Governance Regulation And Privatization In The Asia Pacific Region

Over the last twenty-five years, there has been an acceleration in the move from government regulation towards privatization. Governance, Regulation, and Privatization in the Asia-Pacific Region is the first thoroughgoing account of the relative success of the different approaches to privatization as undertaken in Korea, China, Australia, and Japan. In most contexts, privatization is expected to yield greater efficiency and cost effectiveness while avoiding the corruption and bloated budgets of government regulation or monopoly control. But broad-scale privatization, if ill designed, has also yielded its share of difficulties in East Asia. Privatization sometimes has created a vacuum in corporate governance for some of the region's most important industries and in some cases merely reinstated the monopoly-like configurations. The papers presented in this book discuss the experiences of privatization in several industries, including railroad and telecom, corporate governance problems, accounting issues, and challenges for the future in East Asian countries. The first section is theoretical in nature and proposes boundaries among government protection, market freedom, and shareholder expectations. The second part is constituted by country case studies, beginning with an analysis of both the Korean financial crisis that followed its 1997 law to privatize large, public sector corporations and the new ways Korean corporations finance themselves. Following is an evaluation of China's approach to privatization, with an in-depth look at the financial transitions of companies slated for initial public offering. Providing provocative examples of the methods of privatization in the Asia-Pacific region specifically, these papers will be of huge import to any economist or policymaker interested in transposing those successes for their own region.

A student-friendly textbook which examines the governance of nation states in this region, exploring the huge diversity and range of political values beliefs and governing styles in the Asia-Pacific.

The 23rd book in a long-established series of conference volumes which brings together top academics in the field. Up-to-date study being based on the 1996 Pacific Trade and Development conference Comparison between Asia-Pacific economic growth and that of the West is of primary contemporary concern

. . . an extremely interesting collection, full of insights and institutional detail. . . The book definitely deserves the attention of those interested in one of the most debated issues of the last 20 years in economics and political science. Herb Thompson, Journal of Contemporary Asia Deregulation and its Discontents examines the different ways in which the issues related to deregulation and reregulation have been addressed in Asia. The role of government in business has gone through distinct, if overlapping, cycles: regulation, deregulation and reregulation. However, little is known about deregulation and even less about reregulation, particularly in relation to Asia. The contributors to this book examine the links between the cycles through detvailed analyses of the electricity market, pensions and stock markets in the Asia Pacific. They also offer an explanation of regulatory cycles. This unique and inter-disciplinary book is thoroughly accessible and will be suitable for specialist as well as non-specialist readers. It will appeal to academics and researchers of public sector economics, Asian studies and the political economy of Asia in particular as well as public officials dealing with regulatory issues.

(...) Dobson, Wendy: Business networks in East Asia. Diversity and evolution. Petri, Peter A.: Markets, competition and restructuring in the 1990s. Lin, Justin Yifu: State intervention, ownership and state enterprise reform in China. Trebilcock, Michael J.: The evolution of competition policy. Lessons from comparative experience. Bollard, Alan; Vautier, Kerrin M.: The convergence of competition law within APEC and the CER agreement. Lloyd, P. J.: Competition policy in APEC. Principles of harmonisation. Wu Rong-I; Chu Yun-Peng: Trade and competition policy. Pupphavesa, Wisarn: Competition regulation and policy in Thailand. Janow, Merit E.: Policy approaches to economic deregulation and regulatory reform. Ure, John; Vivorakij, Araya: Telecommunication and privatisation in Asia. Chujoh, Ushio; Yamauchi, Hirotaka: Japan's air transport policy at a crossroad. Naidu, G.: Power sector reform in Malaysia. Privatisation and regulation. Vikitset, Thiraphong: Liberalisation and privatisation of the Thai power sector. Issues and perspectives. (...).

Critically addresses the issues and controversies surrounding the practice of corporate governance in the Asia-Pacific region. Includes country-specific studies from Australia, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, the UK and the USA.

Published in 1998. The debate on what constitutes good governance - and more importantly, how to attain it - is not a new issue. The elusive - and pluralistic - nature of governance ensures that much more needs to be studied about the specific incidence of good governance before a unifying theme on how exactly to develop a universal framework of application of governance can be finalized. It is within this context that this book seeks to fill a vacuum in the theory-practice dichotomy that, it argues, has dominated the debate on governance so far.

'This book is an excellent reference on the state of port reform throughout the Asia-Pacific region. While there have been a number of articles in recent years on port reform in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore, much of the Asia-Pacific region has been overlooked. This book not only rectifies this gap by providing much needed insight into the situation in India, Japan, Malaysia, and New Zealand, while also consolidating the work already completed elsewhere. With the rise of Asia as the world's most important shipping and port market, the editors are to be commended for bringing new voices to the discussion and developing a strong contribution to the port reform and port governance literature.' - Mary R. Brooks, Dalhousie University, Canada