This is a comprehensive examination of the role of foreign direct investment in East Asia before and after the financial crisis of mid-1997.

Multinationals and East Asian Integration

Both proponents and opponents of globalization assume it is a process that sweeps across national borders. Indeed, over the last twenty years, the key features of globalization provide prima facie evidence for this conventional wisdom. Dramatic developments in information and communications technology, the rise of global companies and production networks, the unstoppable internationalization of financial markets, and the deregulation and privatization of service sectors are all important examples of how this process unfolds in its raw form. Nevertheless, the increase in regional economic activity is another striking feature of this process. As multinational corporations extend their global reach, regional networks also emerge in the global trading system. Globalization therefore does not only mean a global convolution of economies, but could also lead to a spatial concentration of economic activity. All through the 1990s and at the beginning of the new century, East Asia experienced numerous structural changes leading to interesting market developments. South Korea’s rise to developed country status, the integration of the Southeast Asian economies, and the rise of China have made this region the manufacturing center of the global economy. Considering the economic importance of Japan and the other East Asian nations in the world, the crucial questions that arise include: What are the linkages between the global strategies of multinational corporations and their regional business operations? Why do subregional strategies emerge, especially recently to take advantage of China as a production base and market? Are the modern business practices in a multinational corporation’s home country easily transferred to their overseas operations and are they readily absorbed by local employees? Finally, which strategic directions are Japanese, American, East Asian and European enterprises going in this important business area of the world? To answer these questions, this book takes a closer look at several structural features of the East Asian economy and the corporate and business strategies of multinational corporations. The volume assembles up-to-date research by a number of European, Australian and Japanese scholars, and presents analysis of various business aspects of regional strategies in a global economy.

Although Asia has been the world engine of economic growth since World War II, growth rates have differed sharply among the countries of the region. Still, all Asian countries have experienced some degree of growth limitation. Japan is facing the crucial issue of a quickly aging and shrinking population, a situation that South Korea is bound to face in the near future too. China, which still enjoys relatively high growth rates, is dealing with an exhaustion of its export-led growth model based on low wages, as well as huge and unprecedented environmental problems. In addition, food supply is still a concern for most Asian countries in spite of huge increases in productivity in the agricultural sector, the main reason being that global demand for food products has been increasing at an even higher speed. This edited collection focuses on the policies – at the macroeconomic level – and strategies – at the micro-meso economic levels – that need to be deployed in order to overcome the limits to growth in a post-global financial crisis and export-led growth context. It will be of interest to all scholars of economics, management and the political sciences who work on the economies of East Asia, and also to all those who work on the theme of 'transition economies'.

Analysing the role of multinational investors in emerging Asian economies and the implications for regional economic integration, this astute study examines the increasing role being played by Asian countries in the global economy. Encompassing a large number of diverse manufacturing and service sectors, this book highlights the cultural and strategic challenges faced by multinational investors in the region in which they invest. It shows that despite high rates of economic growth in Asian countries presenting multinational traders and investors with unparalleled market opportunities, there have been only tentative moves towards regional economic integration. Areas such as trade facilitation, uniform customs clearance, removal of non-tariff barriers and labour deployment issues are yet to be adequately addressed.

This book presents important and original studies of international trade and investment in relation to regional economic integration, with particular reference to the experiences of Europe and East Asia. The distinguished contributors illustrate and explain how the location decisions of firms, international trade and capital flows can form, stimulate and shape economic regions in the global economy. The authors address several important themes including: the factors which determine the location choices of multinational firms location decisions of multinational firms in relation to their global performance the growing importance of East Asia as a recipient zone for foreign direct investment the impact of foreign direct investment on Asian host countries the role of trade and investment in regional economic integration. Economic Integration and Multinational Investment Behaviour will be welcomed by researchers with an interest in economic geography, international economies and business, European and East Asian studies, and globalization.

Catch-Up Industrialization is an innovative examination of how the political ideology of 'developmentalism' has driven East Asian economic growth. The author considers innovative production and management techniques, the patterns of industrial relations, and the way education shapes the workforce, using this information to assess late 20th century East Asian economic development based on economic liberalization and the rapid diffusion of information technology.The term 'catch-up' links developing and developed countries, and defines the socioeconomic mindset common to high-growth societies of Asia. The author's argument differs from neoclassical approaches emphasizing the workings of the market, statist ones emphasizing policy rather than private initiatives, business studies lacking macroeconomic and global perspectives, work by development economists based on agriculture, and World BankIMF studies that lack socio-cultural and historical understanding.