International and Area Studies Commons^™

A Review Of The 2023/24 International Moots Season, Siyuan Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This is the 10th annual review1 of Singapore’s performance in international moot court competitions.2 In the highest-tier or Grand Slam competitions,3 SMU won the International Criminal Court world championship for the 5th time (increasing its lead as the tournament record holder for the most world championships), won the Lachs Space Moot world championship in Milan after winning the regional title in Tokyo, and reached the Price world championship final in Oxford for a record 7th time. Other notable results include SMU winning the Refugee and Migration Moot in its debut, winning the Fletcher Insolvency Moot for a record 3rd time, …

Chinatown, Part Five? ‘Capitalism With Asian Values’ In Vancouver: Commentary On Elvin Wyly’S ‘Regarding The Pain Of (Indigenous) Others, Justin Kh Tse

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

In this commentary on Elvin Wyly’s ‘Regarding the Pain of (Indigenous) Others’, I comment on the absent ontology of Asian subjectivities in urban studies of neoliberal global cities. Wyly’s account of neoliberal Vancouver hellscapes frames racial formations and narratives of dispossession as formed by capital. Asian subjectivities, I argue in this commentary, are also flattened by narratives of capital into purely economic subjects, but what Wyly’s reading of Vancouver opens up, I also hope to show, is the possibility of tracing the complex life stories of Asian capitalist characters in Vancouver’s neoliberal hellscape. In this way, Wyly avoids the trap …

Construction And Empirical Assessment Of An Employee Health Management Index System For Chinese Enterprises, Ming Dong

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Purpose: Employee health management is critical for enhancing corporate productivity, and scientific evaluation is core to effective health management practices. This study aims to construct an evaluation index system for assessing the employee health management effectiveness tailored to China’s national conditions (Hereinafter called “evaluation system”), and to empirically assess its differentiation, accuracy, and universality.

Methodology: (1) Grounded in literature and policy analysis, the study adopts the PDCA theory as a foundational framework and employs a modified Delphi method to finalize the evaluation system's structure. Indicator weights were determined using the Analytic Hierarchy Process, and a standard scale was created for …

How Does Highly Educated Chinese Woman’S Endorsement Of Traditional Family Values Impact Her Well-Being?, Qiong Zhou

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

With global advancements in gender equality and open-minded influence, Chinese women now have more opportunities to pursue higher education or independent work. However, there is a question of whether Chinese traditional family value still impacts Chinese women’s lives, thus affecting women's individual well-being.

Based on the results of a questionnaire survey and regression analysis of 301 highly educated Chinese women, we find that the endorsement of traditional family values by these women can indirectly affect their individual well-being through their engagement in job and family; that is, their achievements and satisfactions of job, family and self will be impacted by …

A Rose Or A Unicorn? Asean’S Mission Under The Spotlight, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In a commentary, SMU President Professor Lily Kong explores the question posed by political scientist Donald Emmerson in 1995 - is Southeast Asia more like a vibrant rose or an elusive unicorn? Against the backdrop of the 44th ASEAN Summit, with the theme "Connectivity and Resilience", Prof Kong highlights ASEAN's efforts in fostering regional connectivity and resilience through economic growth, cultural exchanges, and digital advancements. Despite substantial economic integration and digital connectivity, she points out that ASEAN faces challenges in creating a cohesive regional identity. The piece argues for deeper cultural engagement and a focus on shared values to build …

Towards An Extended Resource Theory Of Marital Power: Parental Education And Household Decision-Making In Rural China, Cheng Cheng, Yu Xie

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Existing literature on the resource theory of marital power has focused on the relative resources of spouses and overlooked the resource contributions of spouses’ extended families. We propose an extended resource theory that considers how the comparative resources of a couple’s natal families are directly associated with marital power, net of the comparative resources of the couple. Using data from the China Panel Family Studies, we examine how the relative education of a couple’s respective parents affects the wife’s decision-making power, net of the relative education of the couple. Results suggest that the higher the wife’s parental education relative to …

China And Global Trade Order Post Ukraine War: From Value Chains To Values Chains, Henry S. Gao

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

China has long been hailed as the biggest success story in economic development through integration into global value chains, especially since its accession to the WTO 20 years ago. However, it is much less well-known how China refitted the global value chain narrative to influence economic analysis and trade governance. At the same time, the value chains analysis also backfired when the U.S. tried to cut China out of its supply chains and pushed for decoupling with China, while China itself started to abuse its role in value chains for political gains. The process was further accelerated by the Ukraine …

Behavioral Factors Associated With Patients' Non-Attendance: A Retrospective Study In An Outpatient Specialty Clinic At A Women's And Children's Hospital In Singapore, Yue Tang, Houyuan Jiang, Jingui Xie, Zhichao Zheng, Chui Yee Loke, Bee Keow Goh

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Background: This study aimed to identify behavioral factors that affect patient attendance in outpatient clinics, especially those related to rescheduling. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 20,386 appointment records for 6,252 patients in an outpatient specialty clinic at a women’s and children’s hospital in Singapore over 34 months (January 2012–October 2014). Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the influence of independent variables on appointment no-shows. Results: The average no-show rate of the study population was 28.87%. Patient historical behaviors were significantly associated with appointment attendance. In particular, a larger number of previous visits, more historical no-shows, more historical …

Research On The Influence Mechanism Of Value Co-Creation On Enterprise Performance: Empirical Evidence From China's Motorsport Culture Industry, Xiaodong Weng

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

We are in an era of digital economy and enterprise change management. The application of digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, Cloud Computing, and Big Data (collectively known as ABCD technologies) has increased the competition in the value chain and value network between customers and enterprises. Users can now intervene in product design, transaction, and feedback before, during, and after the process, breaking through the limitations of time and space. They leverage their low-cost advantage to draw attention, shifting from a traditional, unidirectional supply logic to a value co-creation logic. This influences both enterprises and customers to produce …

The Importance Of Sampling Frequency For Estimates Of Well-Being Dynamics, Stephen James Hoskins, David W. Johnston, Johannes S. Kunz, Michael A. Shields, Kevin E. Staub

ROSA Journal Articles and Publications

Using a high-frequency panel survey, we examine the sensitivity of estimated self-reported well-being (SWB) dynamics to using monthly, quarterly, and yearly data. This is an important issue if SWB is to be used to evaluate policy. Results from autoregressive models that account for individual-level heterogeneity indicate that the estimated persistence using yearly data is near zero. However, estimated persistence from monthly and quarterly data is substantial. We estimate that persistence to shocks typically lasts around six months and has a net present value of 75–80 per cent of the contemporaneous effect. Estimates are similar for different domains of SWB.

The Social Evaluation Of Accents And Perceived Social Influence In Singapore: A Comparison Of American And Singaporean English Accents, Matthew H. S. Ng, Chi-Ying Cheng

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Accents are an important differentiator between groups which influence social perception and interaction, especially in a diverse country like Singapore. Social identity theory suggests that individuals would exhibit favoritism towards their own accents. However, the accent prestige theory demonstrates instances whereby foreign accents are perceived as more prestigious than one's own accent and are associated with more positive characteristics. This paper sought to explore which of these two theories is more prevalent in Singapore by comparing the perceptions of American English accents and local Singaporean English accents along the competence-warmth paradigm of the Stereotype Content Model. Further, the current research …

Do Pedestrian Safety Improvements Affect Older Adults' Health And Social Outcomes Equitably? A Quasi Experiment In Singapore, Shin Bin Tan, William Tov, Paulin Tay Straughan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods are believed to encourage greater social participation, community engagement, and sense of social inclusion, which are important to older individuals at higher risk of being socially isolated. However, most studies on neighborhood walkability, social participation and social inclusion are cross-sectional, making it difficult to robustly establish causal links. Much research on neighborhood walkability is also based in North America and Europe, leaving a knowledge gap on the impact of walkability within other geographic contexts. Furthermore, there is a lack of empirical evidence about whether benefits from traffic calming schemes are distributed equitably. To reduce these empirical gaps, our …

Territorialising The Cloud Or Clouding The Territory? Volumetric Vulnerabilities And The Militarised Conjunctures Of Singapore's Smart City-State, Orlando Woods, Tim Bunnell, Lily Kong

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This article explores how the volumetric characteristics of cloud computing can create new expressions of territoriality, which in turn can reveal new axes of vulnerability and threat. Whilst recent work in political geography has sought to “locate” the cloud through analyses of data centre geographies and data-driven processes of smart urbanism, we look beyond the material plane and consider the amorphous territorialities of voluminous data instead. As much as these data are acted on by the legal-regulatory mechanics of the state in a bid to territorialise them, so too do these data volumes serve to cloud, and thus obscure, territory. …

Commentary: No One Wants An Asian Nato, Except Japan’S New Pm Ishiba, Benjamin Ho, William A. Callahan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In a joint commentary, SMU Professor of Political Science William A Callahan discussed the reluctance of Southeast Asian nations, excluding Japan under its new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, to embrace a collective defense system aimed at countering China. They explained why Mr Ishiba's proposal for an Asian North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) would benefit Japan, how it works in Europe, and why it is unlikely to gain strong support in Southeast Asia.

Diverse Pathways To Permanent Childlessness In Singapore: A Latent Class Analysis, Yanwen Wang, Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan, Christine Ho

Research Collection School Of Economics

The proportions of adults reaching midlife without having children have been rising rapidly across the globe, particularly in Asia. However, little is known about the pathways to permanent childlessness within the region’s childless population. This study utilized latent class analysis (LCA) to typologize pathways to childlessness based on dynamic characteristics of multiple life domains (i.e., partnership, education, and occupation) among 489 childless Singaporeans aged 50 and above from a 2022 nationwide survey. Additionally, we utilized multinomial logistic regressions to examine the sociodemographic correlates of pathway profiles and Shannon’s entropy index to assess the heterogeneity in pathways to childlessness among successive …

Cultural Tightness In Organizations: Investigating The Impact Of Formal And Informal Cultural Tightness On Employee Creativity, Roy Y. J. Chua, Na Zhao, Meng Han

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper delineates cultural tightness into formal versus informal aspects to depict the strength of norms and the extent of sanctions emanating from both formal and informal norms. Organizations with high formal cultural tightness regulate behaviors through explicit written norms and official sanctions, whereas those with high informal cultural tightness regulate behaviors through uncodified norms, collective beliefs, and informal social sanctions. Through a field study across 14 diverse companies in two countries (Malaysia and the Philippines) and two experiments involving participants from the United States, we found that perceived informal cultural tightness consistently exerts a more significant impact on stifling …

To Whom Thou Art Bound: Bicultural Identity Integration Moderates The Influence Of Conspiracy Beliefs On Chinese Americans’ Ingroup Bias, Edison Tan, Chi-Ying Cheng, Angela K. Y. Leung, Sheila X. R. Wee

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Endorsing conspiracy beliefs about an outgroup typically fosters ingroup bias. However, the response of bicultural individuals to conspiracy theories about one of their ingroups remains understudied. We posited that bicultural individuals’ display of ingroup bias in such situations hinges on their levels of bicultural identity integration (BII). Two studies involving Chinese American participants revealed that conspiracy beliefs about China were associated with lower Chinese ingroup bias among those with higher BII levels. In Study 1, high BII Chinese Americans who endorsed conspiracy theories about China reported less favorable perceptions of the Chinese ingroup, but not among low BII Chinese Americans. …

The Sacred Dimensions Of The Bri's Infrastructural Commons, Orlando Woods, David A. Palmer

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Whilst the idea of infrastructure has animated scholarship for the past twenty years at least, there remains a need for more expansive understandings of what infrastructure is, and what it can be. The speed, scale and material disruptiveness with which many of the infrastructural megaprojects that constitute China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) have been developed both underpin and validate this need. Whilst the effects of the BRI are both manifold and diffuse, all of them expose situations of infrastructural complexity. Rather than considering the BRI simply as the imposition of new material infrastructures on a landscape, we posit the …

Financing Just Energy Transitions In Southeast Asia: Application Of The Just Transition Transaction To Indonesia, Vietnam, And Philippines, Abhinav Jindal, Gireesh Shrimali, Bharat Gangwani, Rajiv B. Lall

Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics

This paper investigates the applicability of the Just Transition Transaction (JTT), initially developed as a financial mechanism for South Africa's energy transition, to Southeast Asian (SEA) countries, including Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, which heavily rely on coal. Utilizing South Africa as a reference case study, we deconstruct the JTT and develop a novel framework of necessary and conducive features for evaluating its suitability for supporting a just energy transition in SEA. Our findings suggest that the JTT is well-suited for Indonesia and Vietnam but not as well suited for the Philippines. Recommendations for specific research avenues in estimating baselines …

Falsehoods, Foreign Interference, And Compelled Speech In Singapore, Kenny Chng

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Online misinformation endangers the infrastructure of fact essential to public discourse and presents an even greater threat where it is being utilised as a weapon by hostile state actors. In recognition of these dangers, Singapore has implemented legal measures to combat online misinformation, enacting in quick succession the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) and the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act (FICA). These statutes open up novel frontiers of development for Singapore's free speech jurisprudence. Indeed, these statutes confer upon government authorities the power to compel the authors of certain material to display notices stating that the material contains …

Is This Home Truly? Reflections On Singapore As It Turns 59, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In a commentary, SMU President Professor Lily Kong shared her reflections on Singapore as it turns 59. She discussed Singapore's nation-building process and offered her views on how the country can strengthen its social compact to make Singapore a home for Singaporeans.

How Can Malaysian Courts Consistently Perform Meaningful Constitutional Rights Review? Lessons From Past Cases And The Way Forward, Benjamin Joshua Ong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In the past, Malaysian courts performing constitutional rights review played a merely clerical role, applying a test that was trivially easy for legislation to pass. Then a more rigorous proportionality test took root. However, the Federal Court in the 2020 case of Letitia Bosman whittled the test down again, and the courts once more played a minimal role in checking state action. The reasons for this cannot be explained merely by diversity in judicial philosophy or political contextual factors. Rather, the near-demise of proportionality (and, with it, robust constitutional review) was made possible by a lack of a clear sense …

Value Capture And Affordable Housing: Insights From Singapore, Sock Yong Phang

Research Collection School Of Economics

To explain the role of value capture in Singapore’s progress, I will first provide some background information on Singapore and its housing sector. I will then take you on a journey back to the 1960s to show how we established our present institutional arrangements for land and housing. I will next describe how housing policies have evolved over the past six decades in response to changing contexts. Finally, I will conclude with the fiscal implications of successful value capture. Where relevant, I will indicate how Singapore’s policies align with George’s views.

Digital Payments And Consumption: Evidence From The 2016 Demonetization In India, Sumit Agarwal, Pulak Ghosh, Jing Li, Tianyue Ruan

Research Collection School Of Economics

We study how consumer spending responds to digital payments, using the differential switch to digital payments across consumers induced by the sudden 2016 Indian Demonetization for identification. Usage of digital payments rose by 3.38 percentage points and monthly spending increased by 3% for an additional 10 percentage points in prior cash dependence. Spending remained elevated even when cash availability recovered. Robustness analyses show that the spending response is not driven by income shocks, credit supply, price changes, or consumers' moving to the formal market. We provide evidence that digital payments increase consumer spending due to subdued salience.

Ten Years As Boundary Object: The Search For Identity And Belonging As 'Hongkongers', John Lowe, Darlene Machell Espena, George Wong

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This article examines the complex process of symbolic boundary-making of ‘Hongkonger’ cultural identities through the lens of the controversial 2015 film Ten Years, which is a celebrated omnibus production comprised of five short segments that picture a dystopic end to Hong Kong’s cherished way of life in the year 2025. The article is premised on an interdisciplinary approach engaging with cultural studies and film studies. On one hand, it explores how Ten Years functioned as a boundary object, a vast terrain within which cultural identities of what it means to be a Hongkonger are constructed, banished, imagined, and performed under …

Decoding Gpt Mania In Chinese Stock Market, Yan Ma, Nan Hu, Shuyang Jia

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This study investigates the impact of investor attention on stock market reactions to ChatGPT using dialogues on the Chinese interactive investor platforms (IIPs). We measure investor attention by the number of investors’ questions toward ChatGPT on the IIPs and categorize the firms’ answers as Investing, Speculative, and Absent. The research reveals positive and statistically significant market reactions surrounding the initial questions that occur before firm responses. Positive abnormal returns are also observed around the initial answer dates, with Investing firms evoking the highest market response, followed by Speculative firms, and Absent firms exhibiting the lowest reactions. Our results suggest that …

Post-Productivism And Rural Revitalization In China: Drivers And Outcomes, Meiling Wu, Qian Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

We propose that post-productivism offers a useful analytical framework for understanding the multi-scalar and diverse changes that are taking place in China’s rural revitalization. As a theoretical framework that emerged from the study of rural changes in the Global North, the applicability of post-productivism in the Global South has been contested. This paper offers the first comprehensive analysis of the emergence of post-productivism in rural China and uses post-productivism as a framework to conceptualize a wide range of changes in China’s rural revitalization. We conceptually clarify the driving forces that give rise to post-productivism and the outcomes these drivers produce. …

The Partnership Question As A Scale Question: Extending The Theorization Of Entrepreneurial Urbanism In China, Yong Zhang

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

In this article I examine recent theoretical and empirical exchanges around partnership-based urban governance between North Atlantic and Chinese academics and policymakers. I argue that the latest wave of de jure private–public partnerships in urban China reflects an ongoing process of governance rescaling beyond conventional entrepreneurial urbanism theory. I propose an analytical framework that foregrounds successive experimental partnerships as tensions between institutional continuity and change arising from rescaling. In this study I examine variegated actually existing partnerships in Jiyuan, China, to identify generalizable ideal types of partnership-driven governance rescaling. I conclude by suggesting to enhance the theorization of entrepreneurial urbanism …

Catalysing Growth: State Of Asean University Innovation And Entrepreneurship: Report 2024, Abdullah Khurshid, Dexter Ye Kai Tan, Gabrielle Lay Khim Tan

Research Collection Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Over the past few years, Southeast Asia has captured global attention with its remarkable economic growth, driven by strong tailwinds. This has led to the expansion of its middle-class consumer base that is actively participating in while benefitting from the region’s rapidly expanding digital economy. In such a climate, there is tremendous potential for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E) to be a critical economic driver. Homegrown startups in different Southeast Asian countries have introduced technology-first solutions that have scaled across the region, pushing businesses to innovate rapidly. Moreover, startups promote inclusive growth by leveraging scalable internet platforms and novel technologies to …

Driving Success With Data, Aaron Tan, Singapore Management University

Asian Management Insights

Aaron Tan leveraged his computer science education with venture capital experience to build a unicorn.