Growth in NICs in Asia: Some tests of new growth theory

New growth theory has revitalised the existing theory of long run growth by focusing on such determinants as investment in human capital, increasing returns to scale and the impact of openness in international trade. This article provides some empirical tests of this new growth theory in terms of the remarkable episodes of growth experienced by the NICs in the Asian Pacific Rim in general and by Korea in particular. The estimates appear to be strongly favourable to the basic premises of the new growth theory.     

政变喧嚣中的菲律宾

今年2月以来,太平洋岛国菲律宾接连遭遇天灾人祸.反对派在军民两方运作叛变阴谋,矛头直指当权集团,菲政局出现新一轮动荡.24日,总统阿罗约宣布全国实行紧急状态,并大力清洗反对派,局势逐渐稳定.3月3日,阿宣布紧急状态结束,菲律宾国家运转趋于正常化,但长远看来变数犹存.     

The structure of employment and structural adjustment in the Philippines

Growth in the 1970s seemed, at that time, to have brought the Philippines to a rather high equilibrium growth path. But the foreign debt and political crisis in the early and mid‐1980s had brought the economy down to a lower equilibrium path. The recovery years (1987 to 1990) did not prove to be sustainable, given the extreme debt overhang, so that the economy retreated once again to the lower equilibrium path in the early 1990s. Significant debt reduction schemes and the new inflows (remittances of overseas workers and rising foreign investments) allowed a new growth trend. Whether sufficient growth can be maintained in the medium and long term will depend to a large part on uncontrollable external conditions. Significant improvements in trade and industrial policies are needed so that external deficits and imports will finance those sectors that allow for creation of high quality employment. Policy will have to shift resources away from the trade, real estate and other service sectors to strong tradeable manufactures. If the Philippines cannot get out of the boom—bust cycle, labour productivity in the medium and long term will stagnate and the share of those employed in the total labour force will remain stable, leading to stagnating employment opportunities and worsening income distribution.     

菲律宾的"异俗游戏"

斗鸡在菲律宾有千年历史,素有"国技"之称,可见其受到喜爱的程度.最近,"斯莱舍杯"世界斗鸡大赛在首都马尼拉举行."斯莱舍大赛"号称世界上规模最大的斗鸡比赛,吸引了数以万计的狂热观众.     

Anti-globalization movements: The developments in Asia

The development of neo-liberal globalization and its socio-economic effects has led to the strengthening of social resistance and protest against it both in the 'North' or 'West' and in the 'South' and--to a lesser extent--in the 'East'. This resistance appears in the form of the so-called 'anti-globalization' or 'globalization-critical' movements. As these are international in their origin and nature, it is not easy to separate the anti-globalization movements of Asia from those of other continents. Nevertheless, Asia has its own movements, which are stronger than we in Europe might think. This article gives a comprehensive view of the different organizations of Asia by theme: neo-liberalism, speculative capital, environment, ownership of land, children's and gender emancipation, peace and imperialism. It also includes some commentary on debates within the movement.     

The spaces of economic crisis: Asia and the reconfiguration of neo-Marxist crisis theory

Neo-Weberian and Marxist theories of crisis have typically been built around analysis of crisis tendencies in a single industrially developed national economy. While neo-Marxist theories of development have noted various implications of analyses that take seriously the specificities of capitalism in developing countries, there is somewhat less work from neo-Marxist perspectives on theories of crisis. The economic crisis that hit Asia in 1997 has important transnational and subnational dimensions that invite further elaboration of such a neo-Marxist perspective. This article engages such elaboration through critical reconfiguration of Samir Amin’s core-periphery spatial ontology and deployment of this reconfigured ontology to explain specific features of the uneven development of the Asian crisis. Jim Glassman is assistant professor in the Department of Geography at the University of British Columbia. His interests are in state theory and the political economy of development in newly industrializing countries of Southeast Asia. He has conducted previous research on industrial development in Thailand, as well as on the economic crisis and structural adjustment in Thailand, South Korea, and Indonesia. His current research focuses on populist and nationalist political reactions to the Asian economic crisis. An earlier version of this article was presented at the Global Economic Geography Conference in Singapore, December 1999. The author would like to thank participants in that conference, along with Ruth Berins Collier, Eric Sheppard, and two anonymous SCID reviewers for valuable comments and criticisms. Some of the research for the article was undertaken with the assistance of an Izaak Walton Killam Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Department of Geography at the University of British Columbia.     

Ashes from the phoenix: state terrorism and the party-list groups in the Philippines

An ongoing theme in Filipino history has been the exclusion of the left from electoral politics. Something that may provide an aperture facilitating left-wing participation are the provisions of the 1987 Constitution providing for the election, based on proportional representation, of representatives from traditionally marginalized sectors of society. Since the implementation of these provisions, six party-list groups have become the visible face of the left in Philippine politics. However, since 2001, the Philippines have experienced a wave of assassinations targeting leftists. These killings, an emulation of the Phoenix Program implemented by the United States in Vietnam, are designed to destroy organizations used as ‘fronts’ by the Communist Party of the Philippines and the progressive party-list groups have been specifically targeted. These killings, and the fear they generate, are an example of state terrorism and, eventually, will prove themselves to be flawed counterinsurgency doctrine because, by precluding left-wing participation in electoral politics, they force the left into armed opposition.     

近看「花园岛国」——菲律宾

热情、鲜活·魅力四射……走进菲律宾一股勃勃盎然的暖流扑面而来,让你无法不爱上它.这方由7107座形态各异、如翡翠般透亮的礁屿组成的南海岛国,无时无刻不在向世界展示着它的美,它的真实,它的浑然,它的瑰丽.     

城市边缘青少年的犯罪预防

社会转型期,由于地区性的经济差异,大量外来青少年涌入大城市,成为“城市边缘青少年”,但是,由于我国青少年管理和立法的现状,我国预防青少年犯罪的机制在“城市边缘青少年”的问题的应对上存在着一系列的问题。笔者建议：首先政府应当建立专门的预防犯罪机构,组织,协调“城市边缘青少年”预防犯罪问题；其次增强基层社会管控力度和广度,将“城市边缘青少年”纳入所在地社区管理,同时政府投入资金,发展职业技术教育、保障基础教育,解决“城市边缘青少年”的教育问题；再次是加强城市人口调控,优化城市人口结构和素质等措施,预防青少年犯罪。     

“重返亚洲”——奥巴马政府东亚政策评析

奥巴马上台以来,迫于经济状况的不佳和承担义务的压力,美国在全球范围内不断调整战略。与在全球采取收缩战略不同的是,美国在亚洲地区却采取了积极参与的态度,引人关注。“重返亚洲”的口号表明亚洲事务将成为美国对外战略的重中之重。     

NGO strategies beyond aid: Perspectives from Central and South America and the Philippines

Though unevenly spread, many developing countries are experiencing a decline in aid flows. This paper explores and compares NGDO responses in regions and countries in or entering a 'beyond-aid scenario'. The comparison shows that, despite a diversity of contexts and histories, the quest for self-sustainability has become a common and dominant concern. Within a framework of options, examples show what is being attempted in terms of NGDOs altering their resource profile and the problems they encounter in doing so. Emerging evidence suggests that NGDOs are more likely to sustain themselves if they (a) look beyond finance to adopt an integrated, capacity-based approach to sustainability and internal organisational reform and (b) put effort into making good their 'relational deficit' with a wider array of domestic constituencies.