Technology transfer, FDI and economic growth in the ASEAN region

The aim of this study was to investigate the intensity of international technology transfer in selected ASEAN economies through import of machinery and foreign direct investment. The technology transfer intensities across the ASEAN economies vary substantially, with Singapore leading among the four selected economies, followed by Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. The intensities of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into the region is closely related to the levels of technology transfer to the region. It is observed that the Asian financial crisis did alter the concentration of FDI inflows in these countries. The data also show that the ratios suffered a setback in the year after 1998. After this setback, both Malaysia and Singapore gained momentum again in attracting inflows of FDI, almost double the ratio of 1998. This indicates that Malaysia and Singapore were the most successful among the selected ASEAN countries in tapping the benefits of FDI and technological transfers with good strategies and policies. In contrast, Indonesia faced a continuing outflow of FDI since the crisis, yielding a negative impact on its economic activities. Among nations, Japan and the United States are the two dominant FDI providers for the ASEAN region, and they have contributed substantially in the transfer of technologies into the region

Linearity and stationarity of South Asian real exchange rates

The linearity and stationarity of the real exchange rates of India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are investigated using formal linearity and the recently developed nonlinear stationary test procedures. Results obtained show that these real exchange rates are stationary albeit the presence of nonlinearity

India-ASEAN-5 economic integration: impact of liberalization

Understanding the degree of integration between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is important to measure the impact of the proposed India-ASEAN Free Trade Area (FTA). If both India and ASEAN are well integrated, the impact of such liberalization will be small and vice versa. The Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) and Phillips and Perron (PP) test results indicate that India and ASEAN are relatively integrated with respect to goods and services markets, but the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) evidence is comparatively still a weaker one. Financial market integration, however, remains significantly incomplete. The main implication of this finding is that the impact of future liberalization will be great on financial markets. Due to the weak PPP evidence, the goods and services markets will also receive substantial impact from future liberalization. This suggests that the two regions could further exploit their partnership in FTA in their complementary areas, both in goods and services markets, and financial markets, in particular

Linearity and stationarity of South Asian real exchange rates

The linearity and stationarity of the real exchange rates of India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are investigated using formal linearity and the recently developed nonlinear stationary test procedures. Results obtained show that these real exchange rates are stationary albeit the presence of nonlinearity

Species richness and ecosystem functioning of southeast asian dung beetle fauna

Master'sMASTER OF SCIENC

Using theory and evidence to design behaviour change interventions for reducing unsustainable wildlife consumption

Efforts to shift unsustainable human behaviour are at the crux of many conservation interventions, particularly when addressing illegal or unsustainable wildlife trade. These efforts, often in the form of behaviour change interventions, have proven largely unable to counteract this pervasive issue, however, leading to calls for more robust intervention designs. In behavioural science fields like public health, design processes that integrate human behaviour theory and evidence from data collection are often developed to ground behaviour change interventions within a strong understanding of the context, thus supporting interventions that are efficient and have a higher likelihood of success. Here we detail the foundational process of designing an intervention around the use of a wildlife product by a particular group: Singaporean consumers of saiga horn (from the Critically Endangered Saiga tatarica). We employ both qualitative and quantitative data, along with human behaviour theories and past literature on the study system, to develop a comprehensive understanding of the many influences driving this target audience to purchase saiga horn products. We use this insight to identify the key influences to leverage in a behaviour change intervention: those that are both the most powerful and the most amenable to change. This work provides a reproducible process which can be used by other intervention implementers, highlights the often complex intricacies of socially influenced behaviour, and demonstrates why a methodical understanding of these intricacies is invaluable when attempting to shift human behaviour for conservation goals. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article

THREE-YEAR FOLLOW-UP OF PATIENTS WITH ST-SEGMENT ELEVATION MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION WHO RECEIVED ENDOTHELIAL PROGENITOR CELL CAPTURE STENT WHILE UNDERGOING PRIMARY PERCUTANEOUS CORONARY INTERVENTION

American College of Cardiology Congres

Evaluating a large-scale online behaviour change intervention aimed at wildlife product consumers in Singapore.

Interventions to shift the behaviour of consumers using unsustainable wildlife products are key to threatened species conservation. Whether these interventions are effective is largely unknown due to a dearth of detailed evaluations. We previously conducted a country-level online behaviour change intervention targeting consumers of the Critically Endangered saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica) horn in Singapore. To evaluate intervention impact, we carried out in-person consumer surveys with >2,000 individuals pre- and post-intervention (2017 and 2019), and 93 in-person post-intervention surveys with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) shopkeepers (2019). The proportion of self-reported high-usage saiga horn consumers in the target audience (Chinese Singaporean women aged 35-59) did not change significantly from pre- to post-intervention (24.4% versus 22.6%). However, post-intervention the target audience was significantly more likely than the non-target audience to accurately recall the intervention message and to report a decrease in saiga horn usage (4% versus 1% reported a behaviour change). Within the target audience, high-usage consumers were significantly more likely than lower-usage consumers to recall the message and report a behaviour change. Across respondents who reported a decrease in saiga horn usage, they cited the intervention message as a specific reason for their behaviour change significantly more than other reasons. Additionally, across all respondents, the belief that saiga is a common species in the wild decreased significantly from pre- to post-intervention. TCM shopkeepers, however, cited factors such as price and availability as the strongest influences on saiga horn sales. In sum, the intervention did significantly influence some consumers but the reduction of high-usage consumer frequency was not significant at the population level. We explore reasons for these findings, including competing consumer influences, characteristics of the intervention, and evaluation timing. This work suggests our intervention approach has potential, and exemplifies a multi-pronged in-person evaluation of an online wildlife trade consumer intervention

Saiga horn user characteristics, motivations, and purchasing behaviour in Singapore.

Unsustainable wildlife trade is a pervasive issue affecting wildlife globally. To address this issue, a plethora of demand reduction efforts have been carried out. These necessitate consumer research which provides crucial knowledge for designing and evaluating targeted interventions. We implemented a rigorous consumer survey on saiga (Saiga tatarica) horn use in Singapore, where usage is legal and widely sold. Saiga are Critically Endangered antelopes from Central Asia with horns (often marketed as ling yang) used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Few past studies have assessed saiga horn consumers. This work is the most extensive consumer research to date specifically characterising saiga horn consumers and usage. We conducted 2294 in-person surveys on saiga horn use with Chinese Singaporeans, employing neutral questioning approaches. We found 19% of individuals reported saiga horn as a product they choose most often for themselves and/or others when treating fever and/or heatiness (a TCM state of illness), indicating a minimum estimate of high-frequency usage, not including possible low-frequency users. Overall saiga users were most characterised as middle-aged Buddhists and Taoists. However, saiga users were found in a range of demographic groups. Women preferred saiga shavings (the more traditional form), while men preferred saiga cooling water (the more modern form). About 53% of individuals who used saiga horn themselves also bought it for someone else. Buyers for others were most likely to be female middle-aged Buddhists or Taoists. Key motivating reasons for usage were "it works" and "someone recommended it to me." The top two reported recommenders were family and TCM shopkeepers. Saiga users were more likely than non-saiga users to perceive saiga as a common species in the wild. This research holds significance for interventions targeting saiga horn consumption within Singapore and throughout Asia, by identifying potential target audiences, product types, non-desirable alternatives, and motivations for use

Nature-based Solutions for Climate Change Mitigation: Challenges and Opportunities for the ASEAN Region

Nature-based climate solutions (NbS) are widely available, scalable, and cost-effective mechanisms to sequester carbon and safeguard Southeast Asia’s large carbon stocks. In addition, NbS provide ample co-benefits such a reducing haze, protecting biodiversity and shorelines, ecosystem services, and can provide economic opportunities through carbon credits and small-scale economies