Contradictions in land development schemes: the case of joint ventures in Sarawak,Malaysia

Landowners and the private investors often have contradictory interests in joint ventures. Although development planners sometimes believe that government can harmonise these contradictions, state interests in development often lead them to support the interests of private capital. While joint ventures may be useful ways of pooling human, material and financial resources, this article draws on a case study of two pilot joint venture oil palm schemes in Sarawak, Malaysia, to show that the legal construction and administration of native customary land rights generate lower results for landowners than they do for the private sector. Information and power asymmetries constrain the ability of affected natives to realise fair benefits under a joint venture arrangement. When institutional constraints that give a measure of protection to native rights and interests are dismantled in the rush to establish commercial plantations for example, an unregulated market can be detrimental to landowners’ rights and long–term interests.     

Mining,risk and climate resilience in the ‘other’ Pacific: Latin American lessons for the South Pacific

We suggest the value of considering Pacific Latin America and the South Pacific in relationship to each other in contexts of climate change and investment in extractive industry. The paper explores the interactions between extractive industry, climate change and environmental governance through the lenses of double exposure, double movements, resilience and risk. The first part of the paper addresses the nature and scope of investments in extractive industries in this ‘other Pacific’. The geography of these investments is changing the actual and perceived distribution of exposure and risk in the region. The nature of this risk is also being affected by climate change and its implications for the geographies of water and land‐use. Much of the contention surrounding extractive industries can be understood as conflicts over the unequal distribution of this risk, how to interpret its significance and the ways in which resilience might be enhanced to respond to it. The final section of the paper discusses the ways in which mining governance and governance for resilience converge and, on the basis of recent experiences in El Salvador, analyses the difficulties in governing extractive industry in a way that manages risk and builds resilience.     

Scaling the environmental commons: Broadening our frame of reference for transboundary governance in Southeast Asia

The transboundary environmental commons in Southeast Asia are normally conceived in terms of shared resources and environmental impacts that transcend national borders. The Mekong's ‘fugitive resources’ of water, fish and sediment and the issue of Indonesia's smoke haze drift into Malaysia and Singapore dominate discussion. Assumed national interests shape actors and institutional arrangements for transboundary commons governance. Failure to address the governance challenges is explained in terms of their politico‐cultural failings (e.g. the ‘ASEAN Way’ of non‐interference), the weak regulatory remit of agencies with a specific transboundary governance role (Mekong River Commission), the dominant developmental agenda of subregional cooperative arrangements (Greater Mekong Subregion) or the geopolitical dominance of China (Lancang–Mekong Cooperation). This article builds on these critiques by considering the relationship between the local commons impacted by transboundary projects and the framing of the commons at an inter‐governmental level. It shows that neglect of the local commons and the impacts on them of projects with transboundary effects is partly to be explained by the institutional scaling of the transboundary commons at a country‐to‐country level. It also argues for an expanded notion of transboundary, including investment and governance flows as well as the material environmental footprint of large‐scale investments.     

The Role of Information Density in Infrastructure Investment

The twentieth century witnessed an extraordinary flow of institutional investment into urban infrastructure. Notwithstanding this, the demand for infrastructure projects exceeds supply of skills and capital. With this disconnect as a backdrop we develop a model of information flow to examine how financial assets are transacted over time and space. Specifically, we build on conceptualisations of “information content” from Clark and O'Connor ( 1997 ) to propose a way of theorising “information density”. We apply this specifically to infrastructure investment and find four ways in which infrastructure investment is highly dense. This relates to asset‐level definitions in infrastructure, opacity with respect to how products are securitised, high variance in investment performance, and high relational and investment expertise. We draw on a large qualitative sample of 53 in‐depth interviews, which we validate with quantitative data, to support our findings.     

The Dynamic Firm–Territory Nexus of Taiwanese Informatics Industry Investments in China

ABSTRACT This article explores the transformation of industrial systems in transborder investments made by Taiwanese information technology investors in China. It asks how cross‐border firms would operate in these new territories. The study found that, by and large, Taiwanese investors chose to respond strategically to the tensions in different ways at different stages. At first, regarding China as a land of cheap labor and land, they relocated the Taiwanese industrial system in such a way as to avoid disturbing the hosting regions. The situation changed as China’s market emerged confidently and opened gradually to foreign investors after the mid‐1990s. Exploring this huge new market in China provided a mandate for Taiwanese investors to prosper. They opened up their firm boundaries and added new departments of research, development, and marketing. They developed from being merely export subcontractors to producing their own brand‐name goods. In the most recent stage, Taiwanese investors have created networks to tap into local resources to support new activities. Echoing Yeung (2005) in a recent issue of this journal, this article argues that new investments change the developmental trajectories of the host regions and, at the same time, the regions imbued the incoming firms with their own regional stamp. From this perspective, location and localization decisions by cross‐strait firms may be regarded as geographically sensitive strategies whereby firms, as reflexive agents, protect and reinforce their competence through the evolution of a firm–territory nexus.     

Openings in the body of ‘capitalism’: Capital flows and diverse economic possibilities in Kiribati

Much of the post‐development agenda is concerned with decoupling Eurocentric imaginings of development from development practices in ‘remote’ regions and exploring new forms of economy that can enhance local well‐being. In the South Pacific (and elsewhere), small peripheral economies have confronted globalisation in varying ways. Some places, such as the Micronesian island state of Kiribati, have engaged directly with the global economy by investing capital generated locally in international financial markets rather than in domestic industries. Kiribati's trust fund, the Revenue Equalisation Reserve Fund, maintains a balanced portfolio of international equity and fixed income assets that produces a financial return, helping to augment Kiribati's other national income sources. In this paper we explore the results of capital flowing from Kiribati to global financial markets, noting that this alternative development practice can enhance local well‐being.     

Economic Gain and Loss from Public Infrastructure Investment

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of transportation investment on the Korean economy using the dynamic Computable General Equilibrium model. The result of the counterfactual analysis shows that infrastructure investment policy has the advantage of economic growth, but the disadvantage of price inflation. The elasticities of infrastructure investment with respect to GDP, export, private utility, and inflation depend on institutional restrictions on the domestic inflow of foreign capital and financing alternatives for infrastructure projects. The growth effect of transportation investment would be maximized if regulations on inflow of foreign capital to the private sector were lifted. On the other hand, the effect of transportation investment on inflation would be minimized if transportation investment expenditure were completely financed by tax revenues.     

The Impact of Migration on Social Capital: Do Migrants Take Their Bowling Balls with Them?

Questions surrounding the impact of population migration on social capital is the focus of this study. Putnam observed that “for people as for plants, frequent repotting disrupts root systems. It takes time for a mobile individual to put down new roots.” However, because of a trending decrease in mobility over time, Putnam rules out migration as an explanation for the long‐term decline in social capital that was the subject of his widely read 1995 book Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital. This study undertakes an empirical examination of the impact of migration on county‐level social capital, which in tribute to Putnam one might view as an attempt to answer the question—do migrants take their bowling balls with them when they move? The potential for county‐level migration of population to impact social capital levels at particular locations in space arises from the conventional argument that social capital promotes trust and cooperation among agents. This trust increases socially efficient collective action but requires investment in relationships and commitment of scarce resources to build social capital. It seems plausible that migration of population might have a negative impact on the stock of social capital by interfering with trust and cooperation among agents. However, it is also possible that migrants may take their social capital with them to new places of residence. In other words, the propensity to join social and civic organizations might reflect inherent traits of individuals who are willing to make commitments of their resources to building social capital in any community where they reside.     

Urban Governance in Africa Today: Reframing,Experiences, and Lessons

Progress in analysing the instrumental view of governance as an engine for growth, poverty reduction, and inclusive development has been held back by the difficulty in framing governance. This essay seeks to address this problem by 1) reframing urban governance 2) evaluating its aims, processes, and outcomes, and 3) explaining those outcomes on the basis of which some lessons are teased out. Using examples from Africa and an institutional political economy approach (based on institutional economics, Marxist political economics, Georgist political economics, and Polanyian political economy), I show that, overall, while urban economies are growing; both urban poverty and inequality levels have risen substantially. Urban governance has paved the way for new forms of urban development that only benefit the few. Not only are there differences in how urban services and resources are experienced, accessed, and controlled but the varieties are also socially differentiated. I argue that the underlying reasons for this disjuncture between “urban governance” in theory and “actually existing urban governance” are 1) difficulties in implementing urban governance theory consistently in practice, 2) problems arising because urban governance theory has been implemented in practice, 3) tensions that would entangle most policies which do not address historical and structural economic issues, 4) restrictive assumptions, and 5) incoherence among the different dimensions of urban governance. To resolve these contradictions, I put the case for major structural and institutional change involving: 1) the re‐ordering of the roles of the state, market, and society as institutions of change; 2) re‐working the relationships that bind together land, labour, capital, and the state, and 3) re‐organising the channels for keeping the attainment of the ends of urban governance in check.     

The Governance of Global Production Networks and Regional Development: A Case Study of Taiwanese PC Production Networks

This article applies a global production networks (GPN) perspective to the trans‐border investments of Taiwanese personal computer (PC) companies in the Northern Taiwan, Greater Suzhou and Greater Dongguan regions. The findings of extensive field research are used to illustrate two conceptual arguments. First, we show the on‐the‐ground complexity of inter‐firm governance arrangements within the PC industry, thereby casting doubt upon attempts to reduce notions of governance to simplistic, industry‐wide categorisations. Second, by comparing Greater Suzhou and Greater Dongguan, we demonstrate that even within a single production system, there is geographical variation in the nature of the strategic coupling between the GPN and local institutional formations. We argue that conceptualising such geographical and organisational complexity is critical to understanding the regional development potential of GPNs.     

Bonding,bridging and linking social networks: A qualitative study of the emergency management of Cyclone Pam,Vanuatu

Cyclone Pam (March 2015) was an unprecedented event in Vanuatu forcing the simultaneous involvement of national and long‐term international actors, well integrated into the national disaster governance system, as well as numerous short‐term international actors, unfamiliar with the geopolitical and cultural disaster context of the country. Cooperation between these three groups of actors evolved through the three scales of bonding, bridging and linking social networking. This paper questions the different drivers and challenges within and across these scales of social networks affecting cooperation among the three different groups of actors during an emergency. Using a mixed methodology based on social network analysis, this paper utilises the case study of Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu to study the strengths and weaknesses of the disaster governance system in place based on bonding and bridging social capital to conduct disaster risk management and to prepare the integration of linking social capital when external support is needed. This paper contributes to the identification of key considerations in the development of resilience‐building strategies: the interactions of diverse actors to address disaster management needs and the reciprocal impacts of these interactions within and across the three different scales of social networks.     

Evolutionary Economic Geography for OFCs: Do Political Ties to the Onshore Reduce Capital Inflow Volatility?

This paper analyses the structural change in small‐island economies—sometimes labeled offshore financial centers (OFCs)—that have seen wealth‐generating activities through offshore financial services decrease in value since 2008. At the same time, OFCs have come under increasing scrutiny from supranational organizations such Organization for Economic Co‐operation and Development and European Union for perceived unfair tax practices and money laundering activities. Some OFCs have proactively adjusted to this sea change by broadening the economic base through development of new offshore business activities such as e‐gaming, film industry, and niche manufacturing. Most have increased co‐operation with onshore regulatory bodies to promote service and product legitimacy. Econometric analysis explores the assertion that OFCs that do not have a political link to the onshore may be exposed to greater capital inflows volatility than OFCs that have such a link. Case study analysis using the theoretical lens of evolutionary economic geography illustrates that a small OFC is creating spatialities of economic novelty by adapting economic development strategies deployed during the successful development of the center prior to the recent recession. Our findings reveal the importance of political links to the onshore to reduce capital inflow volatility and the importance of local public–private interaction to legitimize post‐recession development.     

Shadow Europe: Alternative European Financial Geographies

ABSTRACT This paper sets out to trace some major points of convergence between an emerging literature on the political geographies of corruption¹ and current attempts to develop a renewed research agenda in the geographies of global finance—in this case in a specifically European context. In particular, we offer some preliminary observations on the need to elaborate an alternative geography of Europe's financial architecture that could incorporate the role of flows of illegal and informal finance as major driving forces behind the way in which that architecture currently constitutes itself. This is an inherently complex task due to the intrinsically hidden nature of these flows and the difficulties involved in their accurate measurement; nevertheless, they are too important to be ignored, as is too frequently the case at present. In the paper we offer some necessarily preliminary, and deliberately provocative, reflections on how to take forward such a re‐conceptualisation. Ultimately, our analysis revolves around the identification of an uneasy tension between the demand for deregulated financial markets and the increasing integration of those markets, and the international momentum towards finding ways of dealing with the (apparently) ever‐increasing problems of corruption, money laundering, and the financing of terrorism through new forms of financial regulation and control.     

Institutional context and place-based policy: The case of Coventry & Warwickshire

A key problem of downscaling or transferring policies across regions is embedding these policies into a place for them to unleash the full potential of regional economies. This paper elaborates on the analytical framework of “institutional context” to bridge the gap between rich theorizations and poor empirical capture of institutions in studies of regional development. The institutional context is constituted by three pillars—regulations, organizations, and institutions—as well as by the interrelations between these pillars. Applied to the British region of Coventry and Warwickshire, a qualitative analysis of expert interviews finds institutional patterns of short-termism, moderate levels of social capital and an embryonic relational infrastructure to constrain the place-based strategy for industrial diversification. This regional case illustrates the more general challenge for regional policy in the UK of devising place-based strategies under conditions of continuous rescaling of regional governance and the implementation of a new National Industrial Strategy. In conclusion, the analysis suggests a shift from “nodal” to “linking” policies that support cross-network connections and help grow a regional field for collective action to cross-fertilize knowledge and foster innovation and entrepreneurship in emerging industries.     

Innovative and Competitive Structure of Regional Economies in Turkey

Regional development theories have experienced a transition from Keynesian state‐led economic development models to development based on public–private partnerships, innovation, industrial districts, etc. With the increasing concern for innovative milieu, products, process, organizational, and institutional innovations have assumed an important place in regional development policies. All these regional development paradigms have formed the basis of the initiation of a new process in regional development called the new regionalism, which includes cumulative efforts to revitalize local economic growth. In this paper, we identify technological levels of 26 NUTS 2‐level regions according to the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD)'s classification. Then, we develop an innovation and competitiveness index for Turkey by employing principal component analysis. In conclusion, we formulate some workable policy solutions and suggestions for regional economies in Turkey. According to the results, Istanbul is the most innovative and competitive region in Turkey. Ankara is becoming a regional knowledge cluster, thanks to its strong R&D infrastructure and highly qualified researchers.     

Analysis on the Ownership Structures of American Listed Companies and Its Enlightenments

The authors investigate the ownership structures about American stock corporations and think that the successful experiences based on institutional arrangements for the ownership structures of American listed companies and the way to carry out ownership authorities will give some following enlightenments for Chinese stock companies to perfect their ownership structures:Let all kinds of equity ownerships tradable completely,some ownership diffused or concentrated should be determined by market.To decentralize and transform the state-owned ownership through in the competitive industries,and the ownerships should be mainly holded among legal investors,strategic investors, individuals,employees,managers,foreign investors. The following results are realized to develop perfect law and regulate systems with the function enhancing fair competition and make ownership structure,corporate governance mechanism,all markets,corporate performance interact profitably.     

State Infrastructure and the Geography of Employment

ABSTRACT The effects of state public capital investment on economic growth is an important question that has been the focus of a recent substantial research effort. But the majority of this research has ignored these investments’influence on the intra-state pattern of economic activity. Yet if external agglomeration economies are important determinants of growth, then investments may indirectly affect growth by fostering or discouraging agglomeration. This paper discusses the effect of state infrastructure investments on the distribution of employment within states and the implications of these spatial effects for aggregate state employment growth. Preliminary empirical results suggest that state infrastructure investments tend to redistribute growth from areas of dense employment to other parts of the state. This redistribution may diminish agglomeration benefits offered by cities, which has the potential to reduce state growth. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications of the work for research and policy.     

Regional impact and spillover effect of public infrastructure investment: An empirical study in the Yangtze River Delta,China

Since China's reform and opening up, public infrastructure investments have significantly improved. These investments drive China's long-term economic growth. Based on panel data of 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta from 2006 to 2017, the simultaneous equation models (SEMs) are constructed to explore the regional impact and spillover effect of infrastructures with resolving endogenous problems. Public infrastructure investment remains to have a systemic effect on household income, urban population, and land prices in certain regions. In certain region, the estimated coefficients of public infrastructure investment are consistent with expectations and significant, which are 0.523, 0.142, and 0.781 with three-stage least squares method. And the endogenous variables also affect public infrastructure investment. But, the coefficient of the spatial term is −0.019, negative and not significant. The cross-regional spillover effect of public infrastructure investment is nonsignificant using the generalized spatial three-stage least squares method.     

The expansion of Chinese banks along the routes of the Belt and Road Initiative: Following customers and geopolitical relations

Existing studies on the global expansion of banks have been mostly based on the experience of the banks from more developed economies, while little is known about the geographies of internationalization of banks from less developed countries. The expansion of Chinese banks, with state-owned commercial banks in the lead, has been accelerating since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was proposed in 2013. This study contributes to existing research by providing new evidence and explanations based on the case of expansion of Chinese banks along the BRI routes. Chinese banks started to expand from Hong Kong and Macao, then expanded to Southeast Asia and the Arabian Peninsula, and finally reached Central Asia and other regions. The branches of Chinese banks are mainly clustered in Southeast Asian countries rather than other regions. Similar to their Western counterparts, Chinese bank branches are inclined to agglomerate in international or regional financial hubs. The regression analysis shows that two factors are crucial in explaining the spatial distribution of Chinese banks along the routes of the BRI. First, Chinese banks are likely to follow their customers, namely, state-owned firms from the non-financial sectors making direct investments in overseas regions. Second, Chinese banks are more inclined to open branches in countries that have good geopolitical relations with China reflecting the challenging international environment for Chinese banks to seek global expansion.