The economic security of Taiwan : a case study of cross-strait relations between Taiwan and China, 2000-2004

This thesis aims to demonstrate that economic security is also a significant pillar of safeguarding national security. Aside from military security measures, adopting peaceful economic engagement and economic measures can be an alternative security policy choice through which a state may achieve its national security agenda. To facilitate an understanding of economic security, this thesis submits a working definition of economic security, which has been delineated as 'the protection of a core value from all forms of potential or actualised threat by using economic measures and policies'. The core value refers to national interests and security Objectives. With this framework, the current thesis takes Taiwan as a case study to assess Taiwan's effort of implementing economic security strategy to accomplish its national security agenda within the context of the complex and hostile cross-Strait relations yet growing economic integration. This research intends to answer three categories of questions. Firstly, how large is the cost to Taiwan of pursuing economic security vis-a-vis China, and what is Taiwan's capability to afford such cost? Secondly, what factors would contribute to or undermine Taiwan's efforts in practising economic security, and to what extent? Thirdly, do cross-Strait economic ties strengthen or weaken Taiwan's economic security with respect to its economic performance, and to what extent? From three perspectives, this study analyses the above questions. Firstly, it analyses how Taiwan has employed economic power to construct its national security within the international system. Secondly, it examines how Taiwan has utilised economic measures to resist China's political and economic influence. Thirdly, from an economic perspective, it examines whether Taiwan's economic security objectives, in the context of its capability of sustaining economic prosperity, have been enhanced when it has engaged in economic exchange with China

Price and volatility behaviour of four Asian stock markets

The past ten years have witnessed many changes in the Asian economies and stock markets, particularly in the Four Tigers, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. They enjoyed economic growth well above the world average during the late 1980s and early 1990s. There were sharp increases in their stock market capitalisations against the background of low growth and low interest rates in the US and European countries in the early 1990s. This coincided with the time when measures to liberalise these markets were implemented to allow or attract foreign direct investments in their stock markets. Then by mid 1997, both their economies and stock markets began to slump. This ten year time period thus provides a good opportunity to examine how such economic and institutional changes affected the price and volatility behaviour of the Four Tigers and their relationships with other markets. Overall, the findings of the thesis suggest that with the increase in foreign participation in the four individual markets, the influence of noise trading activities has been reduced through more and better informed trading. However, their relationships with three world major markets, the US, the UK and Japan, are not getting much stronger. There is no evidence to suggest that their prices are being increasingly led by the world markets, nor is their volatility becoming more sensitive to foreign news. Their price and volatility relationships with three regional markets, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, were not particularly strong either, until recently, when the Asian financial crisis has made them more responsive to shocks from one another. The message to the governments of the Four Tigers is clear. Foreign direct equity investments have not destabilised their stock markets. Instead, the mismanagement of their own and/or their trading partners' economies should be held more responsible

On SARS type economic effects during infectious disease outbreaks

Infectious disease outbreaks can exact a high human and economic cost through illness and death. But, as with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in East Asia in 2003, or the plague outbreak in Surat, India, in 1994, they can also create severe economic disruptions even when there is, ultimately, relatively little illness or death. Such disruptions are commonly the result of uncoordinated and panicky efforts by individuals to avoid becoming infected, of preventive activity. This paper places these"SARS type"effects in the context of research on economic epidemiology, in which behavioral responses to disease risk have both economic and epidemiological consequences. The paper looks in particular at how people form subjective probability judgments about disease risk. Public opinion surveys during the SARS outbreak provide suggestive evidence that people did indeed at times hold excessively high perceptions of the risk of becoming infected, or, if infected, of dying from the disease. The paper discusses research in behavioral economics and the theory of information cascades that may shed light on the origin of such biases. The authors consider whether public information strategies can help reduce unwarranted panic. A preliminary question is why governments often seem to have strong incentives to conceal information about infectious disease outbreaks. The paper reviews recent game-theoretic analysis that clarifies government incentives. An important finding is that government incentives to conceal decline the more numerous are non-official sources of information about a possible disease outbreak. The findings suggest that honesty may indeed be the best public policy under modern conditions of easy mass global communications.Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Disease Control&Prevention,Population Policies,Hazard Risk Management,Gender and Health

Demand-oriented innovation policy: Mapping the field and proposing a research agenda for developing countries

This article conducts a scoping review of demand side innovation policies and its associated instruments in relevant English language academic literature. Demand-side innovation policies aim to improve contextual conditions to encourage innovation adoption to address government-defined societal challenges. From the demand approach, innovation policy is expected to involve a directionality, which originates from collective priorities around relevant problems. Based on a scooping review of the innovation policy literature from the demand perspective, this research has characterized trends in the discussion about innovation policies that target such challenges, a perspective that complements the traditional supply side policy instruments. Findings indicate that literature on demand-side policies has mainly addressed energy and sustainability issues in European countries and China. Additionally, although demand-side policies have been advocated for a relatively long time, the literature recognizes that a policy mix involving also the supply-side can be more effective in encouraging innovation. In Latin America, demand-side policies have been poorly understood, leading to a defective implementation of policies and instruments. The stage of research on demand-side policies is still evolving and this article advances research propositions on innovation policy, with a deep focus on how they can be implemented in innovation-lagging developing countries

Exploring the evidence base for national and regional policy interventions to combat resistance

The effectiveness of existing policies to control antimicrobial resistance is not yet fully understood. A strengthened evidence base is needed to inform effective policy interventions across countries with different income levels and the human health and animal sectors. We examine three policy domains—responsible use, surveillance, and infection prevention and control—and consider which will be the most effective at national and regional levels. Many complexities exist in the implementation of such policies across sectors and in varying political and regulatory environments. Therefore, we make recommendations for policy action, calling for comprehensive policy assessments, using standardised frameworks, of cost-effectiveness and generalisability. Such assessments are especially important in low-income and middle-income countries, and in the animal and environmental sectors. We also advocate a One Health approach that will enable the development of sensitive policies, accommodating the needs of each sector involved, and addressing concerns of specific countries and regions

Semi-peripheral ascent and changes in national social formation : the case of Taiwan (1987/88-2007)

PhD ThesisThe thesis uses Taiwan as a case study to examine the following argument: both the changes to the capitalist world-system and the political dynamics of domestic statecapital- labour relations determine national capitalist development and ascent trajectory. Taiwan was chosen as a case study because it demonstrates the particular developmental trajectory of semi-peripheral ascent (ascent from the semi-periphery) and of a rising East Asian economy. I study the case by firstly analysing Taiwan’s peripheral ascent (from the periphery to the semi-periphery) in the historical process. Secondly the thesis studies three sectors as a national case, namely the industrial sector, the financial sector, and the labour sector. The three sectors demonstrate the dynamics of a semi-peripheral ascent trajectory as they represent the development of industrial production, financial expansion, and anti-systemic movements, which are all keys to influence semi-peripheral ascent. The thesis finds that although there are opportunities for Taiwan’s semi-peripheral ascent, Taiwan has not yet ascended to the core. The reasons are (1) the state’s restrictions on the overseas expansion of Taiwanese industrial capital and financial capital, in particular to China; (2) Taiwanese industrial capital and financial capital still rely on capital from the core zone. The thesis therefore contributes to the study of semi-peripheral ascent by adding analysis of domestic state-capital-labour relations into the context of a changing capitalist world-system

Is East Asia Industrializing Too Quickly? Environmental Regulation in its Special Economic Zones

East Asia is undergoing its own Industrial Revolution. Special economic zones (SEZs) are playing a key role in its economic transformation. However, industrialization has brought great environmental concern. Over recent decades, China, the Philippines, South Korea, and other newly industrializing economies in East Asia have designated special areas for foreign investment and export production to which have been conceded favourable investment and trade conditions, and often exemption from certain kinds of regulation. Race to the bottom and related theories of the effects of inter-jurisdictional competition for investment predict that environmental regulation would be compromised in SEZs. Contrary to such hypotheses, there is some evidence that environmental regulation in East Asia\u27s industrializing zones is stricter than in other parts of their economies, and that foreign investors are sometimes more strictly regulated than local businesses. The experience of East Asia\u27s SEZs - particularly in China - suggests we need to re-think how we conceptualise the relationships between environmental law and foreign investment in the context of rapidly industrializing developing countries. This experience also reveals persistent weaknesses in the legal systems of East Asia and the fragility of the rule of (environmental) law. To address this, further reform to the environmental regulation of SEZs should be grounded in more wide-ranging and basic improvements to administrative regimes, policy instruments and access to justice

The Characteristics of Sino-Taiwanese Joint Ventures in the People's Republic of China

The main objective of this thesis is to shed light on the characteristics and performance of Sino-Taiwanese joint ventures (JVs) in the People's Republic of China and in particular to investigate the role played by guanxi (interpersonal relationships) in their formation and in the way they function. The research shows that guanxi enhances the effectiveness of Taiwanese joint venture partners by overcoming unanticipated external environmental factors and enabling them to deal with the complex internal managerial issues associated with the Chinese market. The different political and economic relations between Taiwan and China make the joint venture entry strategy attractive to Taiwanese investors. Taiwanese investors share similar cultural identity and speak the same dialect as much of Mainland China. The literature on international joint venture formation is reviewed and compared business made between western style networking and guanxi relationships in Chinese business communities. The impact of cultural similarity on partner selection has been added in this study of Sino-Taiwanese Ns, which therefore provides a new strategic perspective. A triangulation research method is employed to provide a systematic analysis. In particular, a first set of interviews identified the possible variables in JV development and established important contacts in China, to assist in carrying out a second questionnaire survey. A further round of interviews confirmed the validity of the findings. A strong positive correlation was found between firms' cooperative strategies and the uncertainties of the Chinese business environment. This has demonstrably influenced Taiwanese investors' decision to collaborate with Chinese firms in joint ventures. The interview evidence clearly shows the importance of guanxi at different stages of JV formation and development. The thesis concludes that the effective use of guanxi has enhanced Taiwanese investors' effectiveness within the highly uncertain business environment of China