This paper examines the determinants of export growth for four of the Asian newly industrialising economies (NIEs): Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan. Using the framework of cointegration and error correction modelling, it is found that, in the case of Singapore, income effects,...

‘Globalisation’ has become fashionable. Enthusiasts speak of the borderless world, no more national frontiers, the whole world one market. More sober versions refer to the fact that, with liberalisation of markets and the information revolution, the ease and speed with which goods and...

The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) is a transitional economy, and one of the few least developed economies in the Southeast Asian region. Laos became a member of ASEAN in July 1997, and will participate in the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) from 1 January 1998. This paper examines the...

The 1997–98 financial crisis prompted East Asian economies to realise the potential benefits of installing stronger cooperative mechanisms for crisis prevention, management and resolution. This paper argues that a regional financial architecture needs to be firmly established in East Asia,...

The accession of both China and Taiwan to the World Trade Organization (WTO) had important implications for relations across the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan’s position in the regional economy although it did not fundamentally change trade policies by either side towards the other. Accession...

The papers collected in this volume, number four in a series examining China’s entry to the world trade system, are from the final stage of a three-year research project between the Economics Division of the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the ANU in Canberra and the Chinese...

The effects of environmental regulations on the international competitiveness of domestic industries have become an increasing concern in the trade liberalisation process in the 1990s. This paper examines the significance of environmental policy for trade. A generalised GNP function, which...

Japan is a diverse country. From the wide open spaces of the northern island of Hokkaido, to the crowded metropolises of the Kanto plains, to the fishing villages in the southern island of Kyushu, Japan presents a rich tapestry of often quite distinct and different life-styles and traditions....

This paper is based on research conducted in Australia and the United States into Australian aims toward the Allied Occupation of Japan under the Chifley government between 1945 and 1949. It challenges the prevailing characterisation of Australian aims as solely seeking a ‘harsh peace’ with...