Here is the list of academic articles recorded from Database in June 2014:
Campbell, Juliet. 2014. "INDONESIA 30 YEARS ON: THE RSAA TOUR, SEPTEMBER 2013." Asian Affairs 45 (2):300-25.
doi: 10.1080/03068374.2014.907008.
Abstract
An account of the 2013 tour to Indonesia which encompassed Jakarta, Central and Eastern Java, Sulawesi and Torajaland, as well as Bali. Beyond visits to world famous tourist sites like Borobodur, Prambanan and the island of Bali, the members of the tour party tried to come to an understanding of the diversity of modern Indonesia, its politics, its economic prospects and the role of Islam. The party had a number of meetings with prominent actors in modern Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim state. Economic prospects are promising and the Presidential elections in July 2014 and their result will give an indication of the country's likely trajectory.
Depositario, Dinah Pura T., Rodolfo M. Nayga, Yu Yvette Zhang, and Robert Dominick E. Mariano. 2014. "Revisiting Cash Endowment and House Money Effects in an Experimental Auction of a Novel Agri-food Product in the Philippines." Asian Economic Journal 28 (2):201-15.
doi: 10.1111/asej.12033.
Abstract
This study explores the effect of varying cash endowments on bidding behavior in auction experiments conducted in a developing country. Our results suggest that cash endowment levels can have different effects on bidding behavior under second price auction and random nth price auction. In contrast to past studies conducted in developed countries, we generally do not see the presence of positive house money effect in our results. If behavior varies significantly as the cash endowment is varied, then care must be taken when designing auction experiments or when comparing results to other experimental results and theoretical predictions.
Dixon, Chris. 2014. "Redeeming the Warrior: Myth-making and Australia's Vietnam Veterans." Australian Journal of Politics & History 60 (2):214-28.
doi: 10.1111/ajph.12055.
Abstract
In late 1960s a powerful myth developed in the United States that Vietnam veterans were spat on when they returned home. A parallel myth survives in Australia with widespread claims that paint or even blood was routinely thrown at returning soldiers. In a 1966 incident, red paint was thrown on Lieutenant Colonel Alex V. Preece as he led the First Battalion through Sydney. The Australian myth remains central to perceptions of Australian Vietnam veterans as despised outsiders and feeds into contemporary demands that Australians support their soldiers and the wars in which they are involved. This paper explores connections between cultural politics in the Unites States and Australia, particularly as they pertain to the contentious legacies of the 1960s.
FUJII, SEIJI. 2014. "Which Level of Government Do the ASEAN People Think that Environmental Issues Should Be Decided By? An Analysis of the ASEAN-Barometer Survey of 2009." Japanese Journal of Political Science 15 (Special Issue 02):203-30.
doi: doi:10.1017/S1468109914000048.
Abstract
This paper explores preferences and attitudes related to fiscal federalism held by the ASEAN people in the context of environmental issues. Fiscal federalism would predict that local environmental problems will be handled more efficiently by local governments, while national environmental problems will be solved more efficiently by the national government. But it is not obvious whether citizens consider in the same way as economics theory predicts. To unveil this point, I address questions of whether those who have higher consciousness toward environmental issues at the neighbor or local level prefer local governments to decide environment policies, whether those who have more consciousness about environmental issues at the national level prefer the national government to decide the policies, and whether those who have higher consciousness toward environmental problems at global level prefer higher levels government such as the United Nations to decide the policies. By fitting multi-level probit regressions to cross-national survey data collected in ASEAN countries, I found the results supporting the hypotheses. The country analyses show the results which support the hypotheses in Brunei, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
HELLMANN, OLLI. 2014. "Electoral Reform in Asia: Institutional Engineering against ‘Money Politics’." Japanese Journal of Political Science 15 (Special Issue 02):275-98.
doi: doi:10.1017/S1468109914000073.
Abstract
This article argues that major cases of electoral reform across democracies in Asia in recent years can be explained as institutional measures aimed at curbing corruption and ‘money politics’. More specifically, Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand rid themselves of their extreme candidate-centered electoral systems as a means to encourage politicians to invest in ‘clean’ collective party labels, while Indonesia discarded its extremely party-centered electoral system to increase the accountability of individual politicians. The article thus disagrees with scholars who argue that recent electoral reform should be understood as part of a wider project by Asian governments to engineer a majoritarian form of democracy. Instead, the comparative analysis shows that democracies across Asia, in line with global trends in institutional design, have been ‘normalizing’ their electoral systems, moving them closer towards the ideal of electoral ‘efficiency’.
INOGUCHI, TAKASHI. 2014. "Introduction to Special Issue: Quality of Life and Environmentalism in ASEAN." Japanese Journal of Political Science 15 (Special Issue 02):159-61.
doi: doi:10.1017/S1468109914000012.
Abstract
The Vientiane Action Program, issued in 2013, declared that the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) will enhance integration, focusing on connectivity of member states by 2015. One of the policy tasks included in the Vientiane Action program, under the heading of Society, includes health and the environment. This special issue examines how ASEAN citizens evaluate their quality of life and environmentalism in order to help ASEAN achieve its goal of improving health and the environment by 2015 and beyond.
La Porta, Alphonse F. 2014. "THE INDONESIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: NOW A REAL HORSE RACE?" Asia Pacific Bulletin No. 266. http://www.eastwestcenter.org/download/7127/34611/apb_266.pdf.
Abstract
The startling about-face of Indonesia’s second largest political party, Golkar, which is also the legacy political movement of deposed President Suharto, to bolt from a coalition with the front-runner Joko Widodo, or “Jokowi,” to team up with the controversial retired general Prabowo Subianto, raises the possibility that the forthcoming July 9 presidential election will be more than a public crowning of the populist Jokowi.
Myint, Tun. 2014. "Beyond a ‘Two-Level’ Game: Local Livelihood Issues and International Development Institutions in the Mekong River Basin." TRaNS: Trans-Regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia 2 (02):223-45.
doi: doi:10.1017/trn.2014.5.
Abstract
This article investigates whether and how local livelihood issues are linked to international development policy and practices in the Mekong River Basin under a two-level game approach. Based on field research and interviews with villagers, and national and international policy makers associated with two hydroelectric dam projects, four key livelihood issues that are central to local communities, but are not currently considered important in international development policy and practices, are described. Fundamental to these issues is the problem that existing frameworks of international institutions do not consider local communities and citizens as legitimate participants at the international level. It is argued that the linkages between local- and international-layer institutions are not established by considering only policy issues and interests of nation-states; the focus of existing frameworks of international institutions. A major challenge for international development planning in the Mekong River Basin is establishing direct linkages between local livelihood issues and international development institutions.
Newberry, Jan. 2014. "Women Against Children: Early Childhood Education and the Domestic Community in Post-Suharto Indonesia." TRaNS: Trans-Regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia 2 (02):271-91.
doi: doi:10.1017/trn.2014.7.
Abstract
In response to global attention to the young child, early childhood programs have become a national and provincial focus in Indonesia since 2000. The roll out of public programs for low income communities has made use of a longstanding mode of delivery: the volunteered, community-based labour of women. Although susceptible to analysis as a mode of governmentality, an older scholarship on the domestic community, its role in social reproduction, and its shaping by global accumulation offers significant insights as to why this method for delivering social welfare persists, even as it dovetails with more recent work on care and networks of global care labour. Based on ethnographic work in Yogyakarta, this examination of changes in international development regimes considers the contradictory effects for the empowerment of women as against children. Ultimately, the care labour required for early childhood programming, which has been taken to follow from the naturalised link between women's socially appropriate care work and childrearing, provokes instead questions about the awkward relationship between children and women. That is to say, recent developmental regimes seem to promote the empowerment of children as against women. By foregrounding social reproduction, this awkward relationship becomes a productive way to consider the limits of governmentality and to reconsider the domestic community as critical to understand globalisation, neoliberalisation, and the reorganisation of development and social welfare in the early twenty-first century.
Pisani, Elizabeth. 2014. "Indonesia in Pieces." Foreign Affairs 93 (4):142-52.
Abstract
The article looks at politics and government in Indonesia, as of 2014. It cites the country's April 2014 parliamentary election, saying that no party reached the threshold to govern without forming a coalition. The author says that the incumbent coalition government under Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been relatively ineffective. She outlines the country's process of democratization and presents a case for the view that devolution policies of recent years have rendered the country's political system less able to form effective governments at the national level. Topics include the growth in the number of political subdivisions, patronage and campaign finance, economic conditions, and Jakarta, Indonesia, Governor Joko Widodo of the Democratic Party of Struggle.
Pongkwan, Sawasdipakdi. 2014. "The Politics of Numbers: Controversy Surrounding the Thai Rice-pledging Scheme." SAIS Review of International Affairs 34 (1):45-58. http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/sais_review/v034/34.1.sawasdipakdi.html.
Abstract
Thailand’s rice-pledging scheme has been widely criticized for its unsustainability. While the government argues that the program is beneficial for rice farmers, the opposition points out that the program has resulted in significant losses. Over the past few years, data have been used as a tool to support arguments from both the government and the opposition. However, the reliability of data utilized by both sides is questionable. This paper discusses problems surrounding data collection and usage, both of which have contributed to the controversy surrounding the policy.
Sakai, Minako. 2014. "Establishing Social Justice Through Financial Inclusivity: Islamic Propagation by Islamic Savings and Credit Cooperatives in Indonesia." TRaNS: Trans-Regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia 2 (02):201-22.
doi: doi:10.1017/trn.2014.4.
Abstract
Islamic finance has been growing significantly across the globe. In Southeast Asia, interest in Islamic finance and its growth is significant in Malaysia. Compared with Malaysia, in Indonesia, however, the largest Muslim population country where an Islamic resurgence has been widely taking place, the growth of Islamic banks remains slower and on a smaller scale. Furthermore, recent research shows that Islamic piety does not systematically translate into the use of Islamic banks among middle-class Indonesians. Against these findings, this article highlights a relatively understudied Islamic finance institution, Islamic Savings and Credit Cooperatives, in Indonesia commonly known as Baitul Maal wat Tamwil (BMT). The BMT sector is separate from the banking sector and as such has received little scholarly attention as part of Islamic finance in Indonesia. The number of the BMTs in Indonesia has increased significantly since the 1990s and they are grass-roots Islamic financial institutions offering financial services to relatively small-scale traders in urban areas. Based on data from anthropological research in Central Java, this article argues that Islamic propagation is an important element among the BMT founders and workers. They perceive their economic activities as Islamic propagation by deeds (dakwah bil hal) to achieve social justice.
SASAOKA, SHINYA. 2014. "Environmental Consciousness of ASEAN Citizens." Japanese Journal of Political Science 15 (Special Issue 02):183-202.
doi: doi:10.1017/S1468109914000036.
Abstract
The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries has fostered economic growth recently but in the process has encountered a number of serious problems regarding environmental destruction, such as the air and water pollution. In addition, due to rapid population growth and urbanization, there are emerging concerns about decline of the environment in those countries in the near future. One of the surveys that tries to measure the attitudes of ASEAN citizens on environmental issues is the ASEAN Barometer survey conducted in 2009. This paper aims to unfold how ASEAN citizens evaluate environmental problems and what underlie their evaluations using the aforementioned ASEAN Barometer survey. The results of analysis will mainly reveal the next three points: (1) Filipinos showed higher environmental consciousness; (2) people in a less developed country were more likely to worry about environment deterioration and showed more commitment to the environmental movement, but, at the same time, they were more reticent about their immediate ecological activities; (3) those who thought that central governments needed to commit more to environmental problems and should take greater responsibility for environmental deterioration. Those who expected regional international organizations to take more measures were more inclined to engage in environmental activities.
Shannon, Rachel, Max Hope, John McCloskey, Dominic Crowley, and Peter Crichton. 2014. "Social dimensions of science–humanitarian collaboration: lessons from Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia." Disasters 38 (3):636-53.
doi: 10.1111/disa.12064.
Abstract
This paper contains a critical exploration of the social dimensions of the science–humanitarian relationship. Drawing on literature on the social role of science and on the social dimensions of humanitarian practice, it analyses a science–humanitarian partnership for disaster risk reduction (DRR) in Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia, an area threatened by tsunamigenic earthquakes. The paper draws on findings from case study research that was conducted between 2010 and 2011. The case study illustrates the social processes that enabled and hindered collaboration between the two spheres, including the informal partnership of local people and scientists that led to the co-production of earthquake and tsunami DRR and limited organisational capacity and support in relation to knowledge exchange. The paper reflects on the implications of these findings for science–humanitarian partnering in general, and it assesses the value of using a social dimensions approach to understand scientific and humanitarian dialogue.
Sinnott, Megan. 2014. "Baby Ghosts: Child Spirits and Contemporary Conceptions of Childhood in Thailand." TRaNS: Trans-Regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia 2 (02):293-317.
doi: doi:10.1017/trn.2014.8.
Abstract
The currently popular practice of propitiating, or ‘adopting’, child spirits in Thailand reveals an ambivalent attitude towards childhood. According to Buddhist scholars on childhood, Buddhist conceptions of children do not differentiate children in significant ways from adults in terms of their relative purity or innocence, as both children and adults possess countless lifetimes of karma; children are thus agentive beings, although not yet fully realised as adults. The child ghosts reflect the complex, competing conceptions of childhood, where they are both valuable resources to be deployed in the assistance of their families, and vulnerable beings in need of adult caretaking. Child ghosts are markers of both material and sentimental resources for their adoptive parents, or ‘guardians’. This article explores representations of child ghosts in popular media, and investigates child ghost propitiation practices through interviews with child ghost guardians. In addition, an overview is provided of the various categories of child ghosts, including kumanthong, kuman-thep, kuman-phrai, luk-krok, and rak-yom.
YAMAMOTO, TAKU. 2014. "Quality of Life: Policy Concept and Reality." Japanese Journal of Political Science 15 (Special Issue 02):163-82.
doi: doi:10.1017/S1468109914000024.
Abstract
This study examines the process by which the concept of quality of life has been increasing in importance as the key to ASEAN's socio-cultural integration. This study also focuses on the current trend that emphasizes subjective quality of life and clarifies that ASEAN has been moving toward including this perspective. Then, it analyzes the subjective quality of life of people in ASEAN in terms of self-assessment and the multidimensional World Health Organization Quality of Life metric by using data from the ASEAN Barometer 2009.
Yoshimi, Taiyo. 2014. "Lending Rate Spread Shock and Monetary Policy Arrangements: A Small Open Economy Model for ASEAN Countries." Asian Economic Journal 28 (1):19-39.
doi: 10.1111/asej.12023.
Abstract
We investigate the welfare implications of monetary policy arrangements in a small open economy, considering firms' bank-based finances that are widely observed in emerging ASEAN countries. The impact of an unexpected change in the lending rate spread, or a lending rate spread shock, depends on the presence of banking activity in the economy. This presence is important in Malaysia and Vietnam, where welfare effects of this type of shock are at least comparable to those of foreign monetary policy shocks. We also find that a rigid exchange rate arrangement amplifies the effect of a shock.
Das, Sanchita Basu. 2014. "The Political Economy of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreements: An ASEAN Perspective." Trends in Southeast Asia 2014#02.
http://www.iseas.edu.sg/documents/publication/Trends_2014_2.pdf.
Abstract
The economic, political, strategic and cultural dynamism in Southeast Asia has gained added relevance in recent years with the spectacular rise of giant economies in East and South Asia. This has drawn greater attention to the region and to the enhanced role it now plays in international relations and global economics.
The sustained effort made by Southeast Asian nations since 1967 towards a peaceful and gradual integration of their economies has had indubitable success, and perhaps as a consequence of this, most of these countries are undergoing deep political and social changes domestically and are constructing innovative solutions to meet new international challenges. Big Power tensions continue to be played out in the neighbourhood despite the tradition of neutrality exercised by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Das, Sanchita Basu. 2014. Goods to Flow Slow and Steady within the ASEAN Economic Community. ISEAS Perspective 2014#37.
http://www.iseas.edu.sg/documents/publication/ISEAS_Perspective_2014_37rev.pdf
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- The idea of a ‘single market and production base’ in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is to provide ASEAN consumers with more choices of goods at lower prices and offer regional producers more space for production activities.
- ASEAN Member Countries (AMCs) have made progress in reducing average tariffs to less than one percent for regional trade. Indeed, the tariff- related AEC deadlines were met in 2012, when 99.1 per cent of the tariff lines of the ASEAN-6 carried zero per cent duty.
- However, issues remain over the utilisation rate of Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) preferences. In 2005-2010, this rate ranged from a low of 0.5 per cent for Myanmar to a modest 22.6 per cent for Thailand and a high of 47 per cent for the Philippines.
- In addition, while tariffs have come down, non-tariff barriers (NTBs) continue to prevail in the region. The industries most affected by NTBs are the chemical, machinery, and electrical sectors. These barriers, both at the border and behind-the-border, are used as policy tools by AMCs to protect domestic interest groups. NTBs are most prevalent in Indonesia, followed by Vietnam. The ineffectiveness of NTB reform can be attributed to ASEAN’s way of dealing with the issue – voluntary declaration and the absence of mechanisms of verification.
- As a whole, AMCs have collectively benefitted, albeit in a limited way, from its action of tariff reduction and regular discussions on NTBs. In addition, AMCs’ ‘open regionalism’ has helped integration by creating trade rather than diverting it. As such, ASEAN’s economic regionalism is viewed as a ‘building block’ rather than a ‘stumbling block’ towards the multilateral world trading system.
- Going forward, key policy recommendations are: generating and maintaining political will for economic integration; generating greater awareness about the pervasiveness and impact of NTBs; streamlining NTBs and harmonising them with existing international databases; increasing public AMC outreach activities with respect to AEC and its benefits; and pushing for domestic reforms in smaller economies such as Cambodia,
Fionna, Ulla. 2014. Vote-buying in Indonesia’s 2014 Elections: The Other Side of the Coin. ISEAS Perspective 2014#35.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- The current electoral system in Indonesia has allowed vote-buying to flourish. As such, the intermediaries (korlap) in the process increasingly play a stronger role in determining whether and how people vote.
- The korlap work for the candidate, but demand for monetary returns for votes also comes from the voters who see elections as a way to make short-term gains.
- Korlap employ in-depth knowledge of their communities to effectively target and persuade potential voters to support their candidates.
- Money politics is not just a matter of demand for and supply of votes, but is embedded in complex social relations and contexts.
Lee, John. 2014. Reforms Will Decide Vietnam’s Ability To Resist Economic Dominance By China. ISEAS Perspective 2014#34.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Defined by geography, by the troubled history between the two countries, and by the huge asymmetry of power, Vietnam pursues a counter-dominance strategy towards China even as it adopts a softly-softly diplomatic approach to relations with its northern neighbour.
- This strategy seeks to prevent over-reliance on the far larger Chinese economy and the possibility of China economically punishing Vietnam for the latter’s policies
- While China has emerged as Vietnam’s largest trading partner by volume, and Vietnamese dependence on Chinese imports is growing, deeper analysis of the nature and structure of trade between the two countries suggests that China’s capacity to use trade to enhance its strategic leverage over Vietnam is far more restricted than is often assumed — and any attempts by Beijing to use the trading relationship for strategic gain would impose considerable costs on China.
- Likewise, Vietnamese reliance on Chinese capital in the form of foreign direct investment is narrow and limited to a small number of sectors — a condition that denies Beijing significant strategic leverage over Hanoi.
- Even so, a failing reform process in Vietnam will cause other foreign firms and external capital to lose interest in its economy. This would deliver a considerable blow to Hanoi’s attempts at balancing and mitigating the influence of China through lessening reliance on Chinese trade, investment and other forms of largesse such as concessionary loans and aid.
Lee, Poh Onn. 2014. Is the APEC Approach to Food Security Viable? ISEAS Perspective 2014#36.
http://www.iseas.edu.sg/documents/publication/ISEAS_Perspective_2014_36rev.pdf
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Sharp increases and volatility in food prices in recent years have forced policymakers to pay more attention to the issue of food security.
- Food security involves four dimensions: availability, physical access, economic access, and utilization.
- In the past decade, food prices have been rising because demand has outstripped supply.
- Although APEC has, at times, been criticized as a “talk shop”, it can play an important role in increasing food supplies because of its geographical coverage and size, and also food production capabilities.
- APEC as an organization, can provide also a consultative mechanism and collective peer pressure can help member economies enhance food security in the region.
Achwan, Rochman. 2014. "Reconceptualising political corruption in democratising societies." Asian Social Science 10 (11):201-9.
doi: 10.5539/ass.v10n11p201.
Abstract
Much has been studied about political corruption and its implications for political development. Two perspectives, namely political and political economy, seem to dominate these studies. Both perspectives have provided useful analysis on the causes and impacts of political corruption, but they seem to have neglected the complex institutional contexts of the rise of political corruption in democratising societies. By employing the perspective of organisational institutionalism, this paper explores ways in which complex institutional networks play a pivotal role in bringing about political corruption. This study uses two types of qualitative approaches. The first is a literature study, surveying published academic journal articles and books that are concerned with issues of political corruption; and the second uses unpublished raw data from case studies of political corruption in Indonesia. By using Indonesia as a case in point, this paper shows that the rise and growth of political corruption lies in the complex interplay of interactions among dominant institutions and organisations, including state-owned enterprises, parliaments, and political parties. The curbing of political corruption in any democratising society will depend on the existence of a powerful agency of corruption eradication. Equipped with a powerful authority, as Indonesia has shown, such an agency is capable of bringing corrupt politicians, bureaucrats, and business people before corruption courts. In Indonesia, the Corruption Eradication Commission is a strategic agency able to transform a corrupt state into legal-rational state.
Allen, Nathan W. 2014. "From patronage machine to partisan melee: Subnational corruption and the evolution of the Indonesian party system." Pacific Affairs 87 (2):221-45.
doi: 10.5509/2014872221.
Abstract
The party system in Indonesia has expanded in the post-Suharto era. With each successive election, voters have spread their support across a wider array of parties. This has occurred despite deliberate institutional tweaks designed to consolidate the system by privileging large parties. Why has the party system expanded despite increasing institutional incentives to consolidate? This article places party system change in a broader context of decentralization and corruption. The decentralization and deconcentration of political power has opened multiple avenues for voters and elites to access state resources. Whereas major parties were expected to dominate resources in the immediate aftermath of the transition, changes to the formal and informal institutions eroded their control over the state. This has caused previously consolidated subnational party systems to fracture. The argument is demonstrated using narrative and newly constructed cross-district datasets. The paper develops the concept of rent opportunities, defned as the ability to access and abuse state resources. Party system expansion has been greatest in areas with high rent opportunities, where both voters and elites are particularly motivated by the competition for state resources. In these areas, characterized by large state sectors, the formerly authoritarian party (Golkar) initially won large electoral victories due, in part, to its control over patronage. As Golkar lost its ability to monopolize resources, the party system fractured. Voting for small parties surged and the party machine was replaced by a partisan melee. My argument exposes the limits of institutional engineering and underlines the formative role corruption has had on the evolution of Indonesia's party system. © Pacific Affairs.
Arpino, Bruno, and Arnstein Aassve. 2014. "The role of villages in households' poverty exit: Evidence from a multilevel model for rural Vietnam." Quality and Quantity 48 (4):2175-89.
doi: 10.1007/s11135-013-9885-6.
Abstract
Vietnam experienced a dramatic drop in overall poverty during the 90s. However, the poverty reduction showed substantial variation across households, villages and regions. Using a multilevel model on panel data from the rural sample of the Vietnam Living Standard Measurement Survey we demonstrate the important role of villages in household poverty exit dynamics. We also show how an analysis of village-level random effects predictions can help targeting of policies to reduce poverty. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.
Athukorala, Prema-chandra. 2014. "Growing with global production sharing: The tale of penang export hub, Malaysia." Competition and Change 18 (3):221-45.
doi: 10.1179/1024529414Z.00000000058.
Abstract
This article seeks to broaden our understanding of the phenomenon of global production sharing and to explore policy options for developing countries for engaging effectively in production networks, through a case study on the export production hub in the State of Penang, Malaysia. The findings uphold Penang as a unique example of marrying development strategy with emerging opportunities for global production sharing. The state government of Penang has not only attracted major multinational enterprises in the globa l electronics industry but also helped them become deeply rooted in the economy through a well-designed investment promotion and development strategy. © 2004 W. S. Maney & Son Ltd.
Ayob, A. H., and J. Freixanet. 2014. "Insights into public export promotion programs in an emerging economy: The case of Malaysian SMEs." Evaluation and Program Planning 46:38-46.
doi: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2014.05.005.
Abstract
This study evaluates the impact of public export promotion programs (EPPs) among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. Three indicators, level of awareness, frequency of use, and perception of usefulness, were examined according to a firm's export status. The global evaluation suggests that exporters are more frequent users of EPPs and perceive them to be more useful than non-exporters. Nonetheless, both groups demonstrate higher levels of awareness, are frequent users, and perceive the programs relating to export info/knowledge are more usefulness than programs relating to financial assistance. Further analysis also reveals that the frequency of use and the perception of usefulness for most programs are positively related to export experience, but not to export turnover. This study offers insights into the effectiveness of export programs for encouraging export initiation and expansion in an emerging economy. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.
Baharom Adzahar, Fadzli. 2014. "Weak ties in the Singaporean labour market." Asian Journal of Social Science 42 (3-4):203-32.
doi: 10.1163/15685314-04203002.
Abstract
According to Granovetter, weak ties link individuals to other social circles that place them in strategic positions to gain access to job information and opportunities otherwise not available in their innate networks. This paper affirms that weak ties, as a form of social capital, matter and that they assist in explaining variations in status attainment between ethnic groups in Singapore. I show that access to weak ties affects status attainment differently across ethnic groups and that the Malay's weaker performance in the labour market is partly due to their lower access to weak ties. This paper would be of interest to scholars concerned with the intertwining of social stratification with social capital and ethnicity. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2014.
Baird, Ian G. 2014. "The Global Land Grab Meta-Narrative, Asian Money Laundering and Elite Capture: Reconsidering the Cambodian Context." Geopolitics 19 (2):431-53.
doi: 10.1080/14650045.2013.811645.
Abstract
The dramatic expansion of large-scale economic land concessions and acquisitions in the Global South has generated considerable concern amongst activists, journalists and academics recently. This has led to the increased prevalence of the term 'global land grabbing', which I argue represents a particular type of meta-narrative. In this article the global land grab meta-narrative is considered in relation to recent land alienation of Indigenous Peoples in the northeastern Cambodia province of Ratanakiri. While land grabbing is certainly a crucial problem, it is insufficient to explain the circumstances in Ratanakiri or in Cambodia more generally as 'global land grabbing'. While foreign capital is associated with land grabbing in Cambodia, there are various other factors that also require consideration. Specifically, the role of Asian money laundering and elite capture requires increased attention. This article contributes to better understanding the particular ways that land dispossession plays out in particular places and contexts. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
Basten, Stuart, Raya Muttarak, and Wiraporn Pothisiri. 2014. ""The persistence of parent repayment" and the anticipation of filial obligations of care in two Thai Provinces." Asian Social Work and Policy Review 8 (2):109-22.
doi: 10.1111/aswp.12028.
Abstract
With an accelerated and sustained decline in fertility and an increase in life expectancy, Thailand has entered its aging phase at a rapid pace. This raises an important question of who should care for the increasing elderly population. Using a survey of adults aged 16-64 years (n = 742) in two provinces in the north-east (Kalasin) and south (Phang Nga) of Thailand, this paper explores the expectations that individuals have from their children when they become very old. Only one-third of the respondents expected to live with their children in old age and only one-fifth anticipated financial assistance. Less than half of them expected personal care and practical care from their children (43% and 38%, respectively). The expectations varied substantially by the number of children and income, with those with higher income reporting lower expectation. Those living in Kalasin, a much poorer province than Phang Nga, had greater expectations from their children in old age. This suggests that, for those with less financial resources, children remain the main care provider for the elderly. © 2014 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.
Beer, Bettina. 2014. "Boholano olfaction odor terms, categories, and discourses." Senses and Society 9 (2):151-73.
doi: 10.2752/174589314X13953118734788.
Abstract
This article explores the domain of odors and olfaction on the island of Bohol, The Philippines. It recounts how my research interests were drawn to this domain by local preoccupations with smell as an aspect of everyday sociality, expressed in speech, modes of interaction and evaluation, and the discursive construction of ethnicities and other social kinds. Bohol's long and complex history and its place in the contemporary world entail a complex, differentiated sociocultural present, which is also reflected in the domain of odors and Boholanos' experiences thereof. Accordingly, the article makes a case for an approach to this domain that flexibly deploys basic ethnographic procedures and more formal techniques, specifically, domain and cultural consensus analysis. This dual methodology, it is argued, is sensitive to the differences between differentially positioned agents, but also demonstrates the degree of sharedness-of experience, categorical schemes, and historicity-that jointly characterize this domain. I use a partial set of results, pertaining to human body odors, to exemplify the approach and to depict a key dimension of Boholano social experience; one that speaks to the place of individuals in the local setting and to the position of the population generally in the commodified world of cosmetics. © BLOOMSBURY.
Bertrand, Jacques. 2014. "Autonomy and stability: The perils of implementation and "divide-and-rule" tactics in Papua, Indonesia." Nationalism and Ethnic Politics 20 (2):174-99.
doi: 10.1080/13537113.2014.909157.
Abstract
Autonomy is often seen as an institutional instrument to manage substate nationalist conflict. Its implementation is key in determining its impact on conflict. While the central state might be satisfied with the absence of violence and stability as a measure of success, an aggrieved group will view success as gaining new powers and new resources. Autonomy often unravels when different goals are being pursued during implementation. "Special autonomy" in Papua failed because, first, the law was not the product of negotiation but of a solution that the central government imposed; second, Papuans remained divided on its utility and, ultimately, failed to seize the opportunity provided; third, the central government undermined the law in its attempts to curb secessionism, ultimately failing to make it credible. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
Bonnin, Christine, and Sarah Turner. 2014. "Remaking markets in the mountains: Integration, trader agency and resistance in upland northern Vietnam." Journal of Peasant Studies 41 (3):321-42.
doi: 10.1080/03066150.2014.905471.
Abstract
As part of an ongoing agenda by Vietnamese lawmakers and local state officials to accelerate market integration in the northern mountains, rural marketplaces are being physically and managerially restructured according to standard state-approved models. Moreover, these market directives are coherent with the 'distance demolishing technologies' that James Scott (2009) suggests the state has implemented to bring these uplands more directly under its panoptic gaze. This integration strategy seldom meshes well with upland livelihood needs. In this paper we examine a number of power contestations currently unfolding as upland market traders - both Vietnamese and ethnic minorities - negotiate or resist these developments while striving to maintain meaningful livelihoods. © 2014 Taylor & Francis.
Brickell, Katherine. 2014. "Home interiors, national identity and curatorial practice in the art photography of Simryn Gill." Cultural Geographies 21 (3):525-32.
doi: 10.1177/1474474013487486.
Abstract
In cultural geography, connections between home, identity, and multi-scalar notions of belonging are well established. Intersections between interior design and national identity are linked likewise to a broader material and symbolic politics of dwelling. Through an interview with the artist, alongside analysis of two exhibits focused on the domestic landscapes of Malaysia ('Dalam', 2001) and Australia ('Inland', 2009) - the paper explores ideas about nationalism invested in the art photography of Simryn Gill. By exploring the intimate politics inherent within the creation, curatorship, and review of her work, the home emerges as an ambiguous and incomplete referent of both nationalism and self. © The Author(s) 2013.
Bui, Thiem H. 2014. "Deconstructing the "socialist" rule of law in Vietnam: The changing discourse on human rights in Vietnam's constitutional reform process." Contemporary Southeast Asia 36 (1):77-100.
doi: 10.1353/csa.2014.0001.
Abstract
Over the past two decades, efforts by the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) to build a "socialist" rule of law through legal and judicial reforms have contributed to the vibrant constitutional politics in the country. During the process of amending the 1992 Constitution, the socialist theoretical foundations of the Constitution quietly shifted as a result of new thinking and values. The complex interactions of old and new ideological precepts were prominently reflected by the changing discourse of human rights during debates about amendments to the 1992 Constitution. This article investigates the development of the "socialist" rule of law and the changes taking place in the discourse of human rights during the constitutional reform process in Vietnam. In setting out the context and content of constitutional reform, it seeks to deconstruct the socialist rule of law and interpret the discourse of human rights accordingly. In doing so, the mechanisms by which human rights have been socialized will be unpacked to make sense of subtle changes in the human rights discourse. Furthermore, the paper aims to uncover the implications of such a change for the development of Vietnam's human rights regime. © 2014 ISEAS.
Castella, Jean-Christophe, and Bounthanom Bouahom. 2014. "Farmer cooperatives are the missing link to meet market demands in Laos." Development in Practice 24 (2):185-98.
doi: 10.1080/09614524.2014.885495.
Abstract
In the transition from subsistence to commercial agriculture, smallholders in Lao PDR need to get better organised to match market demand in terms of product volume and quality. This paper investigates the conditions for the emergence of cooperatives from existing farmers' groups. Our study revealed the importance of social networks and power relations as a factor of cohesion within groups. Local leadership plays a crucial role in connecting group members to the village and district institutions. Recommendations are provided to improve group management rules as a pre-requisite to turn groups into farmers' cooperatives. © 2014 © 2014 Taylor & Francis.
Chambers, Paul. 2014. "Constitutional change and security forces in Southeast Asia: Lessons from Thailand and Myanmar." Contemporary Southeast Asia 36 (1):101-27.
doi: 10.1353/csa.2014.0003.
Abstract
Achieving civilian control of security forces through constitutional reform processes has been a major challenge for young democracies or democratizing countries in Southeast Asia. In many cases, governments seeking to establish or consolidate civilian control have been faced with coups d'état or the threat of coups. The successful enshrinement of laws reining in security force adventurism has often accompanied compromises which at most provide militaries with considerable latitude in their areas of decision-making or at least protect soldiers from judicial prosecution. Ultimately, the constitutional incorporation of security forces into embedded political life is no easy task. This article examines two country cases of "defective" democracies. In each case, security forces have moved towards becoming more integrated under the constitutions of civilian-led regimes. This study poses four questions. First, how did the institutionalization of security forces under civilian-led constitutions occur? Second, how did these experiences vary? Third, to what extent do these security forces today possess differing degrees of enshrined powers? And fourth, based upon these experiences, how might civilian control be sustained over time? The article argues that constitutional change acceded to by security forces more often than not results from informal bargaining and concessions by civilians. However, the initial bargain can later transform itself towards more or less security force interventionism depending upon three variables: the heritage of authoritarianism; the relative unity of civilians as opposed to the security forces; and threat environments. © 2014 ISEAS.
Cheah, Yong Kang, and Andrew K. G. Tan. 2014. "Determinants Of Leisure-Time Physical Activity: Evidence From Malaysia." The Singapore Economic Review 59 (02):1450017.
doi: 10.1142/S0217590814500179.
Abstract
This paper examines how socio-demographic and health-lifestyle factors determine participation and duration of leisure-time physical activity in Malaysia. Based on the Malaysia Non-Communicable Disease Surveillance-1 data, Heckman's sample selection model is employed to estimate the probability to participate and duration on physical activity. Results indicate that gender, age, years of education and family illness history are significant in explaining participation probability in leisure-time physical activity. Gender, income level, smoking-status and years of education are significant in explaining the weekly duration conditional on participation, whereas smoking-status and years of education are significant in determining the unconditional level of leisure-time physical activity.
Chirtkiatsakul, Busaban , Metta Kuning, Nittaya McNeil, and Mayuening Eso. 2014. "Risk factors for mortality among victims of provincial unrest in Southern Thailand." Kasetsart Journal - Social Sciences 35 (1):84-91.
http://kasetsartjournal.ku.ac.th/kuj_files/2014/A1403260948143281.pdf
Abstract
The study aimed to identify the factors associated with those injured due to the unrest during 2004-2011 in the three southern border provinces and the surrounding districts of Songkhla, Thailand. In total, 13,964 victims were reported including 4,142 (29.7%) fatalities. Logistic regression showed that males were 2.32 times more likely to die than females while Muslims were 1.45 times more likely to die than non-Muslims. Victims working for the police or military had a lower risk of mortality than other occupations (1.9 times). Victims who had been injured by a gunshot or other causes had a higher risk of mortality than those who were affected by a bomb blast.
Dang, Hoa Le, Elton Li, Ian Nuberg, and Johan Bruwer. 2014. "Understanding farmers' adaptation intention to climate change: A structural equation modelling study in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam." Environmental Science and Policy 41:11-22.
doi: 10.1016/j.envsci.2014.04.002.
Abstract
Socio-economic factors and resource availability are commonly shown to influence the adaptation intention and behaviour of farmers in response to climate change. This study additionally incorporates psychological factors building on protection motivation theory to investigate the adaptation intention of farmers. Data was obtained from structured interviews with 598 rice farmers in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Structural equation modelling was used for investigating the relationships between constructs. The findings indicate that farmers are more likely to have an adaptation intention when they perceive higher risks of climate change and greater effectiveness of adaptive measures. In contrast, they are less likely to intend to adapt when they are subject to wishful thinking, denials of climate change risk, and fatalism. Adaptation intention increases when farmers perceive greater influences of the increases in electricity, water, and fuel prices; or when they are under pressure from other people to conduct adaptive measures. The study demonstrates that protection motivation theory is a useful framework to understand the adaptation intention and behaviour of farmers in response to climate change. However, further research is necessary to improve and generalise the measurement model. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.
Demartoto, Argyo, Pam Nilan, Alex Broom, and John Germov. 2014. "Indonesian Men's Contrasting Perceptions of How to Deal with Local Violence." Asian Journal of Criminology 9 (2):125-42.
doi: 10.1007/s11417-013-9180-4.
Abstract
This paper reports on data from a 2009-2010 project on masculinity and violence, part of which was conducted in Indonesia. The data here come from semi-structured interviews with 86 men in five cities, with minor reference to survey findings. Using a Foucauldian interpretive framework, we focus primarily on how these Indonesian men view police intervention in comparison to resolving the problem of violence within their community through mediation. The issue here is that while community mediation approaches are regarded positively, at present, it only seems to be religious leaders who are trusted to resolve conflicts effectively through this approach. Suspicion of mediation interventions and other measures that are tied to the authority of the state means that the promise of service-oriented policing reforms may not be effectively implemented. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.
Devadason, Evelyn S., And Santha Chenayah. 2014. "Proliferation Of Non-Tariff Measures In China — Their Relevance For Asean." The Singapore Economic Review 59 (02):1450015.
doi: 10.1142/S0217590814500155.
Abstract
This paper explores various non-tariff measures (NTMs) that co-exist in China and that directly influence imports into the country. Given the intensity and scope of technical measures imposed by China, the directional impacts of technical barriers to trade (TBTs) on bilateral Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-China exports are investigated empirically using an augmented gravity model. The results imply that Chinese TBTs do have some trade depressing effects from the ASEAN perspective. However, sectoral trade effects of TBTs are important as dual effects exist even within some TBT intensive product groups. This informs the policy debate on the effects of NTMs from the ASEAN-China perspective more specifically, and the "South–South" context more generally on two fronts. First, the identification of specific trade restricting measures for the affected sectors will assist in determining policy priorities within the ASEAN-China context. Second, trade facilitation measures that increase the business costs to the ASEAN exporters also warrant attention in addressing the scale of market access issues in China.
Doan, Mai-Anh, and Jade Bilowol. 2014. "Vietnamese public relations practitioners: Perceptions of an emerging field." Public Relations Review 40 (3):483-91.
doi: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2014.02.022.
Abstract
Our exploratory research into contemporary PR practice in Vietnam is underpinned by 12 semi-structured interviews with senior Vietnamese PR executives from various agencies. We selectively use professionalism as an underlying theoretical framework to explore key areas of PR as a profession in Vietnam by considering the impact of environmental variables such as culture and the media system. This paper provides a current snapshot of how an industry introduced by Western multinational corporations has adapted to the Vietnamese context.Demand for PR in Vietnam is still mostly driven by multinational corporations to promote products through media relations. Many Vietnamese companies are unsure about investing in PR due to a limited understanding of what it is, misperceiving the practice as advertorial placement due to a widely entrenched "envelope culture". We have found interpersonal relationships during and outside of official work hours are highly valued for effective PR practice, and that clients mostly rely on agencies to implement execution rather than advise on long-term strategies. Our findings underscore the need for the establishment of a professional association and more PR training courses to increase understanding about the relatively new Vietnamese PR industry and guide its future development. © 2014 Elsevier Inc.
Dwyer, Michael B. 2014. "Micro-Geopolitics: Capitalising Security in Laos's Golden Quadrangle." Geopolitics 19 (2):377-405.
doi: 10.1080/14650045.2013.780033.
Abstract
Enclosure, dispossession and displacement loom large in current debates about the recent boom in transnational farmland deals, and about Chinese agribusiness for export in particular. Often under-examined, however, are the ways that legacies of geopolitical conflict shape the inevitably uneven distribution of enclosure, dispossession and displacement. This paper constructs a case of these 'micro-geopolitical' legacies by examining a Chinese rubber planting 'promotion' project in northwestern Laos's emerging 'Golden Quadrangle' development region. It argues that longstanding concerns about security inform the ways that local authorities deploy investment projects that are otherwise seen as examples of 'foreign' land grabbing. Further, it shows that while the geographical aims of foreign agribusiness mesh with state-mediated resettlement efforts (a darker spin on the narrative of 'win-win' cooperation), these activities often precede current land deals rather than result from them. Chinese agribusiness in Laos's upland interior thus appears less as a driver of displacement than a means for attempting to secure in place a particular (if precarious) configuration of population and security. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
Ekkun, Tienchai , and Pariyada Sukcharoensin. 2014. "Stock synchronicity in the ASEAN economic community." International Business Management 8 (5):259-63.
doi: 10.3923/ibm.2014.259.263.
Abstract
This study explores the capital market efficiency of 5 countries in ASEAN economic community including Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand during 2006-2012. Researchers investigate the R2 which represents the stock price synchronicity and find that the Philippines stock exchange has lowest R2 and is more efficient than others in the same region. This contradicts to previous research results which find that R2 values of emerging markets are higher than the developed economies. From the overall regression estimates of ASEAN, researchers find that higher synchronicity stocks are larger and have higher volume but less leveraged. The regression results from individual countries confirm the relationship, except leverage which is mildly positive for the Philippines. © Medwell Journals, 2014.
Evers, Hans-Dieter. 2014. "Changing ethnic diversity in Peninsular Malaysia." Kajian Malaysia 32 (1):37-53.
http://web.usm.my/km/32(1)2014/KM%2032(1)%202014%20-%20ART%202%20(37-53).pdf
Abstract
This paper reviews several approaches for measuring and evaluating ethnic diversity. Based on Simpson's diversity index, a metric commonly used in biodiversity research, an "ethnic diversity index" (EDI) is developed that describes the degree of variety of ethnic groups living together on a common territory. The EDI values of the states of Peninsular Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur reveal a general decrease in ethnic diversity between 1970 and 2000. This change is attributed to migration, government policy and urban planning. Ashby's "Law of Requisite Variety" and Ostrom's recommendation for the governance of biodiversity are used to address problems associated with the governance of complex and highly diverse social systems. © Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2014.
Fletcher, Gillian, Kyaw Thu, Pyae Phyo Maung, Naw Margueritta Mu Yeh Hpeh, and Kyaw Myint. 2014. "The Paung Ku model: Encouraging change through learning." Development in Practice 24 (2):298-306.
doi: 10.1080/09614524.2014.884995.
Abstract
It is well known within international development practice that the terms "capacity building" or "capacity development" are often used but infrequently (and inconsistently) defined; whether in funding applications, program strategies, staff training programmes, or field work. This article outlines the way in which one development organisation working in Burma/Myanmar wrestled with the issue of meaning, and practice, in relation to capacity development; it also reports on the resulting "Paung Ku model: encouraging change through learning.". © 2014 © 2014 Taylor & Francis.
Fukuoka, Yuki. 2014. "Debating Indonesia's Reformasi: Bridging "Parallel Universes"." Journal of Contemporary Asia 44 (3):540-52.
doi: 10.1080/00472336.2014.895026.
Abstract
Fifteen years after the fall of Suharto in Indonesia, scholars still continue to disagree over why he fell and what the subsequent process of political transition has actually entailed. A review of the literature reveals two competing interpretations. In the liberal camp, scholars draw on transition theories and argue that the fall of Suharto was caused by a "people power" mobilisation. Other scholars in the oligarchy literature who adopt theories of political economy, however, question this interpretation and argue that the fall of Suharto entailed a reorganisation of patrimonialism. The latter has been criticised by liberals for underestimating the significance of changes in post-Suharto Indonesia, though little engagement has taken place between these camps, which now constitute two "parallel universes." This article argues that while the oligarchy camp tends to emphasise continuity, it still provides us with important insights into changes in post-Suharto Indonesia which are not adequately recognised by liberals. This is largely because their different theoretical roots prevent meaningful conversations. By reframing the oligarchy literature using the language of transition theories, this article clarifies the difference in the nature of change these two camps are respectively concerned with in the hopes of stimulating more constructive engagements between them. © 2014 Journal of Contemporary Asia.
Gabriel, Sharmani Patricia. 2014. "'After the break': Re-conceptualizing ethnicity, national identity and 'Malaysian-Chinese' identities." Ethnic and Racial Studies 37 (7):1211-24.
doi: 10.1080/01419870.2014.859286.
Abstract
Focusing on ethnic Chinese as cultural citizens of the nation, this paper examines national identity in the context of generational change. In so doing, it connects to colonialist conceptions of identity the dominant framework of ethnicity that operates in Malaysia. It argues that this framework allows for the nationalist imagining of 'Malaysian-Chinese' as 'outsiders'. In probing the complex conceptual relationship between ethnicity, national identity and cultural citizenship, this article asks: How does 'ethnicity' enter into negotiations over the 'national' in the cultural realm? What are the notions of cultural difference and national otherness that operate in the negative dualisms by which nation and ethnicity are defined? How are these dualisms tied to notions of authenticity and cultural citizenship? Using the novel The Harmony Silk Factory by Malaysian author Tash Aw to address these questions, this paper argues the need to rethink current policies and narratives of ethnic and national identity in Malaysia. © 2013 Taylor & Francis.
Glassman, Jim, and Young-Jin Choi. 2014. "The Chaebol and the us military-industrial complex: Cold war geopolitical economy and south Korean industrialization." Environment and Planning A 46 (5):1160-80.
doi: 10.1068/a130025p.
Abstract
Among scholars of East Asia, the role of US military offshore procurement (OSP) and the military-industrial complex (MIC) has been underplayed in explanations of rapid industrial transformation. Yet the foundations of industrialization in places such as South Korea, when analyzed in strongly 'national-territorial' and state-centric terms of the predominant, so-called 'neo-Weberian' accounts, remain inadequately illuminated. We argue that a geopolitical economy approach focusing on the roles of OSP and relations within the US MIC brings to light crucial sociospatial dimensions of the Korean developmental state's industrial success during the Vietnam War era, dimensions that are largely absent from the neo-Weberian accounts. We examine, in particular, the Park Chung Hee regime's participation in the Vietnam War, and the attendant development of Korean industrial chaebol such as Hyundai, arguing that the successes of the south Korean developmental state and chaebol were enabled by their enrolment in the US MIC, via OSP. © 2014 Pion and its Licensors.
Goi, CHAI-LEE. 2014. "The impacts of social media on the local commercial banks in Malaysia." Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce 19 (1).
http://www.arraydev.com/commerce/jibc/2014-01/Goi_opinionv01.pdf
Abstract
From a business and marketing perspective, the media landscape has dramatically changed with traditional media supplemented or replaced by social media (Yu et al, 2013). It has become an important method for banks to build relationships with their customers (Econsultancy, 2013). The main purpose of this paper is to review the impacts of social media on the banks, especially in terms of conversation, sharing, publishing and participation aspects. This paper also reviews the impacts of social media on the local commercial banks in Malaysia. © Chai-Lee Goi, 2014.
Griffiths, Arlo. 2014. "Written traces of the Buddhist past: Mantras and Dhāraṇīs in Indonesian inscriptions." Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 77 (1):137-94.
doi: 10.1017/S0041977X14000056.
Abstract
This article examines a group of ten Indonesian inscriptions citing a range of gāthās, mantras and dhāran{dot below}īs. The texts, contextualized and in some cases read and identified for the first time, underline the pan-Asian character of Buddhism and the integral place the Indonesian archipelago once held in the ancient Buddhist world. The identification of the sources of several of these texts in known Sanskrit scriptures raises the question whether some of these texts, none of which survives as such in the archipelago, were once transmitted there in manuscript form. Copyright © SOAS, University of London 2014.
Gullette, Gregory S. 2014. "Rural-Urban Hierarchies, Status Boundaries, and Labour Mobilities in Thailand." Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 40 (8):1254-74.
doi: 10.1080/1369183X.2013.836959.
Abstract
Thai national development strategies have sought to expand infrastructure and reduce poverty in the country's northern and north-eastern regions by constructing industrial estates, facilitating foreign investments, increasing market integration, and encouraging capital flexibilities. Despite government efforts to decrease material divisions between rural and urban spaces, rural-urban migration strategies commonly exist within household economic portfolios. Such labour mobilities and development initiatives rework spatial relationships between rural and urban, whereby economic activities and social networks create complex national political economies that challenge strict dualistic modelling. Yet, ethnographic data collected since 2009 illustrate that rural-urban differences were present in class and status hierarchies among northern and north-eastern migrants in Bangkok. Specifically, respondents' imaginings of their place within the Thai social order correlated to what degree they associated with urbanity and remained in Bangkok. Further, respondents' class and status identities exhibited correlations with whether they identified with culturally defined 'migrant' categories, which commonly represented otherness and contained ethnic undertones. This paper illustrates that while geographic and economic flexibilities necessarily problematise dualistic views of rural-urban spaces, associated labour mobilities may simultaneously reinforce perceptions of rural-urban difference and create identity and status divisions among those engaged in migration. © 2013 © 2013 Taylor & Francis.
Hameiri, Shahar. 2014. "Avian influenza, 'viral sovereignty', and the politics of health security in Indonesia." Pacific Review 27 (3):333-56.
doi: 10.1080/09512748.2014.909523.
Abstract
In December 2006, Indonesian Health Minister, Siti Fadilah Supari, shocked the world when announcing her government would no longer be sharing samples of the H5N1 avian flu virus, collected from Indonesian patients, with the World Health Organization, at a time when global fears of a deadly influenza pandemic were running high. For observers of Southeast Asian politics, the decision reinforced the view of the region as made up of states determined to protect their national sovereignty, at almost all costs. This established view of the region, however, generally neglects the variable and selective manner in which sovereignty has been invoked by Southeast Asian governments, or parts thereof, and fails to identify the conditions shaping the deployment of sovereignty. In this paper, it is argued that Siti's action was designed to harness claims of sovereignty to a domestic political struggle. It was a response to the growing fragmentation and, in some cases, denationalisation of the governance apparatus dealing with public health in Indonesia, along with the 'securitisation' of H5N1 internationally. The examination of the virus-sharing dispute demonstrates that in Southeast Asia sovereignty is not so much the ends of government action, but the means utilised by government actors for advancing particular political goals. © 2014 © 2014 Taylor & Francis.
Hanandita, Wulung, and Gindo Tampubolon. 2014. "Does poverty reduce mental health? An instrumental variable analysis." Social Science and Medicine 113:59-67.
doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.05.005.
Abstract
That poverty and mental health are negatively associated in developing countries is well known among epidemiologists. Whether the relationship is causal or associational, however, remains an open question. This paper aims to estimate the causal effect of poverty on mental health by exploiting a natural experiment induced by weather variability across 440 districts in Indonesia ( N=577,548). Precipitation anomaly in two climatological seasons is used as an instrument for poverty status, which is measured using per capita household consumption expenditure. Results of an instrumental variable estimation suggest that poverty causes poor mental health: halving one's consumption expenditure raises the probability of suffering mental illness by 0.06 point; in terms of elasticity, a 1% decrease in consumption brings about 0.62% more symptoms of common mental disorders. This poverty effect is approximately five times stronger than that obtained prior to instrumenting and is robust to alternative distributional assumption, model specification, sample stratification and estimation technique. An individual's mental health is also negatively correlated with district income inequality, suggesting that income distribution may have a significant influence upon mental health over and above the effect of poverty. The findings imply that mental health can be improved not only by influencing individuals' health knowledge and behaviour but also by implementing a more equitable economic policy. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.
Hatta, Zulkarnain Ahmad, Isahaque Ali, Jeevasuthan Subramaniam, and Salithamby A. Rauff. 2014. "Professional and functional alternative social workers: A case study of Malaysia." Asian Social Work and Policy Review 8 (2):138-55.
doi: 10.1111/aswp.12031.
Abstract
The objective of this study was to compare "professional" (PW) and "functional alternative" (FA) social workers. The findings suggested that there were no significant differences between PWs and FAs in intervention, evaluation methods, work ethics, and values. The PWs, in clients' eyes, were better at delivering services, while FAs' services were more satisfactory to the clients. While PWs were supposed to be "professional," FAs were more "professional" than PWs in their performance despite their lack of recognition as "professional social workers". These critical findings should encourage academics and practitioners for further discussion on conceptual implications of both practices and expand future research. © 2014 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.
Heriqbaldi, Unggul, Munawar Ismail, David Kaluge, And Dwi Budi Santoso. 2014. "A Regime Switching Analysis Of Indonesia's Exchange Market Pressure." The Singapore Economic Review 59 (02):1450013.
doi: 10.1142/S0217590814500131.
Abstract
This paper examines the extent to which the Indonesia's currency crisis can be accounted for by macro and micro economic fundamentals by employing Markov-switching approach under cross-generation crisis models. In order to represent the speculative attack in the economy, the study utilized one of the measures that is most widely adopted to signal the breakup of a crisis, the Exchange Market Pressure Index (EMPI). This paper found the following. First, liquidity (DC), real exchange rate (RER2) and ratio of banking credit to GDP (BCred) were found to significantly influence the EMPI, indicating that the behavior of EMPI has the characteristic that is predicted by the first, second, and third generation of crisis model found to significantly influence the EMPI, indicating that the behavior of EMPI has the characteristic that is predicted by the first, second and third generation of crisis models. Second, the LR test showed that regime switching dynamic model is more robust than ordinary dynamic model in explaining the EMPI, suggesting that speculative attacks tend to have the characteristics of multiple equilibria. Third, the transition probability matrix results showed that the tranquility regime was more persistent than the volatile regime.
Hiep, Le Hong. 2014. "Vietnam's South China sea disputes with China: The economic determinants." Korean Journal of Defense Analysis 26 (2):175-91.
http://www.kida.re.kr/shtml/include/filedownloadissue.asp?n_uid=630&fileName=03_Le%20Hong%20Hiep.pdf
Abstract
This article seeks to provide an investigation of the influence of economic factors on the dynamics of Vietnam's South China Sea disputes with China as well as the shaping of its related strategy. The article argues that since the late 1980s economic factors have contributed significantly and in different ways to the evolving dynamics of the bilateral disputes. Vietnam's effective exploitation of the sea's resources for economic development and China's moves to counter such efforts have generated constant tensions in their bilateral relationship. Meanwhile, the growing economic interdependence between Vietnam and China is unlikely to provide pacifying effects on the disputes due to the asymmetrical nature of the relationship. © 2014 Korea Institute for Defense Analyses.
HO, CALVIN WAI LOON, LEONARDO D. DE CASTRO, and ALASTAIR V. CAMPBELL. 2014. "Governance of biomedical research in Singapore and the challenge of conflicts of interest." Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 23 (3):288-96.
doi: 10.1017/S0963180113000893.
Abstract
This article discusses the establishment of a governance framework for biomedical research in Singapore. It focuses on the work of the Bioethics Advisory Committee (BAC), which has been instrumental in institutionalizing a governance framework, through the provision of recommendations to the government, and through the coordination of efforts among government agencies. However, developing capabilities in biomedical sciences presents challenges that are qualitatively different from those of past technologies. The state has a greater role to play in balancing conflicting and potentially irreconcilable economic, social, and political goals. This article analyzes the various ways by which the BAC has facilitated this. Copyright © 2014 Cambridge University Press.
Hoekema, Alle G. 2014. "'A wound in the heart': Religion and religiosity in the work of the Indonesian novelist Ayu Utami." Exchange 43 (2):132-52.
doi: 10.1163/1572543X-12341314.
Abstract
This article reflects on the role of religion as one of four, interconnected layers in the contextual novels of the candid and controversial Indonesian author Ayu Utami (b. 1968). Next to important gender issues, substantial critique of Indonesian politics, and attention to Javanese culture and mythology, her Christian background is present, in varying density, in all novels she has published so far. This can be proved by numerous quotations from the Bible and even by the fact, that the main protagonist of her largest novel so far is given an almost Messianic status. In her earlier novels, Ayu Utami seems to distance herself from patriarchic, institutional Catholicism. However, in her most recent, autobiographical, novel she makes clear, why and under which conditions she is able to return to her maternal faith. © 2014 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden.
Holliday, Ian. 2014. "Addressing Myanmar's Citizenship Crisis." Journal of Contemporary Asia 44 (3):404-21.
doi: 10.1080/00472336.2013.877957.
Abstract
Among many problematic issues surfacing in reformist Myanmar is a citizenship crisis with four main dimensions. First, in a state with fragile civil liberties, skewed political rights and limited social rights, there is a broad curtailment of citizenship. Second, Rohingya Muslims living mainly in Rakhine State are denied citizenship, and other Muslims throughout the country are increasingly affected by this denial. Third, designated ethnic minorities clustered in peripheral areas face targeted restrictions of citizenship. Fourth, the dominant Bamar majority concentrated in the national heartland tends to arrogate or appropriate citizenship. The result is growing social tension that threatens to undermine the wider reform process. To examine this crisis, the article sets Myanmar in a comparative context. In particular, it considers how multicultural states in the developed world have sought to manage a political switch from racial or ethnic hierarchy to democratic citizenship. Drawing on global experience with multiculturalism and enabling civic integration, it advances a series of policy options focused on rights, duties and identity. It argues for domestic political leadership, backed by global political support, to address Myanmar's citizenship crisis. © 2014 Journal of Contemporary Asia.
Hutchinson, Francis E. 2014. "Malaysia's Federal System: Overt and Covert Centralisation." Journal of Contemporary Asia 44 (3):422-42.
doi: 10.1080/00472336.2013.878374.
Abstract
In recent decades, many countries have implemented decentralisation drives to increase efficiency and responsiveness. However, Malaysia is an exception. Its federal system is more than 50 years old and, rather than decentralising, the country has pursued a sustained centralisation drive. The cause dates back to the pre-independence period, when the nationalist elite, the British and the traditional rulers negotiated the structure of the future government. The first two parties wanted a strong central government, but had to factor in pre-existing political structures centred on the rulers. The result was a federal system with a powerful central government and state governments with diminished responsibilities. Since independence, the ruling coalition founded by the nationalist elite has remained in power at the federal level. Enabled by the constitution's "top-heavy" design and its unbroken tenure, the coalition has implemented a continuous centralisation drive. Further catalysts - but not causes - have been the implementation of the New Economic Policy and creeping authoritarianism. The centralisation drive has been pursued through a variety of tactics, including: appropriating state government responsibilities; altering incentive structures; privatising state government-owned assets; and "organisational duplication." Recent policies look to continue this, precluding the potential benefits of a functioning federal system. © 2014 Journal of Contemporary Asia.
Jakimow, Tanya. 2014. "Gambling on livelihoods: Desire, hope and fear in agrarian Telangana, India and central Lombok, Indonesia." Asian Journal of Social Science 42 (3-4):409-34.
doi: 10.1163/15685314-04203008.
Abstract
"Farming is just like gambling" is a common saying among villagers in Telangana, India, and Central Lombok, Indonesia. Commercial cultivation has made agriculture more risky, as well as potentially more profitable; it contains the possibility for both ruin and fortune. This paper aims to shed light on how farmers experience this uncertainty by going beyond material conditions to pay attention to hopes, desires and fears. The translocal study examines farmers' responses to specific material and discursive environments, shaped by transnational flows and processes. It argues that farmers take risk as an ethical action in response to conditions of uncertainty, and that these actions consequently play a part in self-making processes. Risk is critical to people's evaluation of their lives, evoking feelings of capacity and impotence, dreams and fears. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2014.
Jan, Muhammad Tahir, and Ahasanul Haque. 2014. "Antecedents of the use of online banking by students in Malaysia extended TAM validated through SEM." International Business Management 8 (5):277-84.
doi: 10.3923/ibm.2014.277.284.
Abstract
The radical advances in the electronic banking technologies have inaugurated unique methods of transaction with a bank, especially using online banking medium. The main purpose of this study is to replicate an extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in order to determine those factors that impact the students' intention to use online banking, in Malaysian context. The 2 main banks were selected for data collection purposes, namely, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad and Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad. A self-administered questionnaire which was already developed and tested previously by various scholars have been adapted for the present study. The questionnaire was distributed through convenience sampling to 550 students of different faculties and universities in Malaysia. A total of 451 usable responses were finally selected for the data analysis purpose. First, the descriptive analysis was undertaken in order to observe the data for various trends. After descriptive analysis, data was inferentially analyzed by deploying Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The main steps of SEM followed in this particular research were; Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and full fledge structural equation modelling which led to hypothesis testing using AMOS computer software. The results indicate that perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment and quality of internet connection are the main antecedents of the use of online banking by students. Moreover, the information on online banking significantly affects perceived ease of use and perceived enjoyment. Furthermore, quality of internet connection statistically significantly impact perceived enjoyment and security and privacy. Descriptive statistics indicates 71.8% males and 28.2% females, 46.3% have their accounts in Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad and 34.6% in Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad. A total of 90.7% students were in between 15-35 years of their age. Most of them (64.5%) were the master's students of different fields with majority of them (35.9%) pursuing their MBA. The use of convenience sampling in this study weakens research objectivity and the relatively small size of the sample somewhat limits generalizations. The use of complex modelling techniques, namely; structural equation modelling is a novel attempt in validating the extended TAM. Further, this study also extends the understanding of the technology acceptance model from students' behaviour perspective. Perhaps, the model validated in the present research can be adopted by future researchers for further investigation, especially in other countries and industries. © Medwell Journals, 2014.
Jongkroy, Puntip, and Chonmani Thongbai. 2014. "Patterns of the spatial distribution of urbanized areas in Thailand." Kasetsart Journal - Social Sciences 35 (1):30-44.
http://kasetsartjournal.ku.ac.th/kuj_files/2014/A1403260935512968.pdf
Abstract
The research analyzed the patterns of spatial distribution of urbanized areas, and the trend of urban primacy in Thailand. Focus was on the urbanized area only at the provincial level. This research applied mixed methods with the emphasis on satellite image interpretation and direct field surveys to acquire qualitative data. Quantitative data were accessed from relevant offices' websites. Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used. The research findings revealed that the spatial distribution of urbanized areas in Thailand remained a 'primate pattern' having Bangkok as the only large city at the size of a metropolis. Nevertheless, there was a tendency of a declining condition indicated by the decrease in the primacy index or ratio of the population of the primate city and the second largest city from 34.9 in 2003 to 23.9 in 2010. A highlight was Had Yai that became the second largest urban agglomeration. As a result, Songkhla shifted its city ranking from the 6th province that accommodated largest number of urban populations in 2006 to the 3rd in 2010. As cities have outgrown their jurisdictions due to inefficiencies in enforcing the master plan to control land use; the urbanized areas of Bangkok Metropolis, Chiang Mai and Nakhon Ratchasima provinces have freely expanded along road networks. The urban forms were developed accordingly. It is recommended to reformulate the development strategies of regional centers to place emphasis on the specialization and the geographical conditions of each region in order to reduce the condition of urban primacy. In addition, planning measures should be enforced and coordination among local authorities in the connected urban areas should be facilitated to solve the problems resulting from 'underbounded' city expansion.
Kaliappen, Narentheren, and Haim Hilman. 2014. "Does service innovation act as a mediator in differentiation strategy and organizational performance nexus? An empirical study." Asian Social Science 10 (11):123-31.
doi: 10.5539/ass.v10n11p123.
Abstract
The study determines how service innovation impacts differentiation strategy and the impact on organizational performance. The target population of this research was 475 hotels, which are three to five star hotels in Malaysia. Due to the small population and the nature of the research, questionnaires were sent by mail and email to all the targeted three to five star hotels' managers. Regression was used to analyse the relationship of differentiation strategy, service innovation and organizational performance. The result shows that differentiation strategy has a significant effect on organizational performance and service innovation has a significant effect on organizational performance. Remarkably, this study found that service innovation partially mediates the relationship of differentiation strategy and organizational performance. This study found that hoteliers that pursuing a differentiation strategy should simultaneously employ service innovation to attain better organizational performance. Thus, this study contributes a significant knowledge to the Malaysia hotel industry. This study fills in some of the gap and showing the significance of differentiation strategy and service innovation in the hotel industry which has received little empirical attention in current strategic management literatures. It also offers some practical contributions to the development of service innovation in relation to differentiation strategy and organizational performance.
Kampan, Palapan, and Adam R. Tanielian. 2014. "Securing the future of the community: Child protection in ASEAN." Asian Social Science 10 (11):172-84.
doi: 10.5539/ass.v10n11p172.
Abstract
This article reflects upon effects of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and related treaties since their inception, with a focus on the ASEAN group. Literature, legal and statistical review and analyses show successes and failures on several points: nutrition, child soldiers, child sexual exploitation, HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, child labour, violence, and education. The research found abuse of children's rights is high enough to warrant serious concern. Violations of rights both come from and lead to deep poverty, leaving the ASEAN community vulnerable in the present and future. Creative, aggressive policy changes are promoted while universal acceptance and enforcement of children's rights, like any human rights, are likely to succeed or fail due to actions or inactions in smaller social segments and communities.
Katsumata, Hiro. 2014. "What explains ASEAN's leadership in east Asian community building?" Pacific Affairs 87 (2):247-64.
doi: 10.5509/2014872247.
Abstract
Conventional wisdom holds that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been able to lead community building in East Asia by default, against the background of Sino-Japanese rivalries. The present study maintains that this line of argument is insufficient, and offers a complementary account, centred on the statement that ASEAN has actively constructed a social environment which defines itself as the legitimate leader of East Asian community building. More specifically, the leadership of ASEAN can be explained in terms of three parallel developments since the early 1990s that are associated with the Asia-Pacific framework of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF): the Southeast Asian association has been able to lead community building in East Asia because (1) it has advanced the vision of an "East Asian community" by drawing on its cooperative security norm embodied in the ARF; (2) through their participation in the ARF process, the Northeast Asian powers have come to recognize the value of ASEAN's cooperative security norm, and thus to share with the Southeast Asian nations their vision of an East Asian community; and (3) the sharing of a community-building vision by all the East Asian countries has constituted a structure that makes it costly for the Northeast Asian powers to challenge the Southeast Asian association. © Pacific Affairs.
Kleimann, David. 2014. "Beyond market access?: The anatomy of ASEAN's preferential trade agreements." Journal of World Trade 48 (3):629-82.
http://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/26015
Abstract
This article seeks to enhance the understanding of ASEAN's external Preferential Trade Agreements (PTA) in context of the recent growth of economic regionalism in East Asia. The article advances a comparison of the content of ASEAN's five plurilateral PTAs with China, Korea, Japan, India, Australia, and New Zealand with the status quo of ASEAN's internal economic integration. In a second step, the article compares ASEAN's plurilateral agreements and ASEAN's internal integration with the content of six bilateral PTAs that individual ASEAN Member States have concluded with Japan.The empirical findings demonstrate that the ambition of ASEAN's five plurilateral agreements finds its upper limits in the substantive content of ASEAN's internal economic integration. Within these limits, the coverage and depth of commitments varies considerably and corresponds to the intensity of trade between ASEAN and the respective external partner. Moreover, the comparison shows that bilateral PTAs between six individual ASEAN Member States and Japan go significantly beyond the status quo of ASEAN's internal integration and exceed the coverage and depth of ASEAN's external plurilateral PTAs.The author contends that the coverage and depth of ASEAN Member States' plurilateral PTAs is limited by the structural heterogeneity of the signatories and, as a result, a relatively high diversity of policy preferences. Bilateral PTAs between ASEAN Member States and the same external partners result in deeper commitments than the plurilateral accords because of both a higher common denominator among the parties to the agreements and the free-rider problem that persists in plurilateral negotiation settings. Moreover, it is argued that the coverage and depth of the agreements is a function of the intensity of trade among the parties: high trade intensity results in deeper and more comprehensive agreements that tackle twenty-first century trade issues, whereas low trade intensity results in shallow agreements that aim to reduce first-generation trade barriers.These hypotheses, which are fully verified by the empirical findings of this study, allow for conclusions about the role of ASEAN Member States-collectively and individually-in current and future economic integration initiatives. © 2014 Kluwer Law International BV, The Netherlands.
Kubny, Julia, and Hinrich Voss. 2014. "Benefitting from Chinese FDI? An assessment of vertical linkages with Vietnamese manufacturing firms." International Business Review 23 (4):731-40.
doi: 10.1016/j.ibusrev.2013.11.002.
Abstract
Previous studies have suggested that foreign direct investment between emerging economies can benefit domestic firms more than investments from industrialised countries because of a lower technology gap and more appropriate technology being transferred. Empirical evidence for this is scarce. Addressing this gap, we investigate the impact of Chinese direct investment on local firms through vertical linkages in manufacturing industries of Vietnam. We find that the share of local sourcing of Chinese firms is similar to other foreign investors while their forward linkages are more extensive. Although this supports assertions about the benefits of investment by emerging market firms, the overall potential gains seem limited. This is due to little value-adding interaction with local firms, the local sourcing of low-technology goods, and the sparse provision of training and financial support. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.
Laeheem, Kasetchai, and Abdullohmalik Madreh. 2014. "Youth supervision based on Islam provided by muslim leaders in southern Thailand." Kasetsart Journal - Social Sciences 35 (1):92-102.
http://kasetsartjournal.ku.ac.th/kuj_files/2014/A1403260949408125.pdf
Abstract
The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate situations and problems of youth supervision based on Islam by Muslim leaders in three southern border provinces of Thailand. In-depth interviews were undertaken with principal informants: six Muslim leaders, six youth leaders, and six Muslim academics. Expansion description was employed to analyze the data. The results showed that in each community, Muslim leaders played a principal role in supervising youth based on Islamic belief by using different methods depending on the surrounding situations and individual ability. Supervisory budget sources were donation money, Zakat grants, and an endorsement budget from state organizations. However, there were four major problems which caused inefficiency in youth supervision: lack of understanding and definition of the roles and duties of some Muslim leaders, unawareness of the importance of youth supervision, skill and experience deficiencies in youth supervision, and a limited relationship between Muslim leaders and youth groups.
Lam, Chuan-Leong. 2014. "Management Under Conditions Of Complexity And Uncertainty." The Singapore Economic Review 59 (02):1475001.
doi: 10.1142/S0217590814750010.
Abstract
Managers are faced with increased complexity and unexpected risks. This article raises some reasons for the increase in complexity and risks. It also describes the tools and approaches used to anticipate some of these risks and how to mitigate against them. The usefulness of the scenario planning process is also indicated. The type of behavioral biases that makes risk identification difficult is also explained.
Lau, Alwyn Wing Wang. 2014. "A primordial anxiety: Ontological trauma and ethnic solidarity in Malaysia." Asian Journal of Social Science 42 (3-4):291-320.
doi: 10.1163/15685314-04203005.
Abstract
Ethnicity is a turbulent factor in Malaysian politics and society. Through decades of inter-ethnic tension fostered by ideological engineering, itself building on a history of ethnic manipulation and polarisation in colonial times, racialised tension has remained at best dormant and at worst prone to erupt in riots reminiscent of the May 1969 riots. This study examines the discourse of ethnicity from Malaysia's colonial roots up to the mid-20th century and beyond, seeking to highlight how trauma and struggle were integral to the very formation of ethnic consciousness. This work will also explore how, despite numerous writers questioning the naive "essentialising" of ethnicity, they no less mistakenly perceive ethnicity in terms which reduce it to a de-centred hybridised performance. The works of writers like Colin Abraham, Sumit Mandal and Maznah Mohamad will be surveyed to elucidate the traumatic element inherent to ethnicity itself. A Lacanian psychoanalytical framework will be used to argue, with a special focus on the Malays, that ethnic solidarity should rather be grounded in a constructive primordial frustration, i.e., it is a traumatic anti-essence which will ignite solidarity and a mutual longing for democracy among the various ethnic groups. Ontological trauma - not a universal essence, not cultural particulars, not deconstructed performatives and certainly not political ideology - could be the force that compels Malaysia's volatile ethnic groups to co-exist and work together in nation-building. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2014.
Le, Minh Son. 2014. "Trade openness and household welfare within a country: A microeconomic analysis of Vietnamese households." Journal of Asian Economics 33:56-70.
doi: 10.1016/j.asieco.2014.05.005.
Abstract
The positive effects of trade liberalisation on several dimensions of poverty have initiated studies of the trade-poverty relationship. Trade liberalisation accompanies institutional reforms that help to reduce institutional barriers against the poor. This study examines the impacts of trade openness and institutional reforms on rural household welfare at the provincial level through the analysis of the determinants of welfare of rural households in Vietnam. The study employs a model of micro-determinants of growth and tests it on the data from the Vietnam Household Living Standards Surveys (VHLSSs) of 2006 and 2010. What makes the study different from some other studies of the same vein is that it attempts to directly capture the institutional effect on welfare. The study finds that, in the provinces with high institutional reforms and trade openness, the welfare of rural households improved. Institutional reforms in Vietnam appeared to be sluggish in the late 2000s. In particular, both access to land and lower informal charges were the important determinants of welfare improvement over time. These findings suggest that Vietnam should maintain its development by accelerating the process of institutional reforms, thereby helping poor households to improve standards of living. © 2014 Elsevier Inc.
Liu, Hong. 2014. "Beyond co-ethnicity: The politics of differentiating and integrating new immigrants in Singapore." Ethnic and Racial Studies 37 (7):1225-38.
doi: 10.1080/01419870.2014.892630.
Abstract
This essay joins the ongoing debates about the role of co-ethnic ties in the making of diaspora identity by examining Singaporean Chinese perceptions of new immigrants from the mainland and the state's strategies in integrating the newcomers. The public discourses on new Chinese immigrants have produced three interlinked narratives: (1) newcomers are socially and culturally different from the mainstream and earlier immigrants; (2) newcomers have intensified the competition for scarce resources; and (3) newcomers are politically attached to China, whose rise as a global power only serves to reinforce such linkages. I argue that co-ethnicity and common cultural heritage play little role in shaping local Singaporeans' view of the new diaspora; instead, political pragmatism and new identity politics that prioritize the nation above ethnicity are the key factors influencing public attitudes and policy options regarding new immigrants. Furthermore, intra-diaspora differences/conflicts have reinforced interracial solidarity and contributed to the nation-building project. © 2014 Taylor & Francis.
Maier-Knapp, N. 2014. "The European Union as a normative actor and its external relations with Southeast Asia." Journal of Contemporary European Research 10 (2):222-35.
http://jcer.net/index.php/jcer/article/view/583
Abstract
It is commonplace that the European Union (EU) attempts to diffuse human rights and the other 'essential elements' to its external partners. It is also commonly known that these attempts frequently face accusations of inconsistency and double standards from without as well as within the EU. The aim of this article is to assess why the EU has readily promoted norms and values in some instances and not in others through the examination of the EU as an actor in the case of transboundary and newly emerging security challenges in Southeast Asia. This article suggests that the EU has displayed a demand-oriented and issue-specific shift in its strategy to effectively diffuse norms. This is not a capitulation of norms and values on the part of the EU. Rather, it is the restrategisation of its normative identity in its external relations to match the domestic and international realities.
Manivong, Vongpaphane, Rob Cramb, and Jonathan Newby. 2014. "Rice and Remittances: Crop Intensification Versus Labour Migration in Southern Laos." Human Ecology 42 (3):367-79.
doi: 10.1007/s10745-014-9656-6.
Abstract
Despite being a low-income, agriculture-based country with a subsistence orientation, Laos is in the early stages of a major economic transformation whereby rural households have been experiencing rapid change in their farming and livelihood systems. Some households have begun to engage in semi-commercial farming while others have adopted labour-oriented or migration-oriented livelihood strategies. This paper explores how rural households in six villages in the lowlands of Champasak Province in southern Laos make a living. These villages vary in their access to irrigation and to markets. Nevertheless, in all villages, long-term migration of younger household members to neighbouring Thailand has come to play a large role in household livelihood strategies. In some cases this is necessary to meet the household's consumption requirements; in most, it is part of a diversified strategy in which rice farming still plays a significant role, though still largely for subsistence. The paper examines some of the issues involved in attempting to promote intensive, market-oriented rice farming in a context of an emerging on-farm labour shortage combined with an increasing flow of remittances from migrant family members. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York.
McNevin, Anne. 2014. "Beyond territoriality: Rethinking human mobility, border security and geopolitical space from the Indonesian island of Bintan." Security Dialogue 45 (3):295-310.
doi: 10.1177/0967010614530458.
Abstract
The key contention of this article is that contemporary practices of border security threaten to outrun the explanatory capacity of the spatial (territorial) and subject (citizen/migrant) registers habitually employed to think through human mobility. This represents a political problem as much as an empirical one. First, it implies that migration scholarship deploying categories of analysis informed by prevailing registers offers a limited perspective on contemporary techniques of migration governance; second, it suggests that such scholarship obscures the operation of power that works to enforce profoundly unequal hierarchies of mobility and represent them as politically neutral. In this article, I propose that resisting reversion to problematic categories of analysis offers the potential to think of human mobility without the state and territory as its foremost container concepts. I contend that such an approach - 'beyond territoriality' - is a crucial step on the way to negotiating the normative dimensions of border politics. The case is developed empirically via a grounded investigation of the mundane yet symptomatic practices of border security on the Indonesian island of Bintan. © The Author(s) 2014.
Millie, Julian, Greg Barton, Linda Hindasah, and Mikihiro Moriyama. 2014. "Post-authoritarian diversity in Indonesia's state-owned mosques: A manakiban case study." Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 45 (2):194-213.
doi: 10.1017/S002246341400006X.
Abstract
Indonesia's state-owned mosques are important sites for observing changes in religious life that have taken place since the demise of the Suharto regime. During the New Order period, ideological and political factors restricted access to mosques owned and managed by provincial and regency governments. In contemporary West Java, access to such mosques has been broadened, and they now display a diversity of religious programs and practices. Drawing on recent fieldwork, this article makes a case study of the intercession ritual known as manakiban which has recently emerged in government-owned mosques of West Java. It identifies two dominant factors behind the new inclusiveness: a desire for visibility and public legitimacy on the part of some members of the Sufi order that promotes the ritual, and secondly, a broadening of access to state-owned mosques as a result of more inclusive participation in the electoral process. The article contributes to knowledge of the politicisation of religion in contemporary Indonesia, and suggests new possibilities for understanding the meanings of public Islamic infrastructure. Copyright © The National University of Singapore 2014.
Mirza, Hafiz, and Kee Hwee Wee. 2014. "The rise of enterprise regionalisation in ASEAN." Progress in International Business Research 8:391-423.
doi: 10.1108/S1745-8862(2013)0000008021.
Abstract
Purpose - This chapter analyses the how, who, where and why of rapid rise in intra-regional investment by companies from ASEAN since 2009. Methodology/approach - The chapter analyses the push and pull factors of intra-regional investment in ASEAN, the resulting patterns of foreign direct investment (FDI) and the accompanying rise of strong regional players. Findings - The region's FDI landscape is changing in terms of investment sources, players, FDI trends and dynamics of the region. This trend is strongly affected by stepped up efforts by ASEAN governments to encourage their national companies to invest in the region and the influence of the ASEAN Economic Community. Implications - Regional integration and emerging business opportunities are providing an impetus not seen before in driving intra-regional investment. As more ASEAN companies position and prepare for AEC 2015, this intra-regional investment wave is likely to gather force. Originality/value - The chapter lists the regional and global 'footprint' of the top 50 largest ASEAN companies by revenues. The thus identified companies include companies operating in oil and gas, mining, agri-business, telecommunications, food and beverages, manufacturing, banking, power generation, infrastructure, real estate and healthcare services. Copyright © 2014 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Morita, Keisuke. 2014. "Advance Tax Payment And Tax Evasion: Expected Utility Analysis." The Singapore Economic Review 59 (02):1450014.
doi: 10.1142/S0217590814500143.
Abstract
The traditional theoretical analysis of tax evasion fails to explain the empirical finding that declared income decreases with the tax rate. We show that one of the reasons for this result is that many such studies overlook advance tax payments in their analyses. Furthermore, we investigate how advance tax payments influence the extent of tax evasion. We conclude that the influence of advance tax payments on the extent of tax evasion depends on whether an individual's preference is based on expected utility theory or prospect theory.
Mulyanto. 2014. "Performance of Indonesian R&D institutions: Influence of type of institutions and their funding source on R&D productivity." Technology in Society 38:148-60.
doi: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2014.04.003.
Abstract
This study compares and analyzes the performance of Indonesian R&D institutions based on scientific as well as technological productivity. The effects of collective determinants such as type of R&D institutions and their funding source as well as size on productivity are considered in the formulation of policy recommendations for the development of R&D institutions in Indonesia. Based on their funding source, our findings indicate that R&D institutions that are self-sufficient in funding display better performance than government-funded R&D institutions. In accordance with their mandate, State-Owned R&D institutions are the most productive R&D institutions, followed by Ministerial R&D institutions and non-Ministerial R&D institutions, especially when considering technological productivity. Similar to previous findings, it was found that the size of an R&D institution has a negative effect on productivity. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.
Muzaini, Hamzah. 2014. "The afterlives and memory politics of the Ipoh Cenotaph in Perak, Malaysia." Geoforum 54:142-50.
doi: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2014.04.013.
Abstract
As political regimes undergo changes, so do memorial landscapes established by or associated with them. Such is also the case when new nations are born out of the ashes of decolonization, where monuments of former imperial rule may be co-opted, displaced or destroyed to mark the transition between authorities. Yet, such re-appropriations are not always state-led and do not necessarily take place only during critical junctures of regime changes. Furthermore, original meanings embedded within them may not be totally erased as they leave traces. Drawing on the Cenotaph Remembrance in Ipoh, Malaysia, in 2008, this paper examines how a British monument honouring the imperial war dead, which has been largely neglected since Malay(si)a's independence in 1957, has been readapted from the bottom-up as an inclusive memorial - via new symbolic accretions and a ceremony - to mark the memory of both locals and foreigners sacrificed during conflicts throughout Malaysian history. While these measures have, to a certain extent, rescued the formerly British-focused monument from obscurity, the paper unravels issues rendering the re-adaptation a highly contested affair, derived primarily from recalcitrant colonial memories and the multi-ethnic complexion of the Malaysian nation. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.
Narag, Raymund, and Sheila R. Maxwell. 2014. "Understanding cultural context when collecting field data: Lessons learned from field research in a slum area in the Philippines." Qualitative Research 14 (3):311-26.
doi: 10.1177/1468794112473496.
Abstract
Textbooks on research methods generally emphasize the need to collect data with high validity, reliability, and in the case of qualitative research, authenticity. Yet, field research often poses unanticipated challenges, particularly when the research is conducted in less-than-well-documented milieus. This article outlines field challenges encountered by the authors when doing a qualitative study of a slum community in the Philippines. Acceptable Western standards for gaining entry into a research community, for participating in local community life, and for the language and dress code used in the field had to be re-evaluated by the authors according to the prevailing Filipino cultural norms and the norms used in the local slum community. Lessons learned in this research can inform those doing qualitative research generally, but particularly those considering research in non-Western cultures. © The Author(s) 2013.
Narayanan, Suresh. 2014. "The Impact Of The Goods And Services Tax (Gst) In Malaysia: Lessons From Experiences Elsewhere (A Note)." The Singapore Economic Review 59 (02):1450009.
doi: 10.1142/S021759081450009X.
Abstract
The recent Malaysian attempt to introduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was thwarted by public concerns about: (i) its impact on the price level; (ii) its regressivity; (iii) the possibility of the rate increases once the tax is in place; and finally, the disincentive large revenues from the GST would be in addressing the underlying causes of wasteful public expenditures and leakages. The experiences of countries that have implemented a similar tax are surveyed to assess these concerns. It is concluded that within the Malaysian context, all the concerns are well-founded and measures are therefore suggested to ameliorate them.
Nelson, Michael H. 2014. "Constitutional contestation over Thailand's Senate, 1997 to 2014." Contemporary Southeast Asia 36 (1):51-76.
doi: 10.1353/csa.2014.0010.
Abstract
One key component of modern constitutions is the representative system. The often-contested codification of this system over time in democratizing political orders depends on a number of factors, such as the existing institutional setting, the power relations of important political actors, and the ideational resources, or political culture, available to the constitution drafters. This article examines the ideational resources drawn on by the members of Thailand's 2007 Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) in debating and deciding the shape of the National Assembly's upper house, the Senate. This is mainly done by analyzing the word-by-word minutes of their meetings. The respective processes of the 1997 CDC are described more briefly in order to provide background on an area of constitutional contestation that found its latest expression in November 2013, when the Constitutional Court invalidated the National Assembly's constitutional amendment, which would have reintroduced a fully elected Senate. The article contextualizes these developments by reference to mass protests against the " Thaksin regime" that had been organized since November 2013 by the so-called People's Democratic Reform Council (PDRC). © 2014 ISEAS.
Nguyen, Minh Thi. 2014. "Moral Hazard And Adverse Selection In Health Insurances, Evidence From A Transitional Economy." The Singapore Economic Review 59 (02):1450011.
doi: 10.1142/S0217590814500118.
Abstract
This paper uses special features of Vietnam's health insurance system to separately estimate the effects of moral hazard and adverse selection. Traditionally, the estimation of those effects is ad hoc due to the endogeneity of insurance status. Due to a special fact in Vietnam that there exist a great deal of people who are under the compulsory scheme but get no insurances, we are able to estimate the effects of moral hazard and adverse selection using a matching estimator technique. Our results show that with outpatient services, moral hazard and adverse selection are very severe in Vietnam for old people, and not for young people; and that for inpatient service, the effects are insignificant. The results can be used in the construction of the health insurance policy for Vietnam toward universal insurance as stated in the Law of Health Insurance 2008.
Nguyen, Tu Phuong. 2014. "Business associations and the politics of contained participation in Vietnam." Australian Journal of Political Science 49 (2):334-49.
doi: 10.1080/10361146.2014.896317.
Abstract
The development of the private sector in Vietnam since the mid-1990s has accompanied the emergence of organised business interests, which is recognised as vital to pursuing the agenda of economic modernisation. This article aims to explore the significance of the interactions between the state and business associations representing small-and-medium enterprises. It demonstrates that business associations have transformed state-business relations in a way that is distinguishable from state corporatism or societal pluralism. The analysis examines the interplay between state actors and emerging non-state entities, and the deliberative capacity of intermediary organisations in the policy-making process, specifically through the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises. It is argued that this process constitutes a new mode of political participation that reflects the entanglement of the state and private capital interests. It reveals features of contained participation and contributes to the research agenda on deliberative and governance practices in post-socialist transitional economies. © 2014 Australian Political Studies Association.
Ong, Yanchun. 2014. "Singapore's Phantom Workers." Journal of Contemporary Asia 44 (3):443-63.
doi: 10.1080/00472336.2013.861005.
Abstract
In 2009, the Singapore state prosecuted a string of businesses for listing fictitious local workers on their books in order to stretch their foreign worker entitlement. These "phantom" worker scams, prevalent since the 1980s, appear out of place in Singapore - a country with a strong international reputation for its government's efficiency and strict legal enforcement. This paper examines the state's prosecutions of the phantom worker scams in the context of the exceptional economic and political stresses in 2009, when Singapore was most severely affected by the global economic crisis, in order to address the employment regime in Singapore. It argues that the belated efforts to tackle the phantom worker scams reflected the pro-business state's reluctance to tackle illegalities crucial to facilitating employers' otherwise unlawful access to wealth and resources in Singapore. © 2014 Journal of Contemporary Asia.
Ortmann, Stephan, and Mark R. Thompson. 2014. "China's obsession with Singapore: Learning authoritarian modernity." Pacific Review 27 (3):433-55.
doi: 10.1080/09512748.2014.909522.
Abstract
Chinese government officials and academics have shown disproportionate interest in the small city-state of Singapore. The Southeast Asian country with a majority ethnic Chinese population has drawn their attention because it is the only country in the world that combines advanced industrial development with stable one-party rule. Singapore not only seemingly defies Western predictions that modernization will inevitably lead to democracy, but also appears to show that authoritarian regimes may be better suited to achieving societal stability in an Asian context. In particular, the ruling party of the city-state, the People's Action Party, has drawn the attention of conservative Chinese reformists who seek to fill the ideological void that emerged following the decline of Maoist ideology. Reformers in China also derive practical governance lessons from Singapore about fighting corruption, increasing professionalization, and improving responsiveness within the party-state. As such, political learning from the Singapore model must be seen as part of the ongoing process of transformation of the Chinese Communist Party. As a consequence of this learning process, Chinese reformers are using lessons from the Singaporean model as arguments in their efforts to bolster the ideological foundations and strengthen the governance capacity of one-party rule, thus reducing pressures for democratization. © 2014 © 2014 Taylor & Francis.
Panao, Rogelio Alicor L. 2014. "Beyond roll call: Executive-legislative relations and lawmaking in the Philippine house of representatives." Philippine Political Science Journal 35 (1):59-77.
doi: 10.1080/01154451.2014.903554.
Abstract
This article analyzes lawmaking in presidential systems where legislative roll call votes do not reflect policy or ideological stance, taking the Philippines as a case study. As an alternative to roll call analysis, this study suggests that the time from when a bill is filed until its passage can be a gauge not only of policy preferences but executive-legislative dynamics. This is tested through an event history analysis of bills filed in the Philippine House of Representatives from the 8th to the 14th Congress. The propensity for approval of a bill is modeled as a function of institutional and political resources available to both the chief executive and members of the House of Representatives. The results indicate that a bill certified as urgent by the president generally has a higher likelihood of passage, but the effect changes over time and at some point being part of the president's so-called legislative agenda actually increases the risk of non-approval. © 2014 Philippine Political Science Association (PPSA).
Parinduri, Rasyad A. 2014. "Do children spend too much time in schools? Evidence from a longer school year in Indonesia." Economics of Education Review 41:89-104.
doi: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2014.05.001.
Abstract
I examine the effects of a longer school year in Indonesia on grade repetition, educational attainment, employability, and earnings. I exploit an arbitrary rule that assigned students to a longer school year in Indonesia in 1978-1979, which fits a fuzzy regression discontinuity design. I find the longer school year decreases the probability of grade repetition and increases educational attainment; it also increases the probability of working in formal sectors and wages later in life. These results suggest the length of school years in Indonesia is not too long. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.
Parmar, Parveen, Emily Aaronson, Margeaux Fischer, and Kelli N. O’Laughlin. 2014. "Burmese refugee experience accessing health care in New Delhi: A qualitative study." Refugee Survey Quarterly 33 (2):38-53.
doi: 10.1093/rsq/hdu006.
Abstract
Provision of health services to urban refugees is challenging given wide dispersal and tenuous legal status, particularly in regions where host population urban residents also face limited access to health care. This study aims to understand Burmese refugee and asylum-seeker experiences accessing health care in New Delhi, India. During March 2012, investigators from the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative in collaboration with the Chin Human Rights Organization conducted focus group discussions and key informant interviews in New Delhi. Qualitative analysis identified the following three overlapping categories with regard to health care access: discrimination, poor quality health services, and financial barriers to obtaining health care. Of these, discrimination is the most prominent. Efforts to provide health services to urban refugees in New Delhi must address discrimination, in addition to advocating for access to national health systems and reduction of financial barriers, in order to be acceptable to the urban refugee community. © Author(s) [2014]. All rights reserved.
Rattanasevee, Pattharapong. 2014. "Leadership in ASEAN: The Role of Indonesia Reconsidered." Asian Journal of Political Science 22 (2):113-27.
doi: 10.1080/02185377.2014.895912.
Abstract
This paper examines the complexity and multidimensional features of leadership and provides understanding of leadership in ASEAN integration. It highlights the significant roles of leadership in the integrating Southeast Asia and contradicts its common belief of invisible leadership. It highlights the role and the importance of Indonesia in the development of ASEAN as a main factor that can determine ASEAN's survival and success. Moreover, it insists that ASEAN is literally subject to structural powers, derived from material and resource capacity, in which leadership is highly attached to a leader's charisma. Finally, the paper proposes that the benevolent roles of Indonesia with strong emphasis on soft power are a key element of success. © 2014 Taylor & Francis.
Rodrigue, Joel, and Omolola Soumonni. 2014. "Deforestation, foreign demand and export dynamics in Indonesia." Journal of International Economics 93 (2):316-38.
doi: 10.1016/j.jinteco.2014.03.004.
Abstract
This paper presents a dynamic, heterogeneous firm model of investment in environmental abatement and exporting. The model highlights the interaction between firms' environmental investment and export decisions on the evolution of productivity and export demand in timber manufacturing industries. The model is structurally estimated using Indonesian timber manufacturing data that captures firm-level variation in environmental investment and export behavior. The results suggest that environmental abatement has little impact on productivity dynamics, but does encourage growth in export demand. Counterfactual experiments quantify the impact of policy change on trade and abatement decisions. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.
Roosa, John. 2014. "Interview with joshua oppenheimer." Rethinking History 18 (3):413-22.
doi: 10.1080/13642529.2014.898422.
Abstract
The film-maker Joshua Oppenheimer discusses his film The Act of Killing with John Roosa. Oppenheimer explains how he came to focus on the story of one executioner who participated in the 1965-1966 massacres in Indonesia and how he came to film the perpetrators re-enacting the violence. The film, Oppenheimer notes, should be seen as an intervention into a climate of impunity rather than an attempt to document the events of 1965-1966. © 2014 © 2014 Taylor & Francis.
Rotz, Sarah. 2014. "REDD'ing forest conservation: The philippine predicament." Capitalism, Nature, Socialism 25 (2):43-59.
doi: 10.1080/10455752.2013.862837.
Abstract
The United Nations Collaborative Program on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD) is one of the newest global climate change counteraction programs. REDD proposes to redefine standing forests as financial value to create financial incentives for which forest users would be eligible if they forwent further exploitation. Several assessments have concluded that approximately 20 percent of overall greenhouse gases are generated from deforestation, most of which is occurring in developing countries. REDD was officially launched in 2008 as a United Nations collaborative initiative between the Food and Agriculture Organization, the United Nations Development Program, and the United Nations Environment Program. REDD has opted for the project-based approach. As a result, the success of REDD will depend on the ability of national and subnational governments to articulate their intentions, objectives, and strategies for REDD, while connecting national REDD frameworks to domestic forest, agriculture, and human rights policies.
Ryu, Yongwook, and Maria Ortuoste. 2014. "Democratization, regional integration, and human rights: The case of the ASEAN intergovernmental commission on human rights." Pacific Review 27 (3):357-82.
doi: 10.1080/09512748.2014.909521.
Abstract
The establishment of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (ASEAN) Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) is extremely puzzling, because many ASEAN members have never been strong supporters of human rights, nor have they been advocates for intervening in the name of human rights. Why did ASEAN members, then, agree to establish the AICHR? We argue that the AICHR is the result of two factors: democratization in key regional countries and the intensifying effort of regional integration in the form of the ASEAN Community project. The former factor engendered key agents for pro-human rights initiatives and set the direction of human rights development within ASEAN. The latter factor weakened the old norms of the ASEAN Way and engendered new regional norms such as good governance and accountability, which were conducive to the development of human rights. It also provided persuasive power based on a shared sense of collective purpose in eliciting agreement from the authoritarian members for the AICHR. We support our argument with the analysis of all ASEAN vision statements and its ministerial meeting statements from 1967 to 2010 as well as our own interviews. The analysis shows that the emergence of new regional norms was closely associated with the development of the ASEAN Community project, and this normative change resulted in a different view of human rights, whose promotion would positively affect regional integration and stability. Our argument suggests a different perspective of a regional human rights mechanism essentially as a regional body reflecting regional norms and values. © 2014 © 2014 Taylor & Francis.
Seng, Loh Kah. 2014. "Typhoon Ondoy and the translation of disaster expertise in Barangay Banaba, Marikina Valley." Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints 62 (2):205-31.
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/philippine_studies/v062/62.2.seng.html
Abstract
This article investigates community-based disaster responses among informal settlers in a barangay located just outside Metro Manila in the aftermath of Typhoon Ondoy (international code name Ketsana) in 2009. People have embraced some technical measures, such as forcible evacuation, but others have continued customary practices, such as seeking refuge on rooftops where they could get trapped during floods. An important factor in this process has been the credible work of a local people's organization, which has mediated technical expertise from outside the community. Adaptation of disaster expertise is an ongoing and unpredictable process, shaped by people's lived experiences and the wider political, economic, and social context. © Ateneo de Manila University.
Sidaway, James D., Till F. Paasche, Chih Yuan Woon, and Piseth Keo. 2014. "Transecting security and space in Phnom Penh." Environment and Planning A 46 (5):1181-202.
doi: 10.1068/a46167.
Abstract
Our paper examines everyday interactions of money, power, and security in Cambodia's capital city of Phnom Penh, informed by a series of transects and interviews. When Phnom Penh hosted the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in April 2012, Prime Minister Hun Sen declared that "Cambodia is not for sale" in an angry exchange with journalists who had quizzed him about China's influence. However, the sale and enclosure of Cambodian land and property have yielded both profit and tensions. These are connected with the meanings and operation of security. The most powerful 'security' agency in Phnom Penh is neither wholly 'public' nor fully 'private', but hybrid; where public police and military personnnel and their equipment are purchased. We argue that this is symptomatic of circulation/operation of state/capital in Cambodia. © 2014 Pion and its Licensors.
Sok, Say. 2014. "Limited state and strong social forces: Fishing lot management in Cambodia." Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 45 (2):174-93.
doi: 10.1017/S0022463414000058.
Abstract
All observers and stakeholders agree that the Cambodian state's capacity for development has been rather limited, although there are signs of expansion. The management of its important fisheries is no exception. Drawing upon existing literature, primary documents, and field interviews in two provinces and in Phnom Penh with various state and non-state actors, this study provides a background to the reasons for Cambodia's failure to manage its fisheries, enforce compliance within fishing lots, and curtail corruption in the fishing industry. It shows how fishing concessionaires' power has grown vis-à-vis that of the state and other actors. This study concludes that the considerable power held by concessionaires to make and enforce their own rules, together with their ability to accommodate or co-opt relevant state agents, has impeded Cambodia's capacity to fully benefit from, conserve, and manage its fisheries. Copyright © The National University of Singapore 2014.
Soule, Sarah A., Anand Swaminathan, and Laszlo Tihanyi. 2014. "The diffusion of foreign divestment from Burma." Strategic Management Journal 35 (7):1032-52.
doi: 10.1002/smj.2147.
Abstract
We examine variation in the rate of divestment by multinational firms from Burma. We argue that in addition to a set of firm-level characteristics known to impact divestment decisions, firms are also influenced by characteristics of their home country and the divestment patterns of others. Using data on firms operating in Burma during 1996-2002, we model these multiple influences on firms to divest. Our results show that beyond firm-level concerns, firms divest in response to the political characteristics of their home country, including protest, the level of political freedom, and transparency of institutions. We also find that the centrality of their home country in the network of intergovernmental organizations impacts divestment patterns in interesting ways. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Sripokangkul, Siwach. 2014. "A proposal on the decentralization of the tasks in the liquid petroleum gas price compensation policy for low-income households by local government organizations in Thailand." Asian Social Science 10 (11):56-65.
doi: 10.5539/ass.v10n11p56.
Abstract
Due to the retail price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) having been raised by the Thai government by 0.50 baht per kilogram each month for 12 consecutive months from September 2013, by October 2014 the price is going to reach 24.82 baht (0.83 dollars) per kilogram. It affects the consumers' cost of living extensively and it has caused a massive protest. Accordingly, a price compensation policy has been employed in order to maintain the retail price of LPG for low-income citizens at 18.13 baht per kilo for 1 year. SuanDusit Rajabhat University's SuanDusit Poll was assigned to conduct a census of households', small restaurants', and food shops' LPG usage; however, there was dissatisfaction with the census result. Similarly, certain local government organizations (LGOs) in Thailand were also assigned to collect additional data to promote the policy in local areas, and to assist people to buy LPG via a mobile system. However, the LGOs have not been able to assist people effectively as required, since the process outlined above has not been operated by the LGOs from the outset. In this paper, the author argues that to assign the university to collect data was impractical; further, the failure to give the assignment to the LGOs portrays ignorance of the LGOs' responsibility in terms of local government organization and it also significantly overlooks an important principle of decentralization theory. In summary, it is suggested that for future local policies or projects, the government should decentralize those tasks to the LGOs directly since the LGOs operate for the benefit of local people; as a result, the people would have their needs met and the tasks would be run smoothly, effectively, and worthily.
Suyanto, Ruhul Salim, and Harry Bloch. 2014. "Which firms benefit from foreign direct investment? Empirical evidence from Indonesian manufacturing." Journal of Asian Economics 33:16-29.
doi: 10.1016/j.asieco.2014.05.003.
Abstract
Despite growing concern regarding the productivity benefits of foreign direct investment (FDI), very few studies have been conducted on the impact of FDI on firm-level technical efficiency. This study helps fill this gap by empirically examining the spillover effects of FDI on the technical efficiency of Indonesian manufacturing firms. A panel data stochastic production frontier (SPF) method is applied to 3318 firms surveyed over the period 1988-2000. The results reveal evidence of positive FDI spillovers on technical efficiency. Interesting differences emerge however when the samples are divided into two efficiency levels. High-efficiency domestic firms receive negative spillovers, in general, while low-efficiency firms gain positive spillovers. These findings justify the hypothesis of efficiency gaps, that the larger is the efficiency gap between domestic and foreign firms the easier the former extracts spillover benefits from the latter. © 2014 Elsevier Inc.
Tedong, Peter Aning, Jill L. Grant, and Wan Nor Azriyati Wan Abd Aziz. 2014. "The social and spatial implications of community action to enclose space: Guarded neighbourhoods in Selangor, Malaysia." Cities 41 (PA):30-7.
doi: 10.1016/j.cities.2014.05.003.
Abstract
The article examines the social and spatial implications of guarded neighbourhoods: resident-generated enclosed areas in urban Malaysia. Neoliberal government practices provide a regulatory context within which residents organise associations, levy fees, erect barricades, and hire guards to control formerly public streets and spaces. Citizen action to create guarded neighbourhoods concretise emerging class boundaries and reinforce social segregation within cities already noted for having significant ethnic disparities. Guarded neighbourhoods in Malaysia simultaneously reflect social exclusion-of non-residents, lower classes, migrants, and ethnic 'others'-and cohesive social action of the politically and economically powerful to produce neighbourhood identity and community coherence through enclosure. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.
Teehankee, Julio C. 2014. "The study of politics in Southeast Asia: The Philippines in Southeast Asian political studies." Philippine Political Science Journal 35 (1):1-18.
doi: 10.1080/01154451.2014.903555.
Abstract
The study of politics in Southeast Asia emerged out of significant junctures in historical state-making and nation-building in the region. Given the "neglect" of Southeast Asia in "mainstream" Western political science, efforts have been made by scholars within and outside Southeast Asia to form "epistemic communities" like the Asian Political and International Studies Association (APISA) to promote studies about Asia. The Philippines is an interesting case in this regard because it mirrored significant periods in its political history - from colonialism to nationalism, modernization, authoritarianism, and democratization. Notwithstanding the strong influence of American political scientists in the early teaching and writing on Filipino politics, the discipline has generally avoided the quantitative methodologies privileged by its American counterpart. Moreover, a vibrant and pluralist approach has been evident in the scholarly output of the Philippine Political Science Journal (PPSJ). Despite initial setbacks in its organization, the Philippine Political Science Association (PPSA) has been successful in fostering a national "epistemic community" of academics, scholars, and practitioners. © 2014 Philippine Political Science Association (PPSA).
Thien, Lei Mee, and Nordin Abd Razak. 2014. "Teacher commitment: A comparative study of Malaysian ethnic groups in three types of primary schools." Social Psychology of Education 17 (2):307-26.
doi: 10.1007/s11218-013-9242-6.
Abstract
Commitment is a complex attitude that is potentially influenced by the nature of the groups and is contingent on the context in which an individual functions. Thus, different sociocultural environments will prescribe different imperatives for individuals' or groups' attitudes toward their work, particularly teachers' commitment in a multi-ethnic educational setting. However, previous teacher commitment studies have predominantly been applied to single-sample studies in a multiracial Malaysian context. Therefore, this study attempts to compare the teacher commitment levels and the four dimensions of teacher commitment across Malay, Chinese and Indian teachers who are the dominant ethnicities in three different types of Malaysian primary schools. Questionnaires were administered to 1,154 primary school teachers in Penang, and the obtained data were analysed using AMOS 20.0 and SPSS 20.0. The findings revealed nonsignificant differences for commitment to school, commitment to students, commitment to teaching and commitment to profession for any pair of ethnic groups. Limitations and suggestions for future studies are discussed. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.
Thompson, Benjamin S., Colin P. Clubbe, Jurgenne H. Primavera, David Curnick, and Heather J. Koldewey. 2014. "Locally assessing the economic viability of blue carbon: A case study from Panay Island, the Philippines." Ecosystem Services 8:128-40.
doi: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.03.004.
Abstract
Previous blue carbon studies have focused on discrete carbon stock assessments and overarching systematic reviews which broadly speculate that it may be economically viable to incorporate mangroves into existing carbon finance platforms. There is a discernible need to test this hypothesis through case-specific investigations that determine this presumed viability in a local or regional context - at scales meaningful for policy development. The current study investigates whether the carbon values of mangrove forests on Panay Island, the Philippines, are sufficient to offset the opportunity costs of milkfish (Chanos chanos) aquaculture - the primary cause of mangrove deforestation in the Philippines. Profit margins associated with milkfish aquaculture are calculated through a municipality-wide survey (779±140US$ha-1yr-1). Concurrently, the carbon stocks of two heterogeneous mangrove forests are quantified and compared. Creditable CO2 emissions reductions are modelled under a broad range of assumptions. These emissions are valorised, and a sensitivity analysis is performed to establish the minimum price at which opportunity costs are offset across a range of methodological and accounting preferences. It is determined that carbon prices of around 5-12US$tCO2e-1 would be required to compensate landowners for their lost aquaculture profits. The implications of our findings are discussed. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.
Thongyou, Maniemai, Thanapauge Chamaratana, Monchai Phongsiri, and Bounthavy Sosamphanh. 2014. "Perceptions on urbanization impact on the hinterlands: A study of Khon Kaen city, Thailand." Asian Social Science 10 (11):33-41.
doi: 10.5539/ass.v10n11p33.
Abstract
This research article aims to study the impact of urbanization on its hinterlands, by focusing on the perceptions of the household heads in the hinterlands of a small city, which is the major type of the cities in the Mekong region. Khon Kaen city in the northeast region of Thailand was selected as a case study. A questionnaire survey was conducted with a sample of 409 households in 35 villages in the city's hinterlands, defined as the areas of 5 kilometres lying further from a ring road surrounding the city. Data were analysed by descriptive statistics and mean ranking. The research found that the top ten most favorable impacts were on better access to health and educational services, better employment and educational opportunities, women's decision making power and social status, as well as positive impact on local government. As for the negative impacts of urbanization, pre-marriage sexual relationship, co-habitation and inappropriate dressing of village youths were identified as major problems. Apart from youth's problems, other social problems namely gambling and drug addiction were identified, as well as household economic problems including shortage of farm lands, higher household expenditure and debts. Among the top ten highest ranks of negative impacts, only one environmental problem, namely noise pollution, was identified. However, it is remarkable that environmental sector contained the highest numbers of unfavorable impacts that had mean value less than three. In other words, among the seven sectors explored, namely the household economy, the village economy, the society, the political and administration, the ideology and culture, the women and youths and the environment, the research found that environmental sector got the highest number of negative items of urbanization impacts. Based on a Multiple Regression Analysis, the research found that household heads' age (Beta = 0.127) and monthly income (Beta = -0.175) were the factors that influenced their perceptions on the impacts with the R2 = 0.073.
Trinugroho, Irwan, Agusman Agusman, and Amine Tarazi. 2014. "Why have bank interest margins been so high in Indonesia since the 1997/1998 financial crisis?" Research in International Business and Finance 32:139-58.
doi: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2014.04.001.
Abstract
We investigate the determinants of net interest margins of Indonesian banks after the 1997/1998 financial crisis. Using data for 93 Indonesian banks over the 2001-2009 period, we estimate an econometric model using a pooled regression as well as static and dynamic panel regressions. Our results confirm that the structure of loan portfolios matters in the determination of interest margins. Operating costs, market power, risk aversion and liquidity risk have positive impacts on interest margins, while credit risk and cost to income ratio are negatively associated with margins. Our results also corroborate the loss leader hypothesis on cross-subsidization between traditional interest activities and non-interest activities. State-owned banks set higher interest margins than other banks, while margins are lower for large banks and for foreign banks. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.
Tsen, Wong Hock. 2014. "The Real Exchange Rate Determination: Empirical Evidence From Malaysia." The Singapore Economic Review 59 (02):1450016.
doi: 10.1142/S0217590814500167.
Abstract
This study examines the real exchange rate determination in Malaysia. The result of the autoregressive distributed lag approach shows that an increase in the real interest rate differential, productivity differential, the real oil price or reserve differential will lead to an appreciation of the real exchange rate in the long run. The real oil price and reserve differential are important in the real exchange rate determination. The dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) estimator shows about the same conclusion of the autoregressive distributed lag approach. The result of the generalized forecast error variance decomposition shows that the real interest rate differential, productivity differential, the real oil price and reserve differential are generally important to the real exchange rate determination.
Tuntrabundit, Khwanruedee, and Varoon Tuntrabundit. 2014. "The mediating role of procedural justice in formalization-affective commitment relationship." Asian Social Science 10 (11):185-93.
doi: 10.5539/ass.v10n11p185.
Abstract
This study aims at empirically testing the mediating role of procedural justice in formalization-affective commitment relationship. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 405 full-time employees working in Thailand. A regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses, and Baron and Kenny's (1986) recommendations were employed to explain the mediation hypothesis. The results indicated that the procedural justice mediated the relation of formalization and affective commitment. This study has extended the theoretical knowledge of justice and employee commitment in Thailand's context. In particular, this study examined procedural justice as a mediate variable to analyze the relationship between formalization and affective commitment. The executive can apply the findings of this study to increase employee commitment through clear policy and standard regulations that are applied to everybody in the organization. This will lead to, in the part of the employees, justice and employee commitment.
Tuyen, Tran Quang, Steven Lim, Michael P. Cameron, and Vu Van Huong. 2014. "Farmland loss, nonfarm diversification and inequality among households in Hanoi's peri-urban areas, Vietnam." International Development Planning Review 36 (3):357-79.
doi: 10.3828/idpr.2014.20.
Abstract
Using a novel dataset from a 2010 household survey involving 477 households, this study provides the first econometric evidence for the impacts of farmland loss (due to urbanisation) on nonfarm diversification among households in Hanoi's peri-urban areas in Vietnam. The results from fractional logit and fractional multinomial logit models indicate that farmland loss has a negative effect on the share of farm income but a positive effect on the share of various nonfarm incomes, notably informal wage income. We also investigate the relationship between various income sources and income inequality using a Gini decomposition analysis. While income from informal wage work and farm work are inequality-decreasing, other income sources are inequality-increasing. Thus, this suggests that farmland loss has indirect mixed effects on income inequality.
Ünaldi, Serhat. 2014. "Working Towards the Monarchy and its Discontents: Anti-royal Graffiti in Downtown Bangkok." Journal of Contemporary Asia 44 (3):377-403.
doi: 10.1080/00472336.2013.842260.
Abstract
This article examines the desacralisation of royal charisma in contemporary Thailand. Over the past few years an underground discourse has emerged among critics of royal ideology and supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra that directly confronts the power of the monarchy. The images, metaphors and linguistic devices used in the process are difficult to study because they rarely appear in public. This article focuses on an unprecedented demonstration of rage against the monarchy on September 19, 2010, when red-shirted demonstrators painted anti-royal graffiti on a construction hoarding at Ratchaprasong intersection in downtown Bangkok. In analysing the Thai political crisis as a battle of different charismatic groups, the article will present the September 19 event as the first open strike against the sacred charisma of the Thai monarchy. This charisma has hitherto been protected by royalists from all walks of life who were "working towards the monarchy." With their attacks on the monarchy the red-shirts were challenging a legitimacy-conferring system which had benefited wide sections of the Bangkok populace in the past. At the same time, a competing charismatic movement has emerged around Thaksin, who himself has to take into account the charisma he conferred upon his followers. © 2013 Journal of Contemporary Asia.
Untong, Akarapong, Vicente Ramos, Mingsarn Kaosa-Ard, and Javier Rey-Maquieira. 2014. "Thailand's long-run tourism demand elasticities." Tourism Economics 20 (3):595-610.
doi: 10.5367/te.2013.0280.
Abstract
This paper estimates Thailand's long-run tourism demand elasticities for a set of origin countries by applying dynamic ordinary least squares. A detailed analysis of the potential competing destinations for each origin country is performed to ensure a precise coefficient for the substituting elasticity. A long-run static model of time varying parameter is then used to analyse the effects on the estimation of a potential structural change caused by the 1997 economic crisis and the subsequent change in exchange rate policy. The results show that there are different demand elasticities for each origin market and that own price elasticity is lower than substituting price elasticity for most origin countries. These findings indicate that price-setting strategies should be specific for each origin market and that information about prices in competing destinations needs to be considered. Moreover, the results show that there was a structural change in 1997 that severely affected the estimation.
Vaish, Viniti. 2014. "Whole language versus code-based skills and interactional patterns in Singapore's early literacy program." Cambridge Journal of Education 44 (2):199-215.
doi: 10.1080/0305764X.2013.863830.
Abstract
This paper analyzes whole language and code-based skills approaches in early literacy and the specific patterns of interaction present in both approaches. Nineteen hours of video data were coded to analyze the nature of whole language versus code-based skills instruction and document the allocation of time spent on each approach in a reading program. Data come from a cross-sectional study in Singapore where the Learning Support Program (LSP), a reading program for low-track students, was studied in five schools. Overall, 73% of class time in the dataset showed code-based skills instruction. However, the approach to instruction changed within the LSP in a linear fashion. Though in the early years of the LSP there was an over-emphasis on code-based skills and lack of variety in patterns of interaction, in later years there was a balance between whole language and code-based skills and a wider variety of interactional patterns. © 2014 University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education.
van der Putten, Jan. 2014. "Bangsawan: The coming a Malay popular theatrical form*." Indonesia and the Malay World 42 (123):268-85.
doi: 10.1080/13639811.2014.907979.
Abstract
Unprecedented economic growth and technological innovations immensely intensified flows of people moving around the world in search of a better life during the 19th century. Itinerant theatre troupes joined in these flows of migration touring cosmopolitan centres of Europe and the colonial empires, where they spawned new theatrical forms performed by growing numbers of local people or other migrants. In the Malay world this surge in theatrical forms created new types of commercial entertainment advertised through local newspapers as spectacular, new and modern. One these new types of drama, bangsawan, met with enormous popularity in the urban centres of colonial, insular Southeast Asia during the first half of the 20th century, and is still known and cherished as a 'traditional' drama form in present-day Malaysia. Based on English newspaper reports from the first decades of the 20th century, this article will discuss the popularity of bangsawan by following two prominent troupes, its existence alongside and competition with other popular forms, and its gradual integration into a 'national' reconfiguration of Malay cultural practices. It is argued that the 'wild', eclectic form of the colonial frontier was tamed into a morally sound and culturally stable form which ethnic Malays could identify with. © 2014 © 2014 Editors, Indonesia and the Malay World.
Viet Nguyen, Cuong, and Marrit van den Berg. 2014. "Informal credit, usury, or support? A case study for Vietnam." Developing Economies 52 (2):154-78.
doi: 10.1111/deve.12042.
Abstract
The informal credit market remains an important source of finance for the poor in Vietnam. Yet, little if anything is known about the impact of informal loans on poverty and inequality, and the Vietnamese government has no policies towards the informal credit market. In the present study paper, we found that the effect of credit from friends and relatives on per capita expenditure is positive but not statistically significant. Meanwhile, the effect of credit from private moneylenders on per capita expenditure is positive and statistically significant. Borrowing from private moneylenders increases per capita expenditure of households by around 15%. Further, it reduced the poverty incidence of borrowers by around 8.5 percentage points in 2006 and significantly decreases the poverty gap index and the poverty-severity index. Borrowing from private moneylenders also reduces expenditure inequality, albeit at a very small magnitude. © 2014 Institute of Developing Economies.
Virola-Gardiola, Marides. 2014. "Beyond the lens: PCIA as peace sensibility in the Philippines." Journal of Peacebuilding and Development 9 (1):89-94.
doi: 10.1080/15423166.2014.893169.
Abstract
During a five-day workshop on Peace and Conflict Impact Assessment (PCIA) held in Mindanao, the Philippines in 2002, peace zone leader Aminah Pualas took to heart advice from visiting resource person and PCIA innovator Kenneth Bush. Noting that PCIA is many things to different people, he advised practitioners to keep what ts useful and discard what is not relevant to any particular context.1 She was attracted to the idea of PCIA as a means of ensuring that projects would not further exacerbate conflicts in their communities, located in territories under negotiation by the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Wang, Alwyn Lau Wing, and Sim Chee Keong. 2014. "Just Jouissance: Discerning and Subverting a Politics of Inherent Transgression in Malaysian Socio-Political Discourse." Asian Journal of Political Science 22 (2):147-63.
doi: 10.1080/02185377.2013.879068.
Abstract
The Kuala Lumpur Bersih 3.0 protests of 28 April 2012 exposed the fault-lines of Malaysia's ruling regime (led by the United Malays National Organisation, UMNO), which promises political reform whilst simultaneously employing crackdowns on protesters. This article aims to read Malaysia's socio-political discourse through Slavoj Žižek's political theory of the superego (itself predicated on Lacanian concepts) in which an obscene underside runs in dark parallel to the public official law. Many discussions of politics do not problematize the relation between power and its subversion, resulting in either a naive trajectory of protest as direct confrontation or as restricted to identity-based concerns (e.g. ethnicity and sexuality). An introduction to Žižekian-Lacanian theory interspersed with examples, both historical and contemporary, of UMNO's manifestations of the superego will precede a comparison of Bersih 3.0 mode of protest to the kind made popular by anti-government turned anti-Opposition blogger, Raja Petra Kamaruddin. As both represent divergent forms of political enjoyment (or jouissance), this article's thesis is that Bersih's specifically feminine form of protest-because of its capacity to subvert the superego within the nation's political discourse-is a preferable political response over against Kamaruddin's phallic, masculine type of political discourse based mainly on exception, privilege and exclusivity. A just jouissance could help overturn an unjust one. Largely a work of discourse analysis, this article aims to pioneer the application of psychoanalytical framework to the Malaysian socio-political domain, seeking to not only illuminate subtle cracks within an oppressive system but also redefine the very meaning of political liberation. © 2014 Taylor & Francis.
Wang, Huaiyu, Paule Moustier, and Nguyen Thi Tan Loc. 2014. "Economic impact of direct marketing and contracts: The case of safe vegetable chains in northern Vietnam." Food Policy 47:13-23.
doi: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2014.04.001.
Abstract
The paper investigates the respective impacts on incomes of contractual arrangements, direct sales and spot marketing for "safe vegetable" farmers in northern Vietnam. It is based on a survey of 137 peri-urban vegetable farmers that was analyzed using different econometric methods to correct selection biases. Direct sales and contractual arrangements have a significant positive impact on income compared to spot marketing. Contracts have less impact on income compared to direct sales. It is recommended that policies be formulated to stimulate direct dealings between farmers and consumers, which enhance consumer confidence in terms of quality and translate into higher farmer income than anonymous exchanges or contracts. © 2014.
Waring, Peter. 2014. "Singapore's global schoolhouse strategy: Retreat or recalibration?" Studies in Higher Education 39 (5):874-84.
doi: 10.1080/03075079.2012.754867.
Abstract
In 2002 a high-level economic review committee recommended that Singapore position itself as a 'global schoolhouse'. An ambitious target was set to attract 150,000 international students to Singapore by 2015 and to lift the education sector's contribution to GDP from 1.9% to 5% in the same timeframe. The global schoolhouse was viewed as producing a number of policy complementarities including addressing population, labour market and economic priorities. This article reviews the last 10 years of Singapore's global schoolhouse strategy from its inception until the present time. It examines the policy successes and setbacks, and present statistical evidence of its performance. In particular, the article examine the development of both the public and private higher education sectors in Singapore, the growth of the tuition grant scheme in the public universities and the introduction of the Private Education Act of 2009 in the private sector. It is argued that the 2011 general election in Singapore has proved to be an historic watershed and exposed considerable tensions between local needs and global ambitions in higher education. © 2013 Society for Research into Higher Education.
Wenzel, Nikolai G. 2014. "Lessons from Constitutional Culture and the History of Constitutional Transfer: A Hope for Constitutionally Limited Government?" International Advances in Economic Research 20 (2):213-26.
doi: 10.1007/s11294-014-9462-3.
Abstract
The literature shows a clear correlation between sound constitutional environments and human flourishing. However, the path to adoption of sound constitutions is much less clear. This paper turns to the history of constitutional transfer to propose an alternative to taxonomies offered in the literature, which typically classify constitutions either by governmental structure (presidential v. parliamentary, or centralized v. federalist) or by source of influence (e.g. US 1787, Spain 1812, France 1958). These classifications are found wanting; instead, this paper proposes a new taxonomy based on the origin of the constitutional ideas and adoption. Formal constitutional parchment must match informal constitutional culture, so a constitution's likelihood of success is greatest when the ideas are indigenous; the source of adoption is ultimately secondary. The paper closes with four case studies of constitutional transfer and adoption. © 2014 International Atlantic Economic Society.
Widodo, Wahyu, Ruhul Salim, and Harry Bloch. 2014. "Agglomeration economies and productivity growth in manufacturing industry: Empirical evidence from Indonesia." Economic Record 90 (S1):41-58.
doi: 10.1111/1475-4932.12115.
Abstract
This study examines the effect of agglomeration economies on productivity growth in Indonesian manufacturing industries during the first decade of this century. Productivity growth is measured at the firm level using the Färe-Primont Productivity Index. Each firm's productivity growth is then regressed against a set of firm and industry characteristics, including three measures of agglomeration representing the effects of specialisation, diversity and competition. The results show evidence of a positive specialisation effect and a negative diversity effect for aggregate manufacturing and sub-sectors. Furthermore, there are mixed effects across industries, suggesting that Porter's competition externalities stimulate firm productivity growth under some conditions but not others. © 2014 Economic Society of Australia.
Wood, Pete, Douglas Sheil, Rudi Syaf, and Zulfira Warta. 2014. "The Implementation and Sustainability of Village Conservation Agreements Around Kerinci Seblat National Park, Indonesia." Society and Natural Resources 27 (6):602-20.
doi: 10.1080/08941920.2014.901464.
Abstract
We investigated the implementation and sustainability of village conservation agreements and village conservation grants facilitated by an integrated conservation and development project (ICDP) around the Kerinci Seblat National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia, 5 years after the project closed. Forty-three percent of agreement actions (n = 180) and 30% of grant activities (n = 74) were sustained. Informants identified numerous factors influencing success, but statistical tests failed to detect simple explanations. Conservation-livelihood agreements have a greater chance of success when preexisting factors are understood and the purpose of the agreement itself is clearly defined. © 2014 Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
Wungaeo, Chantana Banpasirichote. 2014. "Globalization and politics of identity in Southern Thailand, Betong District." Philippine Political Science Journal 35 (1):37-58.
doi: 10.1080/01154451.2014.915106.
Abstract
The study explores a changing community at the periphery of Thailand as the country moves toward globalization with the focus on local identity. This project examines the characteristics of globalization as it manifests in a local community; the changing perception of ethnic identity under the emerging globalization context; and, the responses of the local government to the challenges of globalization. Data were gathered from interviews with three different family generations and key informants, and from focus group discussions. The clearer driving force of change may be attributed to the expansion of media and telecommunication and the floating idea of internationalization. The influence of transnational social and cultural movements is from the promotion of Chinese language and culture, and the vibrant Islamic revivalist movement. The study finds that religion remains a strong factor of identity in comparison to traditions and languages. The choice of languages has changed meaning from keeping the mother tongue to gaining a more competitive advantage. As people connecting to cultural and religious roots inside and outside the community, social distances within local ethnic groups become widening. Finally, the local government aims to be part of a greater international community to promote economic development by using the cultural capital of Betong. The local government has constructed the Betong identity which serves as a new social cohesion and, at the same time, a mechanism to stand tall in a globalizing world. © 2014 Philippine Political Science Association (PPSA).
Yang, Peidong. 2014. "A phenomenology of being "very China": An ethnographic report on the self-formation experiences of mainland Chinese undergraduate "foreign talents" in Singapore." Asian Journal of Social Science 42 (3-4):233-61.
doi: 10.1163/15685314-04203003.
Abstract
This paper offers an ethnographic account of the self-formation experiences of Mainland Chinese undergraduate students as "foreign talents" in a Singaporean university. While extant scholarship often points out that international educational sojourn has transformative effects on the student-sojourners, detailed empirical examination of how such transformations take place is still lacking; this paper furnishes a microscopic case study in this vein. By looking at Chinese international students in the (Southeast) Asian city-state Singapore, the paper is also an effort to offer a relatively rare glimpse into the subjective dimension of intra-Asia student mobility. Furthermore, with regard to the Singapore local context, this account seeks to throw some new light on the hotly-debated "foreign talent" issue from the perspective of the scholarship-receiving students ("scholars"). With the title being a playful riff on G.W.F. Hegel's philosophical canon, this paper uses Hegelian notions such as self-consciousness, the "other", desire, and negation to narrate and analyse those aspects of the Mainland Chinese scholars' self-(trans)formative experiences revolving around the idiom of "very China"-ness. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2014.
Yildirim, Ertugrul, Alper Aslan, and Ilhan Ozturk. 2014. "Energy Consumption and GDP in ASEAN Countries: Bootstrap-Corrected Panel and Time Series Causality Tests." The Singapore Economic Review 59 (02):1450010.
doi: 10.1142/S0217590814500106.
Abstract
This study reexamines the relationship between energy consumption per capita and real GDP per capita for Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand using both panel data causality which is taking into account cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneity among the countries and time series causality tests for the period 1971–2009. The findings indicate that taking into account cross-sectional dependence has a substantial effect on the achieved results. The conservation hypothesis is supported for Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Although a bidirectional relation is found in the case of Thailand, since there is no positive effect of energy consumption on GDP, the conservation hypothesis is supported. In the pattern of Singapore, the neutrality hypothesis is supported. In addition, the increase in investment and labor force lead to more energy consumption in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
Young, Jason. 2014. "Space for Taiwan in regional economic integration: Cooperation and partnership with New Zealand and Singapore." Political Science 66 (1):3-22.
doi: 10.1177/0032318714531429.
Abstract
Taiwan businesses and policymakers recognise the importance of actively participating in regional economic integration agreements in the Asia-Pacific to avoid marginalisation from the emerging economic community. This has been a challenge due to Taiwan's position in the international system and Beijing's opposition to Taipei negotiating state-to-state agreements. The signing of the economic cooperation agreement with New Zealand (Agreement between New Zealand and the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu on Economic Cooperation, July 2013) and the economic partnership agreement with Singapore (Agreement between Singapore and the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu on Economic Partnership, November 2013) shows that an alternative pathway for participating in regional economic integration is possible. Based on extensive interviews in Taipei, the article identifies a framework for this pathway with three enablers and constraints: first, the use of the World Trade Organization nomenclature (Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu); second, improved cross-strait relations and the signing of the Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (2010); and, third, growth in the number of countries with existing preferential economic agreements and good relations with the People's Republic of China. This framework is discussed as one of four possible pathways to greater participation in regional integration with reference to potential trade agreements in the region and Beijing's one China policy. © The Author(s) 2014.
Zarif, Muhammad Mustaqim Mohd, Nurfadilah Mohamad, and Bhasah Abu Bakar. 2014. "Assessing quranic reading proficiency in the j-QAF programme." International Education Studies 7 (6):1-8.
doi: 10.5539/ies.v7n6p1.
Abstract
In its effort to provide solid religious foundation for Muslim students, the Ministry of Education Malaysia has launched a national religious literacy initiative known as the j-QAF Programme in 2004. This programme has since been implemented in public primary schools throughout the country and incorporated as a part of the curriculum of studies. The programme includes a wide range of basic religious skills including recitation of the Quran, the learning of the Jawi script and Arabic language as well as the basics of worship. After several years of its implementation, much concern is raised on the effectiveness of this programme in achieving its objectives. Thus, this preliminary paper aims to shed some light on this matter. Specifically, it focuses on analyzing the aspect of Quranic recitation skill, which constitutes one of the core subjects of the programme. A Quran reading test was administered to selected respondents in one of the schools, and the results were analyzed through descriptive statistical methods. The findings indicate the level of proficiency of the students in mastering the skill of Quranic recitation and its possible implication and reflection on the overall effectiveness of the programme.
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