Intra-trade among ASEAN countries have remained around 20% over the period 1993 until 2001 (ASEAN Secretariat). With this significant amount of trade being conducted between members of ASEAN countries, businesses were faced with exchange rate exposure due to the volatility of the exchange rate...

This paper analyzes the ad hoc decision of three Asian countries to peg their currency to the U.S. dollar prior to the Asian crisis. It uses the Sjaastad model to estimate the optimal basket weights for Thailand, Korea, and Singapore. The analysis in this paper differs from the optimal basket...

The theory of optimum currency areas states that the more two countries trade with each other, the better candidates they are for a currency union. In terms of the endogeneity argument, convergence follows from joining a currency union and the integration process itself turns the countries into...

We estimate a system of equations to analyze whether bilateral trade and financial linkages influence business cycle synchronization directly and/or indirectly. Our paper builds upon the existing literature by using bilateral trade and financial flows for a small, open economy (Spain) as...

The launch of the economic and monetary union in Europe and the 1997 financial crisis that underscored the disadvantages of currently employed exchange rate regimes raised questions about the feasibility of a similar monetary unification project for East Asia. Being one of the most dynamically...

The agricultural sector is an important sector that most people in East Asia rely on and growth in this sector may help to lift their standard of living. This study assessed what factors contributed to agricultural growth by applying the panel econometric approach. First, the long-run...

International agricultural trade has evolved over time. Processed foods and developing countries have become major growth markets for U.S. agricultural exports, and foreign direct investment (FDI) has become even more important than exports as a means of accessing foreign markets. The critical...

Professor Kojima of Hitotsubashi University is a leading Japanese economist in international economics. Two of his major ideas are reviewed: a theory of pro-trade FDI and an extended "flying-geese" theory of industrial development. Kojima's pro-trade FDI (which rests on the doctrine of...

This paper uses a survey of 1,826 firms distributed over ten East Asian metropolitan areas – Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Seoul, and five Chinese cities – to investigate the sources of firm-level R&D capabilities. The analysis identifies the impact of 23 survey variables, classified by...

Introduction: A mere decade ago Japan’s financial system, and especially its banking system, was not only the largest but the strongest in the world. Nine of the world’s top ten banks in asset size were Japanese; the Big Four Japanese securities companies were the world’s largest; and its...