Drivers of Globalization: An Evolutionary Perspective on Firm-State Relations in the Asian Newly Industrialized Economies

The emergence of firms from the Asian Newly Industrialized Economies (NIEs) in the global economy during the past two decades has been phenomenal. Many pundits have attributed the competitive success of these Asian NIE firms and their home economies to the relentless efforts of the so-called developmental states. They argue that state initiatives such as active industrial policy and financial support have enabled these "national champions" to venture into and compete successfully in the global economy. This statist approach to the globalization of Asian firms and their home economies, however, has unfortunately ignored the complex and dynamic evolutionary nature of firm-state relations within the changing context of economic globalization. Drawing upon an institutional and evolutionary theory of change and adjustments, I aim to explain how the global emergence of Asian firms cannot be simply read off from and explained by their embeddedness in the developmental state. Since the 1990s, these Asian firms have strategically disembedded from state apparatus and successfully reembedded themselves in dynamic global production networks. This shift of strategic partnership of Asian firms from firm-state to firm-firm networks has profound implications for our understanding of the present and future trajectories of regional economies in Asia. It presages the demise of the developmental state as the primary driver of economic change and growth in Asian economies. In developing my conceptualization of changing firm-state relations, this paper draws upon several emerging and interrelated research frontiers in economic geography that call for more theoretical attention to trans-local actors and processes, evolutionary dynamics of change, and institutional contexts.Firm-state relations, evolutionary dynamics, globalization, selection environment, global production networks

Accounting for Outward Direct Investment from Hong Kong and Singapore: Who Controls What?

After a brief introduction and examination of the economic rationale for accounting for foreign direct investment (FDI), we survey information on outward investors from Hong Kong and Singapore with the aim of illuminating the implications of accounting for such FDI by geographical source or by country of ultimate beneficial owner. By any measure it is clear that a large part of FDI from these economies comes from foreign-controlled firms and hence that ownership-based estimates of FDI from these two economies would be much smaller than the standard, geography-based estimates. However, because outward investment by foreign firms in Hong Kong and Singapore often involves sub- stantial contributions from local staff and partners, an attempt is made to examine the extent of control over investment decisions exercised by these local staff and partners. Case studies from Hong Kong indicate a tendency for for local control over investment decisions to be relatively strong in 4 types of foreign-controlled Hong Kong firms, recently acquired firms, firms with strong local entrepreneurial involvement, customer-oriented firms, and relocated holding companies. On the other hand, evidence froma sample of Thai affiliates of foreign-controlled Hong Kong or Singapore investors suggested that many of the investors were acting as part of an integrated network of foreign investors. Thus, although it is clear local staff and partners have a large influence over the investment decisions of foreign-controlled outward investors in Hong Kong and Singapore, it does not appear that such firms are a majority among foreign-controlled investors in these economies.

REDES DE PRODUÇÃO GLOBAIS E A ANÁLISE DO DESENVOLVIMENTO ECONÔMICO

Este artigo descreve um modelo para a análise da integração econômica e sua relação com as assimetrias do desenvolvimento econômico e social. Conscientemente rompendo com formas estado-cêntricas de ciência social, defende uma agenda de pesquisa que seja mais adequada às exigências e consequências da globalização do que tradicionalmente tem sido o caso nos ‘estudos sobre o desenvolvimento’. Baseando-se em tentativas anteriores de analisar as atividades transfronteiriças das firmas, suas configurações espaciais e consequências para o desenvolvimento, este artigo vai além destas ao propor o modelo da ‘rede de produção global’ (RPG). Ele explora os elementos conceituais envolvidos neste modelo com algum pormenor e depois passa a esboçar um exemplo estilizado de uma RPG. O artigo termina com uma breve indicação dos benefícios que poderiam ser obtidos pela pesquisa informada pela análise da RPG. Palavras-chave: Globalização. Desenvolvimento econômico. Redes de negócios. Instituições. Enraizamento.ABSTRACTThis article outlines a framework for the analysis of economic integration and its relation to the asymmetries of economic and social development. Consciously breaking with state-centric forms of social science, it argues for a research agenda that is more adequate to the exigencies and consequences of globalization than has traditionally been the case in ‘development studies’. Drawing on earlier attempts to analyse the cross-border activities of firms, their spatial configurations and developmental consequences, the article moves beyond these by proposing the framework of the ‘global production network’ (GPN). It explores the conceptual elements involved in this framework in some detail and then turns to sketch a stylized example of a GPN. The article concludes with a brief indication of the benefits that could be delivered by research informed by GPN analysis.Keywords: Globalization. Economic development. Business networks. Institutions. Embeddedness

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data