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Singapore: A Case Study in Rapid Development
... al., 1991). The economic success of Hong Kong (China) and Singapore has also been facilitated by internationally-oriented financial services sectors (Bercuson, 1995). The ranking of financial sector development in 53 industrialized and developing countries covered by the World Economic Forum (1997), which includes proxies for the opening and stability of financial systems, tends to confirm these findings. ...
... Sources : Bercuson, (1995); Economist Intelligence Unit, (1996) ;Euromoney, (1994);Financial Times, (1996 andSICC, (1996); WTO, (1996a). only borrow informally. ...
... It seemed as if the island would use up all the resources in a short amount of time. The state offi cials in Singapore believed that sustainable development and the pursuit of a green city-state was the solution and it would encourage foreign and local investments, embrace the locals, and help avert the harmful effects of overpopulation (Bercuson, 1995). ...
Today, Singapore is a thriving city-state representing a growth of almost eighty percent since 1990. A feasible combination of state authorities' planning, policy implementation, public-private partnerships, and international assistance has led to the city-state's development and sustainability. Urban economic fluctuations, demographic shifts, and environmental degradation reaching irreversible points, among others, are expected to challenge the future of cities in the next 50 years. Thus, it is considered essential to plan ahead for sustainability and resource management. This study delves into the broad policies and practices that have contributed to Singapore's success story while also getting into recent years' specific and modern technologies of sustainable planning and development. Adopting a case study of Singapore long-term, or constant, redevelopment, findings contribute to the enhancement of the existing body of knowledge in the field of sustainable planning and can benefit those interested in understanding from a policy and operational standpoint. The Singapore example illustrates that technocratic competence in design, planning, and implementation is a fundamental requirement for the long-term worldwide sustainability scheme expressed by the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
... Questo fondo a capitalizzazione ha alleggerito la pressione esercitata sul bilancio pubblico dalla spesa per la sicurezza sociale che penalizza pesantemente i bilanci di altri paesi industrializzati (Bercuson, 1995 ).Tuttavia, il fondo ha perso molto della sua trasparenza a causa della riservatezza con la quale le risorse sono amministrate. ...
Il volume affronta il tema del ruolo mutevole della finanza pubblica nel corso del ventesimo secolo, documentando l'enorme incremento della spesa pubblica riscontrato in tutti i paesi industrializzati. Gli autori ritengono che la crescita della spesa nei governi negli ultimi trentacinque anni non ha comportato un significativo addizionale benessere sociale ed economico. Questo suggerisce che la spesa pubblica nei paesi industrializzati potrebbe essere molto minore senza sacrificare importanti obiettivi di politica economica. Affinché questo sia possibile i governi devono riconsiderare il loro ruolo di soggetti che stabiliscono le regole del gioco, e lo studio suggerisce possibili riforme istituzionali e di politica della spesa. Dopo un dettagliato resoconto delle esperienze in materia di riforme in diversi paesi e del relativo dibattito, il volume si chiude con uno sguardo prospettico sul futuro ruolo dello stato in un'epoca in cui la globalizzazione potrebbe chiedere, e il popolo volere, stati più "snelli" ma non per questo più inefficienti. Rassegna stampa: VISUM, marzo 2009: Crescita economica e spesa pubblica
... Они включают в себя различные учреждения образования, здравоохранения, услуг ЖКХ, транспорта, а также отвечают за развитие инфраструктуры. (Bercuson, 1995). Некоторые из ГК финансируются за счет привлеченных грантов и отчислений из бюджета, другие же ориентированы на получение прибыли и функционируют без привлечения государственного субсидирования. ...
... They pointed out that capital accumulation always enhances economic growth, which in turn further enriches the production of goods and services in the economy. Further, Bercuson et al. (1995) also have asserted that investment expenditure is the most important contributor to Singapore's economic growth. ...
The purpose of this paper is to examine the long-term impacts of fiscal variables on economic growth in Singapore and Sri Lanka from 1972 to 2017. Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL)-ECM approach and some diagnostic and specification tests were employed to determine the impact of fiscal variables on economic growth on time series data. The results confirm that government expenditure, government revenue and investment expenditure positively and significantly affect in Singapore as well as Sri Lanka’s economic growth in the long run. This result is consistence with the theory of Keynesian views. Moreover, the Toda-Yamamoto’s Granger causality results reveal that there is bidirectional causality between inflation rate and economic growth in Singapore. Further, the results show that bidirectional causality relationship between investment expenditure and economic growth in Sri Lanka. Grounded on the premises that there are little or no studies on the impact of fiscal variables on Singapore and Sri Lankan economy with more recent data., this paper provides new evidence on the potential effect of fiscal variables on Singapore’s and Sri Lankan economic growth over the last four decades.
... Singapore has been attracting immigrants from different Asian countries since its foundation in 1819 (Kitiarsa 2014, 11). Singapore is a crossroads of global flows, and its tremendous [11] development from a small colonial trading post to a global city (Bercuson 1995) was only possible with the contributions of millions of migrant workers (Warren 2003;Yeoh 2004). ...
This paper explores the mobilities and structural moorings of Thai labour migrants in Singapore from a translocal perspective. We argue that combining the mobilities paradigm with the concept of translocality offers a fruitful avenue of investigation not only of the production of translocal spaces, but also of their temporality and mutability. Through a multi-sited research approach we shed light on the genesis as well as the decay of translocal connections. This paper shows that translocal structures are important moorings of migration, and raises the question of what happens to translocal spaces when migration flows dissolve.
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eprint link: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/XmsdzhEmZUQ6bC2neHBt/full++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ VIDEO ABSTRACT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTaW46QKu0w
... This confirms Sala-i-Martin's (1995, 2003) postulation that capital accumulation will always triggers economic growth, which in turn will further enhance the production of goods and services. Additionally, Bercuson et al. (1995) also have highlighted that of all the determinant of economic growth in Singapore, physical capital formation was by far the most important contributor to Singapore's economic growth as well as per capital GDP, especially for the period from 1960 to 1992. ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the long-term impacts of health capital on economic growth in Singapore from 1980 to 2013
Design/methodology/approach
Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) -ECM methodology and several diagnostic and specification tests were used to estimate the impact of health capital on economic growth on time series data covering the period 1980-2013.
Findings
The results confirm that health capital (measure by health expenditure per capita) positively and significantly affects Singapore’s economic growth in the long run. In addition, the equilibrium error correction coefficient lagged by one in the short run is approximately 83.25 percent for all estimated variables, implying a considerably high speed of long-term adjustment to equilibrium following a short-term shock. Morever, the T-Y Granger causality estimation reveals that there is unidirectional causality from health expenditure per capita to GDP per capita.
Research limitations/implications
The findings imply that Singapore’s economic growth could be improved significantly if expenditure on health capital is increased. This eventually would have a substantial impact on human productivity which leads to improved output per capita. Thus, policy makers and / or the government should strive to create institutional capacity to improve basic health service by strengthening the health institutions infrastructure that produces healthy and quality manpower.
Originality/value
Grounded on the premises that there is little or no studies on the impact of health capital on Singapore economy, this paper provides new evidence on the potential effect of health capital on Singapore’s economic growth over last three decades. Also, this study explore the causal effect (unidirectional or bidirectional) between health capital and economic growth.
... However, her government had the foresight to recognise that the country's hope of success in the wake of acute lack of even the basic natural resources such as water was the development of her human resource. Hence, as Bercuson (1995) indicate, "commitment was made in the mid-1960s to upgrade human capital through investments in education and vocational training". In the ensuing years investment and the development of the tertiary and higher education institutes has been the major focus and these institutes have in turn lived up to their task of providing the highly skilled technical expertise in virtually all facets of the fields that matter in development. ...
This paper reflects on the historical development of higher education and quality assurance in Southeast Asia with examples of some countries within, in broader view, while highlighting developments in Malaysia. It explains conflated and diverse models of education by visiting events in the colonial era and thrusting through the continuum to what exists today before explaining the historical underpinnings of quality assurance especially the rich and diverse models practiced by countries across the region. The narrative or comprehensive methodology chosen reveal that while activities that occurred during the colonial era played some part in influencing the current education models, the frail foundations of education left by the colonial legacy contributed to the trail of diverse models by the countries concerned. The quest for development guided by good practices has also played immeasurably into the choice of models of education being tried and most significantly investment in higher education as a springboard to national development.
... In the face of growing competition for trade, Singapore has adopted a strategy to maintain the external competitiveness by lowering domestic cost through low inflation (Bercuson, 1995). Since the 1985 recession, the monetary authorities in Singapore have been successful in maintaining strong currency which has helped to bring inflation down to record low levels. ...
... Singapore has long attracted scholarly attention with its accelerated industrialization and modernization (e.g., Bercuson, 1995;Schein, 1996). Despite its small size and lack of natural resources of all kinds, the city-state has transformed into the most developed country in Southeast Asia within a short span of time, with per capita GDP reaching US$52,051 in 2012 (Department of Statistics, 2013a). ...
Research on nonprofit advocacy in non-Western settings is still rather limited. In this article, we address this limitation by examining the advocacy practices of nonprofit charitable organizations in Singapore, a non-liberal democratic city-state in Southeast Asia with a history of colonial rule. We ask the following questions: What are the key environmental and organizational factors that influence the scope and intensity of advocacy activities of nonprofit organizations? In particular, what is the effect of the political context on the advocacy strategies and tactics among these organizations? To answer these questions, we present a three-factor explanatory model of nonprofit advocacy incorporating cause, capacity, and context. The research methodology entails a survey of nonprofit executives from a random sample of Singapore human and social service organizations. Our findings shed light on how the various aspects of the political context—perceived opportunities and threats from government intervention and dependence on government funding—shape nonprofit advocacy in a non-Western setting.
... King (2006) summarized the four basic (economic) strategies Singapore adopted for its survival, which led to open-door policies for foreign capital: rapid industrialization, export-based development, the state to operate strategic industries and establish enterprises that foreign capital or the private sector could or would not start, and the development of financial reserves and assets to weather adverse times. As a result, Singapore experienced rapid growth, low inflation, and a healthy balance of payments in the thirty years following its independence (Bercuson, 1995). ...
The index of sustainable functionality (ISF) was applied to assess the impact of the Marina Bay development project on the sustainability of Singapore. The development project has three aims: water supply, flood control and lifestyle attraction; construction for the various stages began in 2005, with scheduled completion end of 2009. The period of study was 2001–2007, before and during construction. The ISF increased from 2001 to 2004, then decreased slightly and stabilised from 2005 onwards, staying below the 2004 ISF value, showing that the development has not increased sustainability. A quick forecasting exercise, for the case that the three aims above were achieved and all other indicator values the same as those in 2007, increased the ISF value by 5.1%. Continued ISF construction would indicate if the functionality, and thus sustainability, of Singapore would increase after the Marina Bay development is completed and the benefits can be realised.
... In fact, the expansion was smaller than that registered in Greece, Portugal and Spain, countries at away from labour intensive processes and boost the capital stock. According to Bercuson (1995), to a large extent this policy proved successful. a slightly higher stage of economic progress. ...
Appraisals of international competitiveness are increasingly focusing on unit labour costs. In this paper, a unit labour costs measure is derived for the Maltese economy for the last two decades. In order to take into account structural shifts, separate indices are also derived for the effective cost of labour in the private and Government sectors, and in manufacturing. These series indicate that unit labour costs in the overall economy rose by 2.3% per annum during the twenty years to 2003, and that the increases registered in the private sector and manufacturing were less pronounced. Malta’s overall unit labour costs were estimated to stand at less than two-thirds of those in the EU-15 and the relativity between manufacturing labour costs in Malta and in Europe seems to have remained virtually stable over the last fifteen years. However since 2000, labour productivity has fallen in Malta, while compensation costs in some sectors have remained on the rise, leading to reduced competitiveness.
... If these factors are likely to accelerate the inflation to unacceptable levels, the exchange rate is allowed to appreciate sufficiently to reduce imported inflation. The appreciation is also expected to dampen domestic demand pressure in order to maintain domestic price stability (Bercuson, 1995). The precise impact of this exchange rate movement on reducing domestic inflation and country's performance in external trade are dependent upon to a large extent on Singapore's market power in world markets. ...
A computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of the Singapore economy is simulated to project the impact of the appreciation of the Singapore dollar under different export demand elasticity scenarios. The macroeconomic and sectoral results are not very sensitive to variations in the export demand elasticities over the elastic range. A significant change in the projections is apparent when highly inelastic export demand curves are adopted. These results are consistent with the economic performance of Singapore over recent years under the strong currency regime. The analysis thus supports the belief that Singapore is becoming to enjoy some degree of market power in the worm trade of manufactures.
... upgrade human capital through investments in education and vocational training (Bercuson, 1995, p.4). As a result, Singapore has a well-developed state education system which comprises primary, secondary and tertiary sectors that provide " human resources to meet the country's imperative for an educated and skilled workforce " and " inculcate sound moral values in the face of rapid progress and change " (Ministry of Information & the Arts, 1998, p.206). ...
This paper considers contemporary higher education in Singapore and its relationship to the larger international context. It shows that international education has been established as a result of fundamentally different motives than the current full fee- paying programs found in western countries. It argues that on-shore international education in Singapore is a catalyst to prepare local institutions for the next wave of the nation's economic development, as it is orients itself to be the regional hegemonic player in a 'knowledge economy' driven by a world class tertiary sector. Considerations of history, culture and economic development add substance and depth to the claim that Singapore, by necessity and design, is on the verge of creating a unique 'hub' of international education which will challenge traditional western models that have been so dominant throughout the final years of the last millennium. Singapore, International Education, Internationalisation, Postcolonial Education
... However, while the immobile factor land and the comparatively immobile factor labour have been subject to intense regulative interventions, the mobile factor capital is regulated through indicative measures, involving a broad range of material incentives (Huff, 1994: 339). An institutional lack of rent-seeking behaviour in the determination of market interventions seems to have contributed decisively to the implementation of these strategies (Bercuson et al., 1995: 18). ...
The relationship between innovation policies and locational competitiveness has emerged as an important area in the analysis of economic development, reflecting both the centralisation and decentralisation of globalising economic activities. The underlying spatial and institutional components are subject to a pattern of cumulative causation in which strategic interventions of policy actors exercise a decisive role in shaping competitive advantages, while promoting interactions with local and foreign partners both from the private and public sectors. The Singaporean development experience illustrates these strategic interdependencies of innovation policies and locational competitiveness. Based on her role as a manufacturing and service hub, Singapore is viewed as an infrastructural nodal point which is interconnected to global production networks. Paralleling efforts in the domain of technological innovation, Singapore's policies for locational competitiveness aim at an adaptive harmonisation of the needs of international investors with local developmental objectives. This orientation characterises also current efforts in promoting Singapore as a knowledge agglomeration with a distinct science base, expanding R&D operations and an innovation-driven pattern of economic development. In conclusion, the locational rationale of Singapore's innovation policies provides lessons for dealing with the spatial and institutional implications of technological globalisation.
... This paper examine Singapore's evolving foreign economic policy in bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) perceived to have inimical regional interests by its partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA). An understanding first of the global environment in Section 2 (see also Low, 2000 Low, , 2001b Low, and 2001d) and second, Singapore's political economy in the region in Section 3 (see also Bercuson, et al, 1995, Huff, 1999, Low, 1998, 2001c) set the context for Section 4 on Singapore's stirring new regionalism at a fast and furious pace since 1999. As an academic policy analysis, this paper is neither a defence nor apology of Singapore's official policy, just an understanding of its strategy to survive as a small city-state. ...
... 72, bogotá, segundo semestre de 2013, pp. 11-69, issn 0120-3584The first great mineral finding occurred in 1967, when De Beer's geologists found the Orapa Kimberlite pipe.25 "The Botswana government signed a jointventure agreement with De Beers creating… Debswana. ...
Este documento presenta un Estudio de Caso sobre el buen desempeño económico de Botswana y Singapur durante la segunda mitad del siglo XX. La metodología de Estudio de Caso nos permite complementar la evidencia estadística sobre los determinantes del crecimiento económico, e identificar las particularidades del rápido desarrollo de estos dos países. This document presents a Case Study on the impressive Economic performance achieved by Botswana and Singapore during the second half of the last century. The Case Study methodology allowed us to go beyond the traditional determinants of economic growth, and to indentify the particularities of Botswana’s and Singapore’s rapid development.
... By the mid 1980s, Singapore was already a leading high-technology, and high wage goods producer in Southeast Asia (Bercuson, 1995). And much of the preparatory work in terms of establishing continuous skills development had already been put in place during the last phase. ...
This paper contributes to the partial resolution of the debate regarding the role of governments in leading national upskilling efforts through a descriptive case study of the Singapore system of skills development. The paper identifies the major reasons behind Singapore’s remarkable success in upgrading workforce skills in a relatively short period of 40 years. First, a general linkage between economic development needs and skill formation and development has been facilitated by an institutional structure that places the Economic Development Board at the center of the effort with responsibility for both areas. Authors argue that this general linkage is a necessary but insufficient condition for rapid skills upgradation. Second, the EDB’s model of technology transfer, which over a period of time brought about the integration of three crucial aspects, i.e., linking foreign direct investment to skills development and joint government-private sector operation for skills training, was crucial in the ability of the economy to meet its short and medium term skills development needs. Third, educational reform for long term skills development and fourth, a levy/grant scheme (the Skills development Funds) that induced private sector firms to invest in upskilling were important contributors to the success of the system. Finally, the institutional linkages across various different skills development institutions and initiatives further ensured the effectiveness and relevance of upskilling programs i.e., the interconnectedness of the various parts of the system was a crucial element in the success of the Singapore effort. In sum, Singapore’s system is consistent with the notion of a concerted national effort. Given that several nations have indicated their desire to copy selected aspects of the Singapore system (e.g., skills development funds) this paper cautions that it is important to understand that each component works because of the institutional context, and cannot be transplanted independently to a different institutional context and be expected to provide the same results.
... In Singapore, education is considered to be extremely important because the country's population is its only natural resource (Sanderson, 2002). Therefore, one of the main focuses of the government has always been to improve education standards and develop the talents of each individual so that each could contribute to making Singapore productive and competitive in the international scene (Bercuson, 1995). Thus, education in Singapore is a core and integral part of Singaporean life. ...
The author first examined the underlying factor structure of the defensive pessimism construct and its relations with achievement motives. The author used a sample of 542 Singaporean undergraduate students and found that defensive pessimism is a 2-factor construct that comprises (a) negative expectation, in which individuals worry about possible pitfalls, and (b) reflectivity, in which individuals put forth efforts to prevent possible pitfalls. Then, the author used a sample of 160 Singaporean undergraduate students for Study 2, which supported the proposed model in which mastery predicted the reflectivity factor of defensive pessimism, competition predicted the negative-expectation factor of defensive pessimism indirectly through the mediation of fear of shame, and negative-expectation factor predicted the reflectivity factor of defensive pessimism because, for the defensive pessimists, the act of worrying helps them to respond to their anxiety by initiating the planning process to direct efforts to prevent potential disasters.
The transformation of the Singapore economy over the past five decades has been impressive, producing rapid economic growth and delivering extraordinary improvements in social welfare. During that period, Singapore has evolved into a developed economy with multiple engines of growth including globally competitive manufacturing clusters, one of the world's pre-eminent financial and transportation centres, and the location for regional or global headquarters of major corporations. Today, the economy remains in generally sound shape. However, the Singapore economy faces significant challenges in coming years, including disruptions caused by new technologies, changing structures of international competitiveness, and growing economic nationalism. Domestically, Singapore will need to respond to an ageing population and slowing population growth, rising costs, weak innovation capacity, and desultory productivity growth. This Analysis assesses the two main adjustment mechanisms for dealing with such challenges: the government's top-down policy interventions and the more spontaneous bottom-up adjustments by companies. It argues that Singapore's economic model may not be evolving quickly enough to allow the country to adjust successfully to its domestic and external challenges. It also argues that bolder and more rigorous changes are needed in the policy sphere to overcome these challenges.
ASSESSMENT AND FORECASTS OF EMPLOYMENT IN THE CHEMICAL AND
PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRY OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN TILL 2025 YEAR
Abstract
Purpose – the main goal of this article is methodological bases of forecasting of employment in the
chemical and petrochemical industry of Kazakhstan.
Methodology – The method research research/methodology at the forecast of the employed population
and the number of the enterprises in chemical industry has been used a method of econometric modeling of
temporary ranks. Also were the logical method for the offer of system of technical professional education was
used. The graphic method - tables, drawings for a material explanation has been used.
Originality/value – is as follows: Kazakhstan have defined the strategic purpose - to become the competitive
country of the world in the nearest future. These objectives can be achieved when ensuring high-quality labor
market, in particular labor market in the chemical and petrochemical industry. This market will make qualitative
production. Respectively forecasting of employment in the chemical and petrochemical industry of Kazakhstan
will help with formation of quantitative demand in labor market and education market with the chemical and
petrochemical industry of Kazakhstan. This research will help with development of methodological bases of
training of qualified personnel in the chemical and petrochemical industry. Also will help with improvement of
further development of the chemical and petrochemical industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The directions
of improvement of technical professional education on the basis of foreign experience are also offered.
Findings – On the basis of the forecast of chemical specialties growth of number of the chemical companies
and growth of number of the employed population in chemical industry till 2025 have been revealed. Use of
this forecast will help with formation of a methodic of preparation of number of qualified personnel in the
chemical and petrochemical industry of RK. This research will help with formation of the state order of amount
of chemical and petrochemical specialties for the Ministry of Education and Science of RK till 2025. Also in
work were offered creation of system of vocational training, training at work as one of the main directions of
improvement of quality of technical education.
A lot of talk has been going around about the “Singapore sound”. Government officials, Singapore’s national newspaper The Straits Times, culture magazines, blogs, musicians and music industry professionals have all been weighing in on the matter. Some proclaim such as sound in connection to particular local music groups, styles or genres, others ponder about its unique characteristics, and others yet enquire as to whether it actually exists or not. This search and preoccupation with the existence and nature of the Singapore sound has, however, not been the subject of much academic research to date. This chapter therefore aims to further the discussion and unpack what exactly is meant by the “Singapore sound”, as well as the perspectives of young local musicians about it. During the research, I identified two interpretations, or approaches, towards thinking about the Singapore sound. The first part of the chapter is dedicated to the first approach which posits such a sound as a function of how well it represents the country’s multicultural and ethnically diverse society. Advocates of this approach associate the Singapore sound to two cornerstones of national identity, namely, racial harmony and the upholding of “ethnic” and musical heritage(s). Since this approach is aligned with official discourse, I begin by exploring the way in which the Singapore state has deployed music for the purpose of nation-building. I then briefly outline the current cultural policies and institutional incentives that support this ideologically informed Singapore sound. I follow with several examples of music groups that actively engage with, and attempt to embody, this idea of the Singapore sound through their music-making. The second part of the chapter explores some of the most commonly held critiques of this so-called Singapore sound whose ideology is decidedly multiculturalist. We will discuss the problematically ambiguous use of the terms “ethnic” and “traditional” often associated with this sound, the risk of incentivising formulaic fusion music, the essentialising of “racial” categories, as well as the way in which the institutional environment that is promoting this Singapore sound may in fact produce conditions that discourage creativity and innovation.
Singapore’s constitutive sociocultural hybridity has meant that this postcolonial island-nation’s national identity has always been a problematic construct. The developmental state’s pragmatism and self-re-inventiveness further undermine the efforts to construct a stable national identity, frustrating the desire for an authentic nationhood in the essentialist and positive sense. Focus on the more recently arrived “foreign talent” subjects who inhabit the margins of the Singaporean imagination of the national body informs an alternative analytical angle on the question of Singaporean national identity. It is suggested that a sense of national togetherness and belonging emerges through constructing these national Others as “inauthentic”. Examination of two particularly visible and controversial types of “foreign talent” in Singapore — foreign sports professionals and foreign students who have received scholarships from the Singapore government — and of the ways in which they are discursively framed suggests that the “foreign talent” unwittingly constitute a relative and negative solution to Singapore’s national identity problem.
The idea of introducing a flat consumption based Goods and Services Tax (GST) in Malaysia has been floated since 1989. It now seems as though this may become a reality in the 2014 Budget, with implementation beginning within 18 to 24 months at an initial rate of 4 % on the supply chain. The plan
to overhaul the tax system has begun to gain momentum as the government deals with an increasingly weak economic outlook, combined with global uncertainty. The following policy paper gives a snapshot of the current tax system in Malaysia and analyses what effect a GST may have on the economy. It also shows how similar tax reforms have been realized in other countries and offers policy recommendations for the implementation process of such a reform.
Singapore's recent trade record has some paradoxical results. Exports have increased when the Singapore dollar has appreciated by a significant margin, arguably due to real exchange rate (RER) misalignment. This article offers explanations for this unusual outcome by simulating a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of the Singapore economy to identify factors that may have influenced RER misalignment. Among the factors examined we find that overseas demand plays a pivotal role in the growth of Singapore's exports. This finding has important implications for Singapore in the light of growing economic uncertainty in the Southeast Asian economies. Research for this study was completed before the full impact of the 1997 financial crisis; follow-on research may illuminate the effects of the crisis on the results presented here.
How important is the demographic transition for economic growth? To answer this question, this paper constructs a general equilibrium overlapping generations model with endogenous fertility. The model is calibrated to data from Taiwan, a country that experienced rapid economic growth while undergoing significant demographic transition. Our results suggest that more than one-third of the output growth in Taiwan during the past four decades can be attributed to demographic transition, while TFP growth explains another third and the remainder is mainly due to skill-biased technological progress. Our results show that demographic change is an important driver of the growth process in countries undergoing rapid fertility decline.
The Asian economic crisis ravaged numerous economies in the late 1990s. Significant social and political disruption followed the fall in Asian currency prices. The newly industrialized states of Asia were particularly hard hit, yet some also experienced swift turnarounds, reaching pre-crisis currency rates and economic output. The enduring puzzle of the crisis is the role of bureaucratic-business ties as a background cause of the crisis and determinant of governmental policy responses. In this paper, we adapt Tsebelis' veto player model to include bureaucracy as a formal actor in the adjustment process. We argue that states that minimized the control of developmental bureaucracies over finance and direct managerial decision-making weakened the institutional capacity of bureaucrats to veto adjustment policies, both before and after the 1997 crisis. Moreover, we find that a tradition of strategic regulatory guidance is associated with favorable economic performance, provided that bureaucrats had subjected private firms or state-owned enterprises to competition (or even business failure) historically, and where the risks associated with financial decisions were not socialized by the state.
This paper examines the different arguments raised by the studies that addressed the East Asian growth experience. The original arguments presented in this paper are all on the negative side, highlighting problems associated with some of the possible explanations for the East Asian miracle. The paper concentrates mainly on four dimensions of the debate about the East Asian growth experience: (i) The nature of economic growth intensive or extensive?; (ii) The role of public policy and of selective interventions; (iii) The role of high investment rates and a strong export orientation as possible engines of growth; and (iv) The importance of the initial conditions and their relevance for policy.
This paper investigates the impact of the reallocations of resources across manufacturing industries on aggregate manufacturing TFP growth in Singapore for the period 1965-2002. This is done by decomposing aggregate TFP growth into its sources, TFP growth arising from within individual industries and from the reallocations of capital and labour. The results show that TFP growth was negative before 1985 but improved remarkably to positive figures after 1985. Resource reallocations are found to account for a large portion of this improvement in aggregate TFP growth. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
This paper is the story of the search for a better trade-off between flexibility and credibility undertaken by authorities around the world in the last 25 years. It provides detailed information on how monetary frameworks - that is the set of announced rules and institutions affecting monetary policy - evolved in 100 countries, examining the forces that molded such evolution and focusing on how developments in economic theory affected the choices of policy-makers.