Agglomeration economies and the location of Taiwanese investment in China

We investigate the effect of agglomeration economies on Taiwanese greenfield investors' location choice in China from 1996 to 2005. Using a nested logit model, we find that Taiwanese investors first select a region in China where he or she wants to invest, before selecting the best province within that region. Furthermore, we find evidence that, since 2000, market access, industrial linkages and monitoring costs have become important agglomeration forces driving Taiwanese investors' location choice in China. Finally, we discover that the nature of agglomeration economies varies extensively for Taiwanese investors across different industries. Taken together, these findings suggest that the Chinese government must formulate region-wide development strategies and industry-specific policies if it wants to attract more Taiwanese investment in the near future.Agglomeration economies; China; Nested logit model; Taiwanese investment

China’s influence on Taiwan’s media and politics

Taiwan’s democracy and freedom of the press provide the Chinese authorities with an opportunity to use Taiwanese businessmen to influence Taiwan’s media outlets and politics. China uses three inter-related strategies to influence Taiwan’s media in this way: persuading businessmen with pro-China views to purchase Taiwanese media outlets, pressuring existing media owners, and placing advertisements in Taiwan’s media in order to purchase political influence. In addition, the Chinese government also employs cyber-propaganda strategy to attack Taiwanese political parties and politicians

Taiwanese Cinema

Like the island itself, the cinema of Taiwan has always been in a perpetual state of liminality. Taiwan was a Japanese colony for fifty years (1895–1945) and during that time no cinema that could be labeled as distinctively “Taiwanese” emerged. After World War II, Taiwanese cinema was still caught between a political rock and an economic hard place. Despite allowing some low-budget films to be made in the Taiwanese dialect, the Kuomintang (KMT, aka “Nationalist”) government made sure its cinema did not violate its core ideological tenets of a “Greater China.” This came largely at the expense of anything specifically “Taiwanese,” something the KMT saw as a threat to the legitimacy of its one-party rule over the island. Even when a commercial industry did slowly emerge in Taiwan in the 1960s, it still operated under the twin shadows of the government’s strict policies and the exporting prowess of Hong Kong, which dominated Taiwan’s Mandarin-language market. Moreover, Taiwan’s own private industry was in many ways an offshoot of that in Hong Kong, so much so that even in the late 1970s the annual International Film Guide continued to couple Hong Kong and Taiwan under a single entry. Only with the emergence of the Taiwanese New Cinema in the 1980s, with directors winning prizes at international film festivals, did a distinctively “Taiwanese” cinema begin to appear. Nevertheless, numerous ambiguities have persisted. Since the 1980s much of the literature outside of Taiwan tends to focus on this unexpected newcomer now making waves at film festivals across the globe. Within Taiwan, however, much of the literature often downplays such success when not denigrating it. Instead, much of the focus has been on why Taiwan—despite its economic prowess in other areas—could not match the commercial success enjoyed by Hong Kong and, more recently, South Korea. As a result, the literature on this subject is often Janus-faced, reflecting both the continued triumphs and the ongoing failures of Taiwanese cinema. [excerpt

DETERMINANTS OF TAIWANESE INVESTMENT IN CHINA: AN AGGLOMERATION ECONOMIES-BASED PERSPECTIVE

We investigate the impact of agglomeration economies on the distribution of Taiwanese investment in China for the period 1996-2005. We find that the uneven distribution of Taiwanese investment can be explained by agglomeration economies related to industrial linkages, labour-market pooling and monitoring costs. Furthermore, we find evidence that the nature of agglomeration forces attracting Taiwanese investment not only differs across regions but also changes over time. Importantly, we find mild evidence that this investment is affected by a `market crowding effect', or that the benefit from agglomeration decreases once the market size exceeds a critical threshold.Agglomeration economies; China; Taiwanese investment

Determinants of Taiwanese investment in China: An agglomeration economies-based perspective

We investigate the impact of agglomeration economies on the distribution of Taiwanese investment in China for the period 1996-2005. We find that the uneven distribution of Taiwanese investment can be explained by agglomeration economies related to industrial linkages, labour-market pooling and monitoring costs. Furthermore, we find evidence that the nature of agglomeration forces attracting Taiwanese investment not only differs across regions but also changes over time. Importantly, we find mild evidence that this investment is affected by a market crowding effect, or that the benefit from agglomeration decreases once the market size exceeds a critical threshold.Agglomeration economies; China; Taiwanese investment

The Interdependence of Taiwanese and Japanese Stock Prices

This paper empirically analyzes the relationship among the prices of Taiwanese stocks, Japanese stocks, and crude oil from January 1980 to July 2008. It provides some interesting results: (1) crude oil prices made an impact on Japanese stock prices, while the latter exerted a strong influence on Taiwanese stock prices during the period of Japan's economic growth; (2) however, no causality was observed among the variables during the Japanese economy's "lost decade"; and (3) causality from Japanese stock prices and crude oil prices to Taiwanese stock prices was observed during the period of Japan's economic recovery.Taiwanese stock prices, Japanese stock prices, LA-VAR

The interdependence of Taiwanese and Japanese stock prices

This paper empirically analyzes the relationship among the prices of Taiwanese stocks, Japanese stocks, and crude oil from January 1980 to July 2008. It provides some interesting results: (1) crude oil prices made an impact on Japanese stock prices, while the latter exerted a strong influence on Taiwanese stock prices during the period of Japan’s economic growth; (2) however, no causality was observed among the variables during the Japanese economy’s "lost decade"; and (3) causality from Japanese stock prices and crude oil prices to Taiwanese stock prices was observed during the period of Japan’s economic recovery.Taiwanese stock prices; Japanese stock prices; LA-VAR

Taiwanese Comedies Under the Shadow of the Chinese Market

Comedy is arguably the most local of genres. Tropical Fish (1995) is a Taiwanese comedy that made no effort to disguise its local flavour, and was largely unseen outside of Taiwan. Recent Taiwanese comedies such as You Are the Apple of My Eye (2011), The Wonderful Wedding (2015) and Our Times (2015) have achieved not only success in Taiwan, but also unprecedented box office in the mainland Chinese market. Compared to Tropical Fish, all three films also seemingly tone down the local flavour to varying degrees. This is due to the irresistible pull of recent opportunities posed by the astronomical growth of the mainland Chinese market. This paper will analyze the economic forces that have resulted in changes in Taiwanese comedies themselves while at the same time showing that there are varying textual strategies for dealing with the ‘local’ flavour in this new economic climate where the booming Chinese market now has become a major consideration

Short research report : exploring resilience development in a Taiwanese preschooler’s narrative : an emerging theoretical model

Short Research Report:Exploring resilience development in a Taiwanese preschooler’s narrative: An emerging theoretical model.peer-reviewe

Location Choice of Multinational Enterprises in China: Comparison between Japan and Taiwan

This paper explores the location choice of MNEs in China, shedding special light on the role of agglomeration of same-nationality firms. In particular, we examine how its role differs according to investors’ productivity. Furthermore, we compare the location choice of Japanese and Taiwanese MNEs in China, because Taiwanese MNEs are expected to experience less uncertainty in investing in China than Japanese MNEs, due to Taiwan’s linguistic and cultural advantages in China. We find that, less productive Japanese firms prefer to locate close to larger same-nationality agglomerations, there are no differences in location according to firms’ productivity in the case of Taiwanese firms.