Geopolitical multiculturalism in East Asia

In this research note, I expand the discussion on multicultural policies in East Asia by proposing the concept of ‘geopolitical multiculturalism’. It describes that the receiving state promotes multiculturalism or pro-immigrant programmes and discourses to enhance the nation's global standing, regional importance, economic development, and geopolitical security. East Asian countries serve as illustrative examples of this concept, as their substantial immigrant populations are relatively recent, and the development of multicultural programmes is closely tied to international influence. I will first elaborate on three approaches to geopolitical multiculturalism, followed by a detailed analysis of Taiwan's case, including the recent implementation of the New Southbound Policy. I draw conclusions regarding the implications and potential applications of this concept for future research.     

Impact of Accessibility and Knowledge Creation on Local and Regional Development in Turkey

One of the fundamental aspects of the economic and social viability of the local and regional areas of Turkey is the degree to which they have access to the wider national economic and social system. Accessibility is, therefore, of major social, economic and political significance in Turkey and it directly affects Turkey's regional growth and the quality of life in local communities. However, the importance of the economic and social viability of the communities is increasingly complicated in the face of rapid global economic recession. It is argued that countries need to develop knowledge economies to compete successfully as knowledge is a critical factor for growth. This paper integrates accessibility and the importance of knowledge creation in understanding local and regional economic development. This empirical study has shown that although there is a high correlation between the accessibility index and the population figures of Turkey, accessibility to knowledge differs across Turkish provinces.     

International healthcare worker migration in Asia Pacific: International policy responses

The growth of the international migration of health workers in recent decades has taken place in the context of the transnationalisation of healthcare provision as well as of governance and policy responses. This paper examines international policy responses to cross‐border health worker migration in the Asia Pacific region. These include multilateral (global and regional) and bilateral policy agreements, policy dialogue and programmes of action in relation to key issues of ethical recruitment, ‘circular’ migration and labour rights and key themes of health workforce planning and management. The paper brings original new analysis of international datasets and secondary data to bear on the pressing and important questions of what international policy initiatives and responses are at work in the Asia Pacific region, and what these mean for the nature of migration governance in the region. The paper's focus routes the evidence and argument towards current research and policy debates about the relationship between health worker migration, health worker shortages and poor health outcomes. In this, the paper brings new insights into the analysis of the international policy ‘universe’ through its emphasis on multiple and intersecting cross‐border institutions, initiatives and actors operating across different scales. Coherent national and international strategies for integrated health worker migration governance and policy need to incorporate these insights, and the paper considers their implications for current strategies to attain universal health care and improved health outcomes in Asia Pacific and beyond.     

Development prospects in Eastern Indonesia: Learning from Oelua's diverse economy

This paper explores the effects of different representations of informal economies in Third World settings. Both the neoclassical and political economy approaches have represented the informal economy as a transient entity, and the non‐capitalist practices it comprises as being remnant economic forms, or as already capitalist. Mainstream development discourse (that reflects the neoliberal paradigm) continues to ignore the value and potential of non‐capitalist practices and to represent them as inconsequential to development outcomes. Meanwhile contemporary livelihood studies across the social sciences have documented the continuing vibrancy of different and hybrid economic forms in the Asia Pacific. In this paper, I use a diverse‐economies approach to explore the complexities of the village economy of Oelua in Rote, in the so‐called lagging region of Eastern Indonesia. Drawing on anti‐essentialist Marxist theory in economic geography, I describe the multiple, locally specific and coexisting practices that comprise Oelua's diverse economy, which include distributions of surplus labour to promote social and economic well‐being. I argue that recognising informal village economies as an important development resource could begin a process of building diverse development trajectories in Eastern Indonesia, complementing mainstream development proposals to attract foreign direct investment, shore up development assistance and source out‐migration.     

Population

The 1990s can be characterised as the decade of migration as far as New Zealand's 20th century population history is concerned. There was the largest decennial net migration gain this century, the largest annual net migration gain since 1875, the largest decennial numerical increase in population since the 1960s, and the largest influx of immigrants from countries in northeast Asia on record. This was a decade when migration flows both in and out of the country attracted considerable public and political comment. In the mid‐1990s it was the ‘Asian invasion’ that was the key migration‐related political issue; in the late 1990s it was the ‘Kiwi exodus’, especially to Australia, that was attracting attention both in New Zealand and Australia. A ‘blip’ in birth rates in the early 1990s also attracted considerable attention from demographers and policy analysts – a short‐lived increase associated with irregularities in New Zealand's population structure as well as the changing patterns of fertility evident in later child bearing. The decade also saw some significant changes in the ethnic composition of the population, as well as debates about socio‐economic ‘gaps’ between some of the major ethnic components.     

The geography of Philippine international labour migration fields

International labour migration has increased in scale and scope during the past three decades. Concomitant, a copious body of work has examined the causes and consequences of these migratory systems. Missing, however, have been empirically-grounded studies of migration fields, linking migrant origins within a sending country with destinations. In part, this lack of detailed studies results from the paucity of geographically-sensitive data. Using special tabulations provided for the lead author, this paper is able to overcome these difficulties. Specifically, in this paper we document and empirically analyse, by sex, the spatial and occupation patterns of Philippine international labour migration. Findings suggest that female migrant workers, regardless of regional origin within the Philippines, tend to be more spatially and occupationally channellised than their male counterparts. Moreover, more peripheral locations throughout the Philippines indicate more highly channellised flows, suggesting the importance of both recruitment-related networks as well as social networks among migrants and their families.     

Institutional frameworks and economic activity: A comparative analysis of regional economies in Thailand,Malaysia and the Philippines

Abstract: It is increasingly recognised that both formal and informal institutions could be important variables in explaining the diversity of capitalist systems. However, less is known about the relative importance of regional institutions for regional economic activity and regional development, especially in developing countries. This article analyses the relative importance of regional institutions to regional capitalist systems in Southeast Asia, using the comparative institutional approach of ‘business systems’. Two comparisons are made that enable an analysis of the relative importance of regional institutions: one between two regional economies in the same country (Cebu and Negros Oriental in the Philippines) and one between two bordering regional economies in different countries (Satun in Thailand and Perlis in Malaysia). We investigate four sets of economic institutions: the extent of alliance coordination of supply and demand, the extent of collaboration between competitors, the extent of alliance coordination of sectors and access to finance. The results suggest that regional economic institutions are stronger in agricultural areas with relatively weak national economic institutions and that the presence of strong and enabling regional economic institutions is one of the factors that lead to taking advantage of favourable agricultural conditions, to economic growth and, ultimately, to catching up.     

Border crossing of Muslim women in southern‐border provinces of Thailand

In general, the main roles of married Thai Muslim women were as home makers good wives and good mothers. Nevertheless, both married and single women from rural areas have been increasingly obliged to work outside the household, locally and in other countries. People in rural areas are now faced with the difficulty of maintaining their livelihoods if they depended on agricultural production alone. In some instances, female migration might be a response to families not being able to survive on the incomes earned by the male household heads. In response, women in southern Thailand provinces use long‐standing social networks that facilitate their migration for work, because they benefit from the close proximity, language, and religion that they share with the destination area. Commonly, they travel to work in Malaysia by using a border pass, while some travel and work without any documents. The effects of crossing national borders on migrants themselves and on their communities are mixed, generally positive from an economic perspective, but negative from a social viewpoint. Socially negative responses reflect a system of social control in the region based on patriarchy.     

1961-2018年全球青豌豆生产时空变化及发展趋势

我国是全球最重要的青豌豆生产国和出口国,然而全球尺度的主要生产国青豌豆种植面积和产量的历史变化规律和发展趋势并不清楚,制约了我国青豌豆生产的可持续发展。基于1961-2018年全球青豌豆逐年的收获面积、总产量和单产等数据,利用一元线性回归模型以及优势指数等分析了1961-2018年全球青豌豆生产的时空变化特征。结果表明,全球青豌豆生产在1990年前后出现明显的时空变化规律,1961-1990年全球青豌豆生产集中在欧洲,其收获面积和总产量分别占全球的42.5%和41.5%。1990年之后,全球青豌豆生产重心逐步转移到亚洲,其收获面积和总产量分别占全球的71.1%和77.9%。与美国、英国和印度等主产国相比,我国在1990年之前优势指数较弱,但1990年后生产规模优势显著高于其他主产国,效率优势指数逐步缩小。尽管近年来我国青豌豆种植面积的增加带动全球青豌豆生产重心逐渐向亚洲转移,但相较于其他主产国,我国的生产效率并未呈现显著优势。因此,优化和调整我国的青豌豆种植布局,提高单产水平,对提升我国青豌豆的国际竞争力和可持续发展具有重要意义。     

Return migration to Eastern Kentucky and the stem family concept

This research provides a conceptual framework--based on the stem family concept--with which to explore the cyclical nature of return migration to Eastern Kentucky. The work of Brown, Schwarzweller, and Mangalam shows how the stem family facilitates the outward movement of migrants during times of economic opportunity outside Appalachia, while providing a potential haven when sociocultural pulls within Appalachia exceed the economic tugs outside the region. Responses from 119 households in Laurel, Pike, and Powell counties are used to test hypotheses associated with the general model. The survey results support the continued existence of extreme stem family forces within Eastern Kentucky. Most immigrants are return migrants; return migration motives continue to be more related to sociocultural factors than they are job-related decisions. Most returnees are well below retirement age, and even the younger and more educated among these have a strong preference for remaining in Eastern Kentucky, although their historical tendency had been to move away when economic pulls are strong enough. The work of Brown, Schwarzweller, and Mangalam shows how the stem family facilitates the outward movement of migrants during times of economic opportunity outside Appalachia, while providing a potential haven when sociocultural pulls within Appalachia exceed the economic tugs outside the region. Overall, there is a need to better understand the role of awareness space in the destination selection of cyclical migrants.     

Analysis of green total factor productivity trend and its determinants for the countries along silk roads

In coping with increasing energy consumption and the consequential environmental pollution, green development is becoming an important part of social development. Since the inauguration of China’s Silk Road Economic Belt Initiative (BRI), economic cooperation between China and other countries along BRI has seen much growth. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the levels of green total factor productivity (GTFP) of the countries in the Silk Roads Economic Belt (B&R) and examine how these levels vary spatially and evolve temporally. In this paper, a panel regression analysis with DEA windows is used to study the spatiotemporal trends of the levels of GTFP. The results are: (1) The B&R countries have seen an increase in their overall levels of GTFP over time; (2) There are regional differences in the levels of GTFP, with higher efficiency in Western Asia and Central and Eastern Europe, and lower efficiency in Southeast and Central Asia; (3) The analysis of GTFP for countries in these regions shows that the efficiencies of most countries have been improving, with that of only a few countries have been decreasing; (4) By using regression analysis, we find that variables such as import, export, industrial structure, and urban affect the B&R countries with growing GTFP.     

Borderland livelihood strategies: The socio‐economic significance of ethnicity in cross‐border labour migration,West Kalimantan,Indonesia

This paper explores cross‐border ethnic relations as an important socio‐economic strategy for the borderland Iban population in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Iban seeking more lucrative wage work have long used their ethnic identity to facilitate circular labour migration across the international border into Sarawak, Malaysia, a strategy which has also compromised their claims to Indonesian citizenship. Drawing on long‐term field research among the West Kalimantan Iban, we examine the close interconnections among cross‐border labour migration, ethnicity, identity, and citizenship, and how this plays into contemporary issues related to Indonesian political and economic change.     

Global production networks,the developmental state and the articulation of Asia Pacific economies in the commercial aircraft industry

Abstract: Asia Pacific economies – particularly Japan, South Korea, China and Singapore – play a large and growing role in the commercial aircraft industry, despite the fact that the region has no major independent plane‐maker. Instead, Asia has secured a significant position in the increasingly elaborate global production networks of Boeing and Airbus. The wider Asian significance in those networks has been fostered not only by the region's deep capital and human resource assets but also by the catalytic actions of developmental states in the region. Moreover, decades of rapid air traffic growth have made Asia a crucial market for Boeing and Airbus. In response, the American and European giants have been compelled to outsource more of their business to Asia in order to win sales and to design new airliners tailored to the needs of Asian customers. Together, the increased importance of Asia in both the design and the manufacture of commercial aircraft point to a future in which Asia will capture an ever‐larger share of the value created in one of the world's most technologically sophisticated and strategically significant industries.     

Restructuring and Well-Being in the Non-Metropolitan Pacific Northwest

This paper shows how social and economic change impact well-being in Pacific Northwest counties from 1970–1990. Economic and social well-being, measured as income growth and low income inequality, are modeled using net migration data and measures of social and economic restructuring. In the 1970s there is an inverse relationship between population growth and income growth, while during both decades the retail sector contributes to income growth. Amenity or urban-adjacent counties show the most growth, in both population and employment, but also have the greatest income inequality. Several factors contributing to income growth also contribute to greater income inequality. Migration flows for each decade also illustrate the associations between restructuring, well-being, and population growth. Populations in counties with net out-migration over both decades are aging, but show greater income growth and lower inequality in the 1970s followed by lower income growth in the 1980s. Net in-migration over both decades is associated with lower income growth and greater inequality in the 1970s, but these counties are substantially better off economically in the 1980s and they maintain a balanced age structure through migration of different age cohorts over the two decades. This research provides needed work on the connections between social and economic change in the context of the Pacific Northwest.     

More than a ‘blip’: The changed character of South‐East Asia’s engagement with the global economy in the post‐1997 period

Abstract: Through reviewing South‐East Asia’s recent economic engagement with the global economy, this paper points to profound recent transformations in the scope and character of the region’s development. Foreign direct investment was the key driver of regional growth in the pre‐1997 period, yet currently, the region faces a more difficult and multifaceted economic arena from which to attract such funds. Foreign direct investment is more selective, both geographically and by sector, than was the case in that earlier period. This paper explains the confluence of economics, business practices and politics that are giving rise to these outcomes, and concludes from this that development trajectories in South‐East Asia will become more diverse between the countries of the region, with implications for how we understand regional economic performance.     

The Great Recession and the Migration Redistribution of Blacks and Whites in the U.S. South

For much of the last century, the South was a net loser of blacks and whites to other regions. The end of this “Great Migration” occurred around 1970. Since then, the South is the only U.S. region to gain both blacks and whites through migration in every decade. As recessions often perturb migration systems by restraining rates of movement and altering patterns, this paper explores how the Great Recession of 2007–2009 and its aftermath affected the established migration gains of native‐born blacks and whites within the South. We use data from the 1990 and 2000 censuses and pooled data from American Community Survey to evaluate these changes. While the South continued to add both blacks and whites from migration during the recessionary years, key states bucked this trend. Georgia, for example, experienced a net migration gain of blacks but a net loss of whites. Florida added population in all time periods studied but lost large numbers of educated blacks and whites between 2008–2010. Texas, in contrast, added both blacks and whites from migration no matter their age or education throughout the recent recession. This economic downturn, then, has disturbed long‐term migration patterns in the South. A more nuanced set of interstate movements has emerged, differentiated by age and education within race groups, which we suspect will last for some time.     

Achieving the Millennium Development Goals in the Asia‐Pacific region: The role of international assistance

Abstract: The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are a set of international development targets agreed to by members of the United Nations in 2000. The goals aim to improve many of the dimensions of extreme poverty and are to be achieved by 2015. This paper provides an overview of the issues relevant to the achievement of the MDGs in the Asia‐Pacific region. The paper begins by discussing the critiques of the MDGs before assessing whether countries in the region are on track to achieve them. Issues relating to data availability and accuracy are discussed and the need to tailor the MDG targets to the special circumstances of some Asia‐Pacific countries is examined. The paper proceeds by discussing the role of international assistance via international foreign development aid and non‐governmental organisations in the achievement of the MDGs. The paper concludes with some policy implications for the international donor community.     

Physical Capital,Human Capital,and Social Capital: The Changing Roles in China's Economic Growth

This paper examines the roles of physical capital, human capital, and social capital in China's economic growth during the reform period 1981–2010. Empirical estimation confirms that physical capital and human capital contribute to the economic growth, probably due to the capital accumulation and the improvement of labor productivity. The impact of social capital turns from being insignificant in the 1980s and the 1990s to be positive in the 2000s, suggesting its rising importance in recent decades. A declining role of physical capital in the economic growth in China from 1990s to 2000s is also found. The findings hold for several additional robustness checks, including focusing on longer term determinants of the economic growth, subregional analysis, and endogeneity. Furthermore, the foreign direct investment inflows and adjustment of economic ownership structure are also important for economic growth in China.     

Last days in the Carteret Islands? Climate change,livelihoods and migration on coral atolls

It is widely assumed that the impacts of climate change on atolls will render them uninhabitable. The Carteret Islands, an iconic Pacific atoll, is experiencing physical changes, documented in the media, the outcome of multiple factors, alongside critical economic livelihood problems. Its population has sought to resettle on nearby Bougainville Island, but land has not become available. The search for migration opportunities parallels trends on coral atolls elsewhere where survival strategies have involved regional and international ties, with cultures of migration, focused on more distant international destinations. Carteret Islanders have not been able to mobilise similar relationships. For many atolls and atoll states, migration has increasingly become a livelihood strategy, irrespective of climate change. That is likely to become even more true in the future, but the outcome will be dependent on policies and practices in metropolitan destination states.     

Structured regionalism in the Asia‐Pacific: Slow but sure progress

Abstract: Notwithstanding the existence of considerable intra‐regional trade, the Asia‐Pacific region was slow to catch onto the concept and phenomenon of regionalism. Not many regional integration arrangements were created in the region and the ones that were created did not go far. Over the preceding three‐and‐a‐half decades, the high performing Asian economies adopted outward‐oriented strategies, promoting brisk trade expansion trade and foreign investment. Asia‐Pacific regionalism was essentially market‐led and uninstitutionalised. Regional production networks were the consequence of market‐led economic dynamics in the region. Large corporations, including transnationals, contributed to the growth of a pan‐Asian industrialisation process and trade expansion. This scenario underwent a transformation in the 1990s, particularly during the Asian crisis of 1997–98. Conscious economic and monetary co‐operation with institutional support increased considerably. Asia‐Pacific economies are more committed to regionalism – both economically and institutionally – now than ever before.