International and Area Studies Commons^™

Drowning In Rising Seas: Navigating Multiple Knowledge Systems And Responding To Climate Change In The Maldives, Rachel Hannah Spiegel

Pitzer Senior Theses

The threat of global climate change increasingly influences the actions of human society. As world leaders have negotiated adaptation strategies over the past couple of decades, a certain discourse has emerged that privileges Western conceptions of environmental degradation. I argue that this framing of climate change inhibits the successful implementation of adaptation strategies. This thesis focuses on a case study of the Maldives, an island nation deemed one of the most vulnerable locations to the impacts of rising sea levels. I apply a postcolonial theoretical framework to examine how differing knowledge systems can both complement and contradict one another. By …

How China Is Preparing For An Ai-Powered Future, Yujia He

Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce Faculty Publications

U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence (AI) research and development (R&D) may be challenged by China’s recent and centralized policy planning aimed at rapidly developing AI-related technologies. The Chinese government supports AI as a strategic area supported by high-level policies with ambitious and quantifiable targets, inter-ministry coordination, government funding for research and development, support for workforce development, and suggestions for international collaboration and expansion. Still, as a relative latecomer in the global AI race, China faces numerous challenges to implement its policy planning, including short-term skills gap and long-term institutional constraints.

Ownership And Identities Of The Largest Shareholders And Dividend Policy: Evidence From Vietnam, Trien Vinh Le, Trang Huyen Le

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This study investigates the relationship between the level of shareholdings and identities of the largest shareholders, and cash dividend policy. The study is conducted with a sample of 180 firms listed on Vietnam stock exchange markets from 2009 to 2013. The fixed effect model is employed to analyze the balanced panel data. The results show that the higher the level of holdings by the largest shareholders, the lower the dividend payout. Moreover, companies with the State and Foreign investors as the largest shareholders have higher dividend payout ratio than companies with local investors and managers as the largest shareholders. The …

China's Administrative Hierarchy: The Balance Of Power And Winners And Losers Within China's Levels Of Government, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The China that Chairman Mao Zedong ruled was primarily agrarian. Mao’s party, consistent with the ideas of Lenin on which it was partially based, pursued planned industrialization by promoting state-owned manufacturing. This endeavor involved all sectors of society in the push to catch up with the West – even to the point of imploring rural residents to smelt steel in backyard furnaces. These efforts showed some success – by 1978 manufacturing’s share of GDP had risen from the 28 percent it held in 1949. Yet even after three decades, manufacturing still represented less than half of GDP, while the country’s …

Betting On The Big: State-Brokered Land Transfers, Large-Scale Agricultural Producers, And Rural Policy Implementation, Weigang Gong, Qian Forrest Zhang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

As rural governments have become hollowed out and detached from rural society, can they still effectively implement policies that lack popular support? This article examines a county in Hunan Province, where local governments had strong incentives to implement a national policy of increasing double cropping in rice farming. Small farmers rejected double cropping as unprofitable. Local governments’ limited capacity prevented them from either reshaping small farmers’ economic calculus or coercing compliance. They strategically selected a policy tool acceptable to most small farmers (paid land transfers) and gave new private large-scale producers incentives to double crop by providing subsidies and access …

A Study Of The Determinants Influencing The Legislative Success Of A Government-Proposed Bill In Korea, Byung Jun Ahn

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

As there is a widespread perception of legislative gridlock and subsequent failure in addressing national problems in Korea, this study examines what factors influence the legislative success and legislative time of a government-proposed bill in Korea. This study uses government-proposed bills from 1988 to 2016 to estimate the effect of explanatory variables such as divided government, the year of presidential term (one to five year), the presidential approval rate, the unemployment rate, filibusters, jurisdictional area of a bill, and the ratio of members’ bills to government-proposed bills.

The results of regression analyses show that there is no evidence divided government …

Quality Measures Of Universities And The Determinants Of Tuition In South Korea, Young Hoon Ko

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

University tuition had increased in highly excess of the inflation rate from 1990s until 2008. Many people are wondering whether the quality of university education is proportional to the tuition level. Thus, this capstone project examines whether the quality measures in higher education can predict the tuition level.

After analyzing eight-year data of 146 private universities in South Korea, I get the result that university tuition is not a function of quality measures in terms of educational costs. However, tuition is a function of quality measures related with attractiveness, accomplishment, and satisfaction. Incoming student recruitment rate, and drop-out rate have …

Tapping The Potential Of Sports: Incentives In China’S Reformation Of The Sports Industry, Yu Fu

CMC Senior Theses

Since the 2010s, China’s sports industry has undergone comprehensive reforms. This paper attempts to understand this change of direction from the central state’s perspective. By examining the dynamics of the basketball and soccer markets, it discovers that while the deregulation of basketball is a result of persistent bottom-up effort from the private sector, the recentralization of soccer is a state-led policy change. Notwithstanding the different nature and routes between these reforms, in both sectors, the state’s aim is to restore and strengthen its legitimacy within the society. Amidst China’s economic stagnation, the regime hopes to identify sectors that can drive …

A Study On Change And Determinants Of South Koreans' Perceptions Of Unification, Seong Koo Ham

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

South Koreans’ interest in and aspirations for unification have decreased recently. This decrease of desires for unification is one of the obstacles to achieve unification. This study analyzes the change of South Koreans’ perceptions of unification and examines various factors that affect those perceptions toward unification. I use unification perceptions survey data from 2007 to 2014 collected by the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies Seoul National University.

The dependent variables of this study are perceptions of the necessity of unification and the possibility of unification. Independent variables are classified into four types. They are expected benefit factors, the political …

The Effects Of Land Use Deregulations In The Capitol Region On Gross Regional Domestic Product In South Korea, Youngchul Kim

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

South Korea has implemented strong land use regulations controlling the growth of the capitol region (Seoul, and around areas) in order to encourage balanced regional development between the capitol area and the non-capitol area. However, there are ongoing debates about the relationship between the regulatory policies and the balanced regional development.

The purpose of this study is to examine the extent of the effect that the land use deregulation in the capitol region has on growth of both regions. To address this question, I use a difference-in-differences model to empirically analyze how the land use deregulation in the capitol region …

The Impact Of Intellectual Property On Provincial Unemployment Rates In South Korea, Soon Ho Shin

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Intellectual property is drawing attention as an important policy tool to lower the unemployment rate in low-growth economies. The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) provides services that facilitate companies to effectively create intellectual property by operating local intellectual property support centers in connection with local governments. In this context, this research examine how the differences of intellectual property registration affect provincial unemployment rates by analyzing 10 years (2006-2015) of panel data with a fixed-effects regression model. According to my estimation results, intellectual property registrations have a statistically significant impact on provincial unemployment rates in South Korea. Since the reduction of …

The Question Of Remilitarization: Is Japan's Pacifist Nature In Danger Of Reform, Shanisha Coram

Scripps Senior Theses

Though Article 9 has not been revised since it was implemented in 1947, the past two decades have seen an increase in Japanese military capability due to the government’s loose interpretation of Article 9 and its limitations to allow for Japanese involvement in collective security operations internationally. As a result, a number of Japanese political scholars and newspapers have projected the possibility of not only Japanese constitutional revision but also the re-militarization of Japan as well. Interested in finding out whether or not this projection has any likelihood of success in the future, I have posed the following question: Why …

Why Did China Do This? An Analysis On China's New Gasoline "Price Floor" Policy, Youhan Ding

Scripps Senior Theses

Why did China choose certain policy over others that would achieve similar impact? Because China has a significant presence in the modern international community, it is difficult yet critical to understand the policy implications of the Chinese government under its unique political and socioeconomic context. This thesis shows the impact of a specific “price floor” policy China chose to employ in its oil and gasoline market, and identifies the factors concerning the Chinese regime that it took into consideration in the decision making process, through analysing data and official statements released by the government. After different parties affected by this …

The Making Of A Successful Analytics Master Degree Program: Experiences And Lessons Drawn For A Young And Small Asian University, Michelle L. F. Cheong

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Singapore Management University’s School of Information Systems is a young school within a young and small university in Asia. Being young and small, establishing a successful analytics master degree program required extensive landscape research, assessment of its own strengths and weaknesses, having a committed team, and having a clear vision to meet the ever-changing needs of the industry. The Master of IT in Business (Analytics) program, established since 2011, has grown from an annual intake of 16 to 128 students in six years. This article attempts to describe the design process, challenges faced, decisions made, and the key actions taken, …

The Obama Pivot To Asia: An Analysis Of The Fundamentals, Christopher Willis

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Obama Administration’s Pivot to Asia policy was a grand shift in focus for U.S. foreign policy and sought to lay the foundation of U.S. policy in the region for the future. This paper derives three fundamental assumptions that the Pivot policy was based upon, from the articulations of the main architects of the Pivot Policy: former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former National Security Advisor Tom Donilon. These assumptions are as follows, pivoting to the Asia-Pacific will be beneficial to the U.S., engagement with China is central to the Pivot policy and the policy is not an effort …

No-Place, New Places: Death And Its Rituals In Urban Asia, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In many Asian cities, particularly those that confront increasing land scarcity, the conversion from burial to cremation has been encouraged by state agencies in the last several decades. From Hong Kong to Seoul to Singapore, planning agencies have sought to reduce the use of space for the dead, in order to release land for the use of the living. More secular guiding principles regarding efficient land use in these cities had originally come up against the symbolic values invested in burial spaces, resulting in conflicts between different value systems. In more recent years, however, the shift to cremation and columbaria …

Uncertainty, Threat, And International Security: Implications For Southeast Asia, Zachary C. Shirkey, Ivan Savic

Publications and Research

The rise of China is changing the strategic landscape globally and regionally. How states respond to potential threats posed by this new power arrangement will be crucial to international relations for the coming decades. This book builds on existing realist and rationalist concepts of balancing, bandwagoning, commitment problems, and asymmetric information to craft explanations about how states respond when faced with potential threats. Specifically, the book explores the role different types of uncertainty play in potential balancing situations. Particular focus is given to the nature of the rising state’s actions, the balance of forces, and the value of delay. These …

Gender, Everyday Mobility, And Mass Transit In Urban Asia, Anru Lee

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

A Cultural Comparison Of The Facial Inference Process, Janine Swiney

All Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to compare emotion and personality trait attributions to facial expressions between American and Asian Indian samples. Data were collected using Amazon.com’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Participants in this study were asked to infer the emotions and personality traits shown in three facial expressions (scowling, frowning, and smiling) of young white females and males in six photographs. Each picture was randomly presented for 10 seconds followed by four randomized questions about the individual in the picture. The first question asked participants to identify the emotion shown from a list of six emotions (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, …

The Political Economy Of The Automobile Industry Development In China, Muyuan Niu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper analyses the political economy of developing the modern Chinese automobile industry. By using qualitative research method, especially case study, and developmental rent management analysis framework, the author analyzed the development in three different time periods since the Chinese economic reform in 1978. Case studies of learning period, developing period and new Chinese owned enterprises after joining WTO presented different policies and rent management strategies arranged by the state to industrialize and develop the modern Chinese automobile industry. Although there are failures involved in the arrangement, China finally industrialized and developed its modern automobile industry and became the world's …

Making Policy On The Front Page: How The National Media Shape Indian Foreign Policy Toward Pakistan, Sehr Taneja

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis explains how national media shape Indian foreign policy toward Pakistan. I use empirical research to explore the contribution of national media to the formulation of policy during the 1999 Kargil War and 2001 Agra Summit between India and Pakistan. I created a database of news articles in the leading national English newspapers—The Times of India and Hindustan Times and then coded and analyzed them. I analyze the media’s role by identifying trends in media strategies such as framing, agenda setting, and manufacturing consent. In addition, I analyze government documents and parliamentary debates to gather information on the policy …

Property Tourism And The Facilitation Of Investment -Migration Mobility In Asia, Koh Sin Yee

Asian Review

This paper examines the ways through which real estate developers and their agents facilitate the investment-migration mobility of middle-class investor-migrants in Asia. Drawing from ongoing research conducted in Brunei, Singapore and Iskandar Malaysia, this paper argues that the property marketing industry can be conceptualised as a transnational mobility industry. Th is is because this intermediary industry (1) exposes potential investor-migrants to the idea of transnational investment-migration; and (2) educates and facilitates the investment-migration of its clients and their capital, especially through the use of subtle marketing strategies such as social activities and exploratory property tours – what I call “property …

Japanese Fdi To Thailand: Mobility And Harmony, Saikaew Thipakorn

Asian Review

Japan has been the top investor in Thailand since the end of WWII. In 1972, following violent protests against Japanese investment, the Japanese government established the Japan Foundation as the main agency to take care of cultural diplomacy. Though under the supervision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Japanese business community financially contributed to its establishment from the beginning. In addition, Japanese business in Th ailand continuously cooperated with the government in its cultural diplomatic activities. Th eir daily operation created an atmosphere for human exchange which led to understanding between peoples of different cultures. Japanese investment promoted the …

Encountering The New "Other": Domestic Tourism In Thailand, Jelka Günther

Asian Review

In Thailand, one of the world’s leading tourist destinations, Thais are no longer merely “hosts” to foreign tourists but also to their compatriots who have become tourists themselves. The rising significance of domestic tourism reveals the need to critically rethink notions of the familiar and the strange in tourism studies. Based on ethnographic fi eldwork in Northeastern Thailand, I argue that Othering is not limited to transnational host-guest-interactions. In the small town I studied domestic tourist encounters were similarly embedded in power relations, namely in the dominant discourses of urban-rural relations in contemporary Thailand. Nostalgic feelings have opened up the …

Literature In Transmigration: The Rama Story In Southeast Asia, Frederick B. Goss

Asian Review

The story of Rama, known as Ramayana in the Indian subcontinent where it originated, has migrated and spread to nearly every culture and society in Asia. In each place the story has been introduced, it has been adopted, adapted and absorbed into the local culture. Given the universal themes in the tale, the basic outline of the story has shown a remarkable flexibility to be able to sustain change and adaption, both in interpretation and interpolation. This article examines and compares the presence of the Rama story in various cultures and societies of Southeast Asia, showing how the tradition has …

The Dragon’S Flight To The Tropics: China’S Involvement In The Caribbean, Kellie O'Boyle

Honors College Theses

In 2008, the United States experienced an economic crisis that ultimately caused it to take a step back from its involvement in the Caribbean, in particular. This vacuum left by the United States was swiftly filled by China, which shifted the balance of power in the region and provided China a strategic foothold. This event allowed China to expand its influence, as well as challenge US interests through the use of soft power such as trade and investments in infrastructure. While this symbiotic relationship benefits both parties, there is usually a trade inequality in China’s favor. China’s traditional use of …

Rosenberg Institute For East Asian Studies At Suffolk University Annual Report For 2016-2017, Rosenberg Institute

Rosenberg Institute Annual Reports

These reports summarize the activities of the Rosenberg Institute during the academic year, including information related to public programming, visiting scholars, cooperation with the Asian Studies program at Suffolk College of Arts & Sciences, promotion of Suffolk's Asia-related activities, community outreach, and funding. Most reports also contain photographs of scholars, staff, and events.

The Fall Of The Communist Party Of Thailand From The Chinese Perspective, Feng Cui

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The Communist movement in Thailand was part of the international communist movement. So Communism in Thailand was introduced from outside and also influenced by the outside world. The history of Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) was part of Cold War. In fact, the rise of the CPT and China's help were inseparably intertwined. Thai communists could not develop so fast without the help of China after the 1960s. However, the CPT finally failed in the 1980s due to its wrong strategy of development, internal divisions and struggles, the government's counterinsurgency, the loss of support from China, among other factors. There …

A New Multilateral Electricity Trading Model For Asean, Kevin Mark Lee

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The ASEAN Power Grid (APG) was initiated in 1997 as a means to achieve energy security in Southeast Asia in a sustainable manner. Two decades on, the APG project faces significant challenges to the development of both physical and institutional infrastructure. Many of these cannot be easily addressed due to the socio-political realities of the region. The ASEAN electricity exchange initiative (AEE), a proposal by the ASEAN Energy Market Initiative, may prove to be a more feasible approach for regional power sector integration, as it does not require complete domestic electricity market unbundling or privatization. This thesis analyzes regional electricity …

Spelling Errors In Thai Made By Chinese And Lao Students Speaking Thai As A Foreign Language, Peng Hou

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

When learning a foreign language, it is important to learn how to accurately spell as it is crucial for communication. To accurately spell in the Thai language is challenging for both native and foreign learners of Thai. However, there are few studies that address the spelling errors made by foreign learners of Thai. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze the patterns and causes of spelling errors made by Chinese and Lao students speaking Thai as a foreign language. In order to gather data for this analysis, thirty Chinese students and thirty Lao students took part in a …