A Survey of Technology Usage by Businesses in Regional Thailand

This paper reports the preliminary results of an exploratory survey of information technology usage by businesses located in regional Thailand. With growing concern about the digital divide, Thailand is an important and interesting region to study. There has been very little prior research that has examined the take-up of information technology in this region. The research context for this study is particularly important for two reasons. Firstly, Thailand is considered a rapidly developing country in the Asia Pacific region and, secondly, the regional area of Chiang Mai where the survey was conducted has a population of less than 5% of that of Bangkok the capital of Thailand. The results of this study show a high rate of technology acceptance and use. The findings also indicate that the Internet has achieved wide acceptance as a means of doing business.Full Tex

Global Innovation Policy Index

Ranks fifty-five nations' strategies to boost innovation capacity: policies on trade, scientific research, information and communications technologies, tax, intellectual property, domestic competition, government procurement, and high-skill immigration

Cloud computing and prospective business and economic impacts in developing country: A case study of Thailand

The cloud computing model is a modern concept of computation that provides a number of benefits for its adopters. This online computing model has been widely used in the western world and accepted to have some business and economic impacts. This paper provides some basic knowledge about cloud computing along with its economic benefits. The author proposes that there is an endogenous relationship between the cloud computing and each of the business and economic variables, namely output, employment, and labour productivity. In order to forecast the impacts of the cloud computing adoption, the Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model is constructed. Thailand is selected as ground for investigation. Apart from the bi-directional causality, the results also show prospective positive impacts of the cloud computing adoption on the growth of output, employment, and labour productivity. Despite the macroeconomic benefits, some policy implications include the encouragement of the cloud computing adoption in universities and banks in order to realise the benefit of scalability and efficient usage of computing resources. --Cloud computing,Macroeconomic indicators,Forecast,Thailand

East Asian SME Capacity Building, Competitiveness and Market Opportunities in a Global Economy

Over the past decade the economies of East Asia, and APEC more generally, have been opening up their markets and in the process have achieved significant gains in exports and economic growth. In conjunction with this increased economic integration there has been increased recognition by regional governments of the potential for a substantial increase in the participation by small businesses in the generation of regional income, employment, exports, investment and expanded economic growth. Advances in information and communications technology add credence to this potential. In addition, developing economies are especially seeing small businesses as potential instruments for the alleviation of poverty. This viewpoint has been given further stimulus since the financial and economic crisis of 1997-98, arising from which there has been a growing recognition of the need for the East Asian economies to engage in comprehensive restructuring of their corporate sectors, with the objective of achieving transparency, improving corporate governance and developing globally competitive enterprises. The small and medium enterprise (SME) sector can play a key role in the attainment of such objectives. This paper reviews the contribution of the SME sector to the growth and development of the regional (East Asian) economies, and their increasing importance in the attainment of a sustained recovery of the region in terms of economic growth, employment, trade and investment and the development of globally competitive economies. It also identifies: barriers to their development; key factors essential for their capacity building; strategies to enhance their competitiveness in the global marketplace; and key components relating to their export success.East Asia, small and medium-sized enterprises, competitiveness, export success

The Impact of Free Trade Agreements on Business Activity : A Survey of Firms in the People's Republic of China

The Peoples Republic of China (PRC) has emerged as a major player in the global economy and considers free trade agreements (FTAs) an important part of its global trading strategy. The PRCs export industries are embedded in existing regional and global production networks and are reliant on foreign direct investment flows and external supplies of material and intermediate goods. Immediately after its accession to the World Trade Organization in December 2001, the PRC adopted a regional approach to trade and began negotiating and implementing FTAs. This paper analyzes the results of a survey undertaken across 232 Chinese firms with regard to FTA-related issues such as utilization, perceived costs and benefits, perceptions of multiple rules of origin, and policy and institutional support mechanisms. It was found that, of the firms surveyed, 45% were using FTAs to some extent. While this utilization rate appears relatively high, and reflects the assertive stance of Chinese firms when it comes to exploring market opportunities, the actual coverage of export value by FTAs is variable. In general, Chinese firms view FTAs as a way to increase their access to partner markets. Nevertheless, there remains an orientation toward the United States and other traditional markets. However, over time, as rebalancing of growth takes place, there may be a shift in market orientation toward the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and regional markets and the use of FTAs may intensify. This study offers several proposals to increase FTA use, including the expansion of support services for firms, the promotion of larger regional FTAs, and the creation of more opportunities for collaboration between the government and the private sector.China, FTA, utilization rate, growth rebalancing

The Impact of Free Trade Agreements on Business Activity: A Survey of Firms in the People's Republic of China

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has emerged as a major player in the global economy and considers free trade agreements (FTAs) an important part of its global trading strategy. The PRC’s export industries are embedded in existing regional and global production networks and are reliant on foreign direct investment flows and external supplies of material and intermediate goods. Immediately after its accession to the World Trade Organization in December 2001, the PRC adopted a regional approach to trade and began negotiating and implementing FTAs. This paper analyzes the results of a survey undertaken across 232 Chinese firms with regard to FTA-related issues such as utilization, perceived costs and benefits, perceptions of multiple rules of origin, and policy and institutional support mechanisms. It was found that, of the firms surveyed, 45% were using FTAs to some extent. While this utilization rate appears relatively high, and reflects the assertive stance of Chinese firms when it comes to exploring market opportunities, the actual coverage of export value by FTAs is variable. In general, Chinese firms view FTAs as a way to increase their access to partner markets. Nevertheless, there remains an orientation toward the United States and other traditional markets. However, over time, as rebalancing of growth takes place, there may be a shift in market orientation toward the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and regional markets and the use of FTAs may intensify. This study offers several proposals to increase FTA use, including the expansion of support services for firms, the promotion of larger regional FTAs, and the creation of more opportunities for collaboration between the government and the private sector.chinese firm survey; free trade agreement; utilization

Factors Affecting U.S. Trade and Shipments of Information Technology Products: Computer Equipment, Telecommunications Equipment, and Semiconductors

Despite a recent downturn, the information technology (IT) products sector experienced a tremendous expansion in trade and shipments during the last decade and became an increasingly important component of the U.S. economy. This expansion was driven by a variety of factors such as the globalization of IT production, constant technological innovation, rapid growth in worldwide consumption, and global trade liberalization. This working paper will examine these factors, providing particular attention to the computer equipment, telecommunications equipment, and semiconductor industries.International Development,

FTAs and Philippine Business: Evidence from Transport, Food, and Electronics Firms

Within East Asia, the outward-oriented Philippine economy is a latecomer to using free trade agreements (FTAs) as a trade policy instrument and has relied heavily on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for regional liberalization. While negotiating FTAs has consumed scarce time and other resources, limited attention has been hitherto given to evaluating the impact of FTAs-particularly the 15-year-old ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) agreement-on business activity in the Philippines. Using a survey of 155 manufactured goods exporters from three sectors (transport equipment, processed foods, and electronics), this study deals with three questions: (i) Do firms use AFTA and why?; (ii) What impedes firms from using AFTA and other FTAs?; and (iii) What can be done to improve FTA use at firm level in the future? The study finds that utilization of AFTA is higher than expected from existing studies and is set to double in the future. Econometric analysis suggests that firm age, domestic ownership, awareness of FTAs, and membership in the transport sector increase the probability of using AFTA. Surprisingly, among nonusers, a lack of information is the biggest barrier to FTA use. Other impediments to use include the availability of export processing zone incentive schemes, low most-favored-nation rates (particularly in electronics), delays in origin administration, rent-seeking behavior, and nontariff measures in partner country markets. Interestingly, the majority of firms do not think that multiple rules of origin in overlapping Asian FTAs add significantly to business costs. However, there is room for improvement in the system of AFTA rules of origin (e.g., lower value content and introduction of self-certification mechanisms). The examination of institutional support reveals an excess demand for a range of support services (e.g., information, technology-based, and small or medium enterprise extension services) that will enable firms to use FTAs more effectively in the future. The paper concludes by making the case for better mainstreaming of FTAs into Philippine national trade policy and for improving support services to firms.philippines fta impact; philippines fta business; philippines economy ftas

FTAs and Philippine Business : Evidence from Transport, Food, and Electronics Firms

Within East Asia, the outward-oriented Philippine economy is a latecomer to using free trade agreements (FTAs) as a trade policy instrument and has relied heavily on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for regional liberalization. While negotiating FTAs has consumed scarce time and other resources, limited attention has been hitherto given to evaluating the impact of FTAsparticularly the 15-year-old ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) agreementon business activity in the Philippines. Using a survey of 155 manufactured goods exporters from three sectors (transport equipment, processed foods, and electronics), this study deals with three questions : (i) Do firms use AFTA and why?; (ii) What impedes firms from using AFTA and other FTAs?; and (iii) What can be done to improve FTA use at firm level in the future? The study finds that utilization of AFTA is higher than expected from existing studies and is set to double in the future. Econometric analysis suggests that firm age, domestic ownership, awareness of FTAs, and membership in the transport sector increase the probability of using AFTA. Surprisingly, among nonusers, a lack of information is the biggest barrier to FTA use. Other impediments to use include the availability of export processing zone incentive schemes, low most-favored-nation rates (particularly in electronics), delays in origin administration, rent-seeking behavior, and nontariff measures in partner country markets. Interestingly, the majority of firms do not think that multiple rules of origin in overlapping Asian FTAs add significantly to business costs. However, there is room for improvement in the system of AFTA rules of origin (e.g., lower value content and introduction of self-certification mechanisms). The examination of institutional support reveals an excess demand for a range of support services (e.g., information, technology-based, and small or medium enterprise extension services) that will enable firms to use FTAs more effectively in the future. The paper concludes by making the case for better mainstreaming of FTAs into Philippine national trade policy and for improving support services to firms.FTA, The Philippines, Transport, Food, and Electronics Firms

The global information technology report 2014

Executive summary When The Global Information Technology Report (GITR) and the Networked Readiness Index (NRI) were created more than 13 years ago, the attention of decision makers was focused on how to develop strategies that would allow them to benefit from what Time Magazine had described as “the new economy”: a new way of organizing and managing economic activity based on the new opportunities that the Internet provided for businesses. At present, the world is slowly emerging from one of the worst financial and economic crises in decades, and policymakers, business leaders, and civil society are looking into new opportunities that can consolidate growth, generate new employment, and create business opportunities. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) continue to rank high on the list as one of the key sources of new opportunities to foster innovation and boost economic and social prosperity, for both advanced and emerging economies. For more than 13 years, the NRI has provided decision makers with a useful conceptual framework to evaluate the impact of ICTs at a global level and to benchmark the ICT readiness and usage of their economies