With international trade spluttering amidst the Great Recession, there is renewed interest in the factors driving firm-level export performance in Asia’s super exporter—The People’s Republic of China (PRC). While early studies suggested that innovation was important, there...

Drawing on recent developments in applied international trade and innovation and learning in developing countries, this paper examines the links between firm-level export performance, foreign ownership, and the acquisition of technological capabilities in a sample of 205 clothing enterprises in...

The surge in free trade agreements (FTAs) in East Asia since the Asian financial crisis has prompted a lively debate on the characteristics, impact, and future path of FTAs in the region. To inform the ongoing debate, this paper maps the salient characteristics of East Asian FTAs using a new FTA...

Within East Asia, the outward-oriented Philippine economy is a latecomer to using free trade agreements (FTAs) as a trade policy instrument and has relied heavily on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for regional liberalization. While negotiating FTAs has consumed scarce time...

Although a latecomer, economically important Asia has emerged at the forefront of global free trade agreement (FTA) activity. This has sparked concerns about the negative effects of Asian FTAs, including the noodle bowl problem. Amid slow progress in the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Doha...

A lively debate is taking place over the impact of free trade agreements (FTAs) on East Asia's business between those who view the agreements as a harmful Asian noodle bowl - i.e., overlapping regional trade agreements - of trade deals and others who see net beneficial effects in terms of...

Thailand - an outward-oriented regional production hub - is one of East Asia's most active users of free trade agreements (FTAs) as an instrument of commercial policy. By December 2009, Thailand had 11 concluded FTAs, and more were either under negotiation or proposed. Thai trade negotiators...

This paper undertakes a comparative, firm-level analysis of joining the supply chain in five Southeast Asian economies to improve our understanding of fragmentation of manufacturing across borders. The research maps supply chains and conducts firm-level econometric analysis on 5,900 enterprises....

The Asian countries are once again focused on options for large, comprehensive regional integration schemes. In this paper we explore the implications of such broad-based regional trade initiatives in Asia, highlighting the bridging of the East and South Asian economies. We place emphasis on the...

Within East Asia, the outward-oriented Philippine economy is a latecomer to using free trade agreements (FTAs) as a trade policy instrument and has relied heavily on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for regional liberalization. While negotiating FTAs has consumed scarce time...