structure: a case study of Taiwan's FDI in Malaysia

As Taiwan's outward FDI was primarily motivated by the relatively lower costs of land and labour in the host countries, one tends to expect that the structure of production and exports in Taiwan would shift toward higher capital and skill intensity. The structure of Taiwan's exports to the ASEAN-4 was concentrated more in higher human and physical capital intensities than Taiwan's total exports to the world. Moreover, Taiwan's exports to the ASEAN-4 were more concentrated on intermediate goods and machinery. A case study of Taiwan's outward FDI in Malaysia indicated that three of the five leading industries that accounted for a large shares of changes on FDI stocks and corresponding export commodities were the same. Pooling estimates also show that FDI has a small but positive impact on Taiwan's exports to the host country. The study further showed that Taiwan's FDI in Malaysia includes mixed tactics of ‘defensive’ and ‘aggressive’ strategies in various industries. In terms of the influence of the presence and economic role of ethnic Chinese on Taiwan's outward FDI, the study showed that the ‘Chinese connection’ has not been a significant factor in determining the industrial distribution of Taiwan's FDI in Malaysia.     

中国和东盟国家的经贸关系及前景展望

当前经济全球化的一个重要特征就是区域经济合作。眼下东盟国家认识到，东南亚自由贸易区作为次区域联盟只能依托东亚这个大的经济圈，才有更多的发展空间。建立中国一东盟自由贸易区的设想就是在这一大背景下提出的。本文通过对中国与东盟国家经贸关系的历史及发展基础的阐述，进一步分析了中国与东盟国家经贸关系的发展前景。     

外国直接投资与中国区域经济发展的实证分析

20世纪90年代以来FDI对中国经济发展影响越来越大。本文利用1991-2003年时间序列和横断面数据,就FDI对中国区域经济发展的短期效应和长期效应进行实证分析。结果表明在这段时间里FDI对中国区域经济非均衡发展有显著的影响,FDI促进中国区域经济发展,但是在区域间的非均衡分布又加剧了区域经济的非均衡发展。最后提出吸引更多的FDI到中西部地区、缩小区域经济差距、促进区域经济均衡发展的政策建议。