International and Area Studies Commons^™

Security Regime Or "Security Community"? Classifying Asean In The Spectrum Of Regional Security Organizations, Deniz Kocak

Asian Review

The ASEAN community comprises the ASEAN economic community, ASEAN social and cultural community, and ASEAN security community. Particularly the ASEAN security community is controversially debated among scholars. By focusing on key variables such as the states' sovereignty, the societal level and the military collaboration among ASEAN, the article assesses the level and limitations of ASEAN's intrastate cooperation and classifies ASEAN in the spectrum of regional security structures. It is argued here that ASEAN forms a security regime rather than a security community and that the prospects for a mature security community in the next decade are far from reality.

Contributors

Asian Review

No abstract provided.

Bonded Labor In India, Devin Finn

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Bonded labor, which is characterized by a long-term relationship between employer and employee, is usually solidified through a loan, and is embedded intricately in India’s socio-economic culture—a culture that is a product of class relations, a colonial history, and persistent poverty among many citizens. Also known as debt bondage, bonded labor is a specific form of forced labor in which compulsion into servitude is derived from debt. Categorized and examined in the scholarly literature as a type of forced labor, bonded labor entails constraints on the conditions and duration of work by an individual. Not all bonded labor is forced, …

A Growing Concern: Modern Slavery And Agricultural Production In Brazil And South Asia, Justin Campbell

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The modern use of slave labor in the production of agriculture takes many forms. In Brazil, the ability of powerful landowners to repress poor workers is an important element of large-scale agricultural production. In South Asia, cultural norms and traditions are used to exploit the most vulnerable communities. In both examples, inequity and poverty are implicit, and debt is a tool used to legitimize bondage.

The Role Of The Board And Its Interaction With The Successor's Human Capital In The Asian Family Enterprise, Soo-Hoon Lee, Phillip H. Phan, Toru Yoshikawa

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This study examined the human and social capital factors associated with higher post-succession firm performance in family enterprises in Singapore. We also investigated the moderating influence of the board of directors in terms of its service role as stewards of the enterprise. We found that a successor's industry experience and diversity of network ties were positively associated with firm performance and boards that focused their role as advisors to the successor enhanced post-succession firm performance.

Technology Strategy And China's Technology Capacity Building, Arnoud De Meyer

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

China has the potential to become a major source of innovation for the world. The scientific investment is in place and rapidly growing. But in order to reap the benefits of this investment its organisations will have to become better at managing innovation. One of the key elements of innovation management is the determination and implementation of a sound technology strategy. The purpose of this paper is to offer a framework and a detailed overview of what it entails to develop and implement a technology strategy. The paper emphasizes the alignment of the strategy with the organisational competencies and the …

Cost Structures In Defined Contribution Systems: The Case Of Singapore's Central Provident Fund, Benedict S. K. Koh, Olivia S. Mitchell, Joelle H. Y. Fong

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Retirement systems are increasingly asked to do an ever-better job of enhancing the performance of pension investments. The Singaporean Central Provident Fund permits pension system participants to keep their money in a government-run investment pool, or if they wish, they may select professionally managed unit trusts for their retirement accumulations. Opting for investment choice also exposes members to additional investment costs not charged by the government-managed account. This paper explores the charges levied by the private fund managers and we show that foreign ownership, active style of management and equity/balanced funds tend to be most expensive. We conclude with a …

The Building Of The Shenyang Jianzhu University 1998-2007: A Case Study Of The Role Of Professor Fuchang Zhang And His Communist Party Network, William D. Blizzard, Jr.

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine how the building of Shenyang Jianzhu University’s new campus was accomplished under the leadership of Professor Fuchang Zhang, Secretary General of the Chinese Communist Party for the university, using his Communist Party network. This study was conducted in the city of Shenyang, Liaoning Province, Peoples Republic of China, using interviews with Professor Zhang, his peers, government officials, and other university presidents. Archival data is also included. There were limitations in the study that included personal and professional friendships, student recruiting issues, as well as methodological limitations because all interviews had to be …

Balancing Competing Interests In Bankruptcy: Discharge By Certificate Of The Official Assignee In Singapore, S. Chandra Mohan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

After more than a hundred years, Singapore made major reforms to its bankruptcy laws in 1995. These changes attracted considerable public interest, with the Government taking pains to emphasise that the new law was designed to strike a balance between the interest of the debtor, the creditor and society. The greatest scrutiny of the provisions, to determine whether in law and in practice the competing interests of debtors and creditors could effectively be balanced, was in respect of the discharge provisions. In this article, the writer, who was then the Official Assignee, discusses how the novel remedy of discharge by …

Civil Liabilities For False Or Misleading Statements Made By Listed Companies To The Securities Markets In Singapore, Wai Yee Wan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article examines the scope and efficacy of the civil remedies available to investors against listed companies which have made false or misleading statements in the secondary securities market in Singapore, both at common law and the statutory compensation scheme under the Securities and Futures Act. It argues that there are a number of limitations faced by such investors in bringing claims founded in tort law against the listed companies. While the statutory compensation scheme attempts to improve the position of investors, there are a number of deficiencies in the scheme the most significant of which is the ceiling on …

The Asean Charter As "Legs To Go Places": Ideational Norms And Pragmatic Legalism In Community Building In Southeast Asia, Eugene K. B. Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The Charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been hailed as a legal instrument that would integrate the ten constituent members as a community and a regional organization. Ostensibly, the Charter has three strategic thrusts in support of the vision of the ASEAN Community. The first is to formalize ASEAN as an institution while streamlining its decision-making processes. Secondly, the Charter seeks to strengthen ASEAN institutions. Thirdly, it seeks to establish mechanisms to monitor compliance and settle disputes. The article considers the extent to which the Charter will help ASEAN achieve its aims. This is especially pertinent …

A Union Of Gender Equality And Pragmatic Patriarchy: International Marriages And Citizenship Laws In Singapore, Eugene K. B. Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

As a patriarchal society, government policies, societal norms and government regulations in Singapore mirror that normative ideal. Citizenship status and rights along gender lines, manifested in the legal recognition of children of international marriages, reflected this reality for much of Singapore's independence. However, the onslaught of globalization, the rise in international marriages, disconcerting declining birth rates, and an acceptance of 'foreign talent' have given the economic imperative and demographic impulse to grant citizenship (by descent) to a person born outside Singapore whose father or mother is a citizen of Singapore, by birth, registration or descent. Previously, such a person would …

Technological Change Management Strategies In Asian Small-Scale Businesses: Trends In Singapore, Thomas Menkhoff, Yue Wah Chay

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Based on survey data on the change management behavior of Chinese small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore, the paper explores how small entrepreneurs are coping with the city-state's turbulent business environment, processes of technological advancement and accelerated change. Differences between so-called opportunistic entrepreneurs and small business ventures are examined. Conceptually, the paper is informed by theories of change management, strategic choice, entrepreneurship and Chinese business. Special emphasis is put on the identification of demographic characteristics of "technological change masters" in Singapore's small business sector so as to gain an understanding of both the dynamism and relative passivity of …

Hong Kong's Money: The History, Logic And Operation Of The Currency Peg, Hwee Kwan Chow

Research Collection School Of Economics

No abstract provided.

Norming "Moderation" In An "Iconic Target": Public Policy And The Regulation Of Religious Anxieties In Singapore, Eugene K. B. Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The maintenance of a “moderate mainstream” Muslim community as a bulwark against the fraying of harmonious ethnic relations has become a key governance concern post-September 11. In light of the global concern—and often paranoia—with diasporic Islam, Islamic religious institutions and civil society have been portrayed in the popular media as hotbeds of radicalism, promoters of hatred, and recruiters for a “conflict of civilization” between the Muslim world and the modern world. Having declared itself a terrorist's “iconic target,” Singapore has taken a broad-based community approach in advancing inter-religious tolerance, including a subtle initiative to include the “Muslim civil society” in …

Japanese Corporate Governance: Structural Change And Financial Performance, Asli M. Colpan, Toru Yoshikawa, Takashi Hikino, Hiroaki Miyoshi

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper analyzes institutional and legal changes related to corporate governance and their impact on financial performance in Japan since the second half of the 1990s. We attempt to address two issues systematically: (1) how much the governance reforms of Japanese firms transformed the conventional system of alliance capitalism and managerial control; and (2) what economic outcomes those governance changes have yielded. As the Commercial Code and other legal and institutional frameworks were revised, Japanese firms experienced shifts in terms of stock ownership, corporate control and managerial organizations. Our empirical results show that the influence of new ownership composition and …

The Challenge Of Developing Across Borders: Singapore’S Gambit In Bangalore, India, Choong Tze Chua, Wilfred Pow Ngee How, Caroline Yeoh

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

No abstract provided.

Value Discount Of Business Groups Surrounding The Asian Financial Crisis: Evidence From Korean Chaebols, James Jinho Chang, Young Jun Cho, Won Kang, Hyun-Han Shin

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We examine the effect of business group membership on firm value in each pre-and postcrisis Korea. Consistent with prior studies, results show that group affiliated chaebol firms suffer value discount relative to non-chaebol firms in the precrisis period. However, we also find that chaebol firms experience an improvement in firm value relative to non-chaebol firms after the financial crisis. These findings imply that the value discount of business groups reported in prior studies is not an inevitable consequence of diversification, but can be alleviated or overcome by structural reforms in business practices or economic conditions.

The Effects Of Entrepreneurial Growth Orientation On Organizational Change And Firm Growth, Wee Liang Tan, Thomas Menkhoff, Yue Wah Chay

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Managing growth in an enterprise as it grows beyond the startup phase is a challenge for many entrepreneurs. One key element that can help or hinder growth is the entrepreneur. Entrepreneurial growth has been linked to micro variables (motivations and psychological attributes of the entrepreneur) and macro variables. However, few studies have examined the role of the growth aspirations of the entrepreneur on the necessary elements of organization change related to growth.

This paper reports a study employing a typology of entrepreneurs based on their growth aspirations using an established dichotomous scale devised by Smith to differentiate between what he …

Singapore's Exchange Rate Policy: Some Implementation Issues, Hwee Kwan Chow

Research Collection School Of Economics

Reflecting the small open nature of its economy, Singapore has adopted an exchange rate-centered monetary policy framework since 1981. The exchange rate regime in Singapore is an intermediate regime that follows the basket-band-crawl system. With this managed float system, the MAS has successfully deterred speculators from attacking the domestic currency for most of the past three decades. At the same time, the flexibility accorded by the managed float system aided Singapore in escaping from the 1997–1998 Asian crisis relatively unscathed. In order to advance our understanding of the hitherto successful operation of Singapore's exchange rate policy, we examine the following …

Geographic Decomposition Of Inequality In Health And Wealth: Evidence From Cambodia, Tomoki Fujii

Research Collection School Of Economics

The small-area estimation developed by Elbers, Lanjouw and Lanjouw (2002, 2003), in which a census and a survey are combined to produce the estimates of welfare measures for small geographic areas, has become a standard tool for poverty analysis in developing countries. The small-area estimates are typically plotted on a map, which are commonly called a poverty map. Poverty maps proved useful for policy analysis and formulation, and have become increasingly popular among policy-makers and researchers. In Cambodia, poverty maps have been used by various international organizations, ministries and non-governmental organizations for analyzing the poverty situations for their operation areas, …

A Qualitative Exploration Of First-Generation Asian Indian Women In Cross-Cultural Marriages, Monica Thiagarajan

Dissertations

The literature on Asian Indian women has not adequately addressed the experiences that first generation Asian Indian women face while going through the process of making the decision to marry cross-culturally. The purpose of this exploratory study was to identify, describe, and understand the struggles, challenges, and conflict experienced by Asian Indian women who decide to marry cross-culturally and to understand the consequences of the decision on the lives of these women and their interpersonal relationships.

Initial and follow-up phone interviews were conducted with eight Asian Indian women who had experienced cultural and familial challenges regarding their decision to marry …

Lawyers And Great Expectations In Pakistan, Shubhankar Dam

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

No abstract provided.

The Change In Corporate Transparency Of Korean Firms After The Asian Financial Crisis: An Analysis Using Analysts' Forecast Data, Jinho Chang, Young Jun Cho, Hyun-Han Shin

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Using analysts' forecast error and forecast dispersion of firms covered by the I/B/E/S database, this study examines the change in information asymmetry of Korean firms around the financial crisis of 1997. Results show that the information asymmetry of Korean firms is lower after the financial crisis than before, implying that corporate transparency did, in effect, improve with the change in business environment. In addition, this study finds that chaebol firms have higher information asymmetry than non-chaebol firm, and also that the corporate transparency improvement of chaebol firms is not higher than that of non-chaebol firms in the post-crisis period despite …

State-Led Transborder Industrialization In Asia: A Note On Singapore's Manufacturing Enclaves In Vietnam And China, Caroline Yeoh, Wilfred Pow Ngee How

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

State-led, market-driven interventions have been the hallmark of the Singapore `success storyÆ. This paper revisits SingaporeÆs state-enterprise strategy and takes a closer look at the portability of this strategy, in the framework of Regionalization21, a series of transborder industrialization experiments in Indonesia, Vietnam and China. These state-engineered projects, orchestrated to encapsulate economic space for Singapore-based firms to expand into the region, remain controversial. This strategic initiative is promulgated on the exportability of SingaporeÆs state credibility, systemic and operational efficiencies as well as technological competencies, to locations where these attributes are less distinct. We present evidence culled from surveys and interviews …

Technological Knowledge, Product Relatedness, And Parent Control: The Effect On Ijv Survival, Dean Xu, Jane W. Lu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This article examines the relationships among parent firm technological knowledge, parent-IJV product relatedness, parent control over the IJV, and IJV survival. Combining the knowledge-based perspective and institutional theory, we argue that parent control itself does not necessarily lead to higher IN survival; it contributes to IN survival when the parent firm has a high level of technological knowledge, and when the IJV is product-related to this parent. Results obtained from 1038 Japanese IJVs based in China indicate that both equity control and managerial control of a Japanese parent had a positive interaction effect, with the parent's technological knowledge, on IN …

Giving Voice To The Religious, Seow Hon Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The relevance of moral values endorsed by religious persons in public decision-making has often been debated. The issue comes to the fore again in relation to the debate on Section 377A of the Penal Code dealing with acts of gross indecency between males. With the flourishing of diverse viewpoints that is a natural consequence of a liberal democratic society, and with greater participation by an increasingly sophisticated citizenry online and in the media, particularly in a nation in which those without religious affiliations make up only 15 per cent of the population, the ground rules of public discourse must be …

Review Of "Rethinking Asia’S Economic Miracle: The Political Economy Of War, Prosperity And Crisis", Su-Mei Ooi

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

The article reviews the book Rethinking Asia’s Economic Miracle: The Political Economy of War, Prosperity and Crisis by Richard Stubbs.

Introduction To Li Ka Shing Library And Creation Of A Digital Library, Ruth Pagell

Research Collection Library

The presentation gave the history of the Li Ka Shing Library at Singapore Management University and the creation of the digital library.

Giving Voice To The Religious, Seow Hon Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The relevance of moral values endorsed by religious persons in public decision-making has often been debated. The issue comes to the fore again in relation to the debate on Section 377A of the Penal Code dealing with acts of gross indecency between males. With the flourishing of diverse viewpoints that is a natural consequence of a liberal democratic society, and with greater participation by an increasingly sophisticated citizenry online and in the media, particularly in a nation in which those without religious affiliations make up only 15 per cent of the population, the ground rules of public discourse must be …