Asian Review of Political Economy最新文献

{"title":"Competitive interdependence in pharmaceutical innovation: The co-evolution of global value chains and U.S.–China national innovation systems","authors":"Jiahui Chen,&nbsp;Meng Li","doi":"10.1007/s44216-026-00084-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-026-00084-w","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper examines why intensifying U.S.–China geopolitical competition in pharmaceutical innovation has not led to full decoupling, proposing the concept of competitive interdependence as an analytical lens. Drawing on a co-evolutionary framework of global value chains (GVC) and national innovation systems (NIS), it argues that pharmaceutical innovation is simultaneously embedded in transnational production networks and domestic institutional systems. This dual embeddedness generates structurally asymmetric interdependence across both material and institutional dimensions. Empirically, the U.S. depends on China for scale and cost-efficient inputs, whereas China relies on the U.S. for core technologies, advanced instruments and talent. Institutional alignment, particularly China’s convergence with internationally recognized standards largely shaped by the U.S., along with shared innovation elements, embeds the two innovation systems into each other. However, these connections create asymmetric dependencies and strategic vulnerabilities that intensify competition under geopolitical pressure. Although both sides have pursued value chain restructuring and policy adjustments to reduce risks, the prohibitive costs of full separation prevent complete decoupling. This study contributes to the literature by offering a framework to understand the structural limits of decoupling in high-innovation sectors, thereby theorizing GVC–NIS interactions under geopolitical tension.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-026-00084-w.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149132616","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Transforming management education in the Global South: empirical evidence on robotics-enabled embodied learning in economic universities","authors":"Khoren Mkhitaryan,&nbsp;Gagik Aslanyan,&nbsp;Armen Karakhanyan","doi":"10.1007/s44216-026-00086-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-026-00086-8","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This article examines the role of robotics-enabled embodied learning in transforming management education within the Global South. As higher education institutions in developing and transition economies face increasing pressure to modernize curricula and cultivate digitally fluent, adaptive graduates, conventional pedagogical approaches often prove insufficient. Drawing on embodied cognition theory—which emphasizes the integration of mind, body, and environment in learning—this study positions robotics as a pedagogical medium capable of operationalizing experiential and practice-oriented management training. The study adopts a mixed-method research design with a dominant quantitative component, combining a cross-country survey of faculty and students in economic universities across four Global South countries with complementary conceptual and contextual analysis. Empirical findings indicate that the integration of robotics and embodied learning practices is positively associated with higher levels of student engagement, critical thinking, and perceived learning effectiveness. Regression analysis further demonstrates that institutional support, faculty training, and access to technological infrastructure are the strongest predictors of successful implementation. Beyond empirical validation, the article critically examines structural and policy-related barriers—such as uneven digital readiness and institutional capacity constraints—that mediate the adoption of robotics-based pedagogy in the Global South. By situating technological innovation within broader developmental and geopolitical contexts, the study advances a context-sensitive framework for management education reform. It contributes to the literature by linking embodied cognition and educational robotics to measurable learning outcomes, while offering actionable insights for universities and policymakers seeking to foster inclusive, future-ready management education systems.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-026-00086-8.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149132198","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cuihong Cai. (2025). Cyber governance in China: balancing state centrism and collaborative dynamics. London and New York: Routledge","authors":"Karman Lucero","doi":"10.1007/s44216-026-00092-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-026-00092-w","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-026-00092-w.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149035142","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mission-oriented investment and South-South industrial cooperation: theoretical foundations and empirical analysis","authors":"Chenyang Li,&nbsp;Zhaoyuan Chen","doi":"10.1007/s44216-026-00085-9","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-026-00085-9","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Industrialization remains a central objective for countries of the Global South, yet for many it has remained elusive. This paper investigates whether and how China’s outward investment cooperation can help mitigate the obstacles to industrialization in these countries. We argue that a critical barrier lies in the insufficiency of mission-oriented investment, which is needed to address two persistent constraints facing late-industrializing economies: weak endogenous investment momentum and unstable financing conditions. China’s engagement in South-South cooperation can help expand and strengthen mission-oriented investment in partner countries, thereby facilitating their industrial development. To substantiate this argument, we first trace the evolution of China’s domestic industrial system to identify the origins and institutional foundations of its mission-oriented investment capabilities. We then examine, through case studies of industrial park development in Ethiopia and power infrastructure construction in Brazil, the mechanisms through which China enables such investment abroad. By linking China’s domestic industrialization experience with its outward investment cooperation, this study offers a unified analytical framework for understanding how development knowledge may be transferred through South-South investment partnerships, and draws implications for the future design of international development cooperation.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-026-00085-9.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148926291","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Global South in transition: Geopolitical dynamics and development cooperation","authors":"Yongnian Zheng,&nbsp;Wei Ye","doi":"10.1007/s44216-026-00089-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-026-00089-5","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This special issue explores the development trajectories of the Global South and how various regions of the Global South are navigating the increasingly complex geopolitical dynamics. Covering Africa, Asia, and Latin America, the collection examines both global and regional geopolitical rivalries and assesses their impact on development trajectories and cooperation in the Global South. The scope of this special issue ranges from the internal development of Global South countries and South-South cooperation to multilateral mechanisms such as BRICS. It spans traditional development sectors like infrastructure, trade, and finance, as well as emerging areas such as the digital economy and climate change. Collectively, these papers underscore that the Global South is far from a monolithic entity. Instead, it comprises a diverse constellation of actors that both collaborate and compete, actively and strategically navigating geopolitical dynamics to advance their own development goals. Geopolitics, both during the Cold War and in the contemporary era, has presented a dual dynamic of opportunities and challenges for the Global South. Crucially, however, the contemporary rise of the Global South diverges from the historical patterns of the Cold War. This synthesis reveals a Global South that is dynamic and heterogeneous, yet possesses an increasingly heightened capacity for strategic agency.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-026-00089-5.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148750808","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Analysis of the evolution of South-South Cooperation from the perspective of Southern Identity","authors":"Chen Shen,&nbsp;Lin Ren,&nbsp;Siru Chen","doi":"10.1007/s44216-026-00088-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-026-00088-6","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>We propose the term “Southern Identity” to encompass the concepts of the Third World, developing countries and the Global South, establishing a logical counterpart to Western Identity. The concepts of the Third World, developing countries and the Global South arose within a brief span of time, yet their usage frequency has varied substantially across different historical periods and international contexts. In contrast to Western Identity, Southern Identity seems to feature a certain degree of conceptual fluidity. To address this issue, we first sort out the debates on the stability and fluidity of identity in existing research, and theoretically explain the causes of the differences in the stability and fluidity of collective identities in the international community. Subsequently, we analyze the three-stage evolution of South-South Cooperation in the situation of post-war history: the Third World constructed its political identity through the Non-Aligned Movement yet witnessed its dissolution after the end of the Cold War; developing countries focused on the pursuit of economic equity, and their identity recognition faces dual challenges: external pressures from the West and internal development disparities; the Global South strengthened its subjectivity and consolidated Southern Identity by virtue of its enhanced economic strength and the practice of diverse roles. We argue that Southern Identity is a unified and continuous whole, whose stability hinges on the joint underpinning of its own values, subjectivity and institutionalization.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-026-00088-6.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148750732","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sino-Latin American cooperation on transportation infrastructure: characteristics and impacts","authors":"Ting Cao,&nbsp;Yuyun Li","doi":"10.1007/s44216-026-00081-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-026-00081-z","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Since the twenty-first century, China and Latin American countries have continuously strengthened cooperation across political, economic, and cultural domains. Particularly since the extension of China's Belt and Road Initiative to the Latin American region, international assessments of China-Latin America cooperation have become polarized. Scholars from the United States and some Latin American countries view China's infrastructure cooperation in the region as a form of \"neocolonialism.\" This paper examines China-Latin America transportation infrastructure cooperation between 2009 and 2023, employing South-South cooperation and postcolonial theoretical perspectives to analyze the characteristics of this cooperation and its socio-economic impacts on Latin American countries. The study concludes that China-Latin America transportation infrastructure cooperation not only aligns with but also demonstrates innovation within the framework of South-South cooperation. However, this collaboration still faces numerous challenges, necessitating enhanced policy coordination and improved project design between China and Latin American countries to advance mutually beneficial cooperation in the future.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-026-00081-z.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148465164","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Implications of the evolution of “Digital BRICS” for South-South cooperation","authors":"Yang Lu,&nbsp;Tingting Zhang","doi":"10.1007/s44216-026-00083-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-026-00083-x","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Discourses surrounding the Global South and South-South cooperation have re-emerged in recent years. Meanwhile, the digital economy has become a strategic priority in global economic competition. This paper traces the evolution of “Digital BRICS”, which is a new and rapidly developing field of BRICS cooperation. It aims to identify new focal points for South-South cooperation in the evolving landscape, addressing the research gap linking the “Digital BRICS” initiative with South-South cooperation. Starting with an analysis of the key features of BRICS cooperation, this paper explores the achievements of “Digital BRICS”, identifies technical, institutional, and regulatory bottlenecks, and puts forward corresponding policy recommendations. Using both literature survey and case study methodologies, it conducts qualitative and comparative research from a historical perspective. Ultimately, this paper points out that the “Digital BRICS” platform could advance South-South cooperation in the realm of global digital governance. The resurgence of discourses surrounding the Global South and South-South cooperation has created a historic window of opportunity for “Digital BRICS”, however its development will also confront formidable challenges as political rivalry between East and West intensifies and global uncertainty surges.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-026-00083-x.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148465070","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"EU–China research cooperation under a “de-risking” framework: the securitisation of knowledge in EU science policy (2021–2025)","authors":"Yang Li,&nbsp;Ting Long","doi":"10.1007/s44216-026-00080-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-026-00080-0","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Using developments in EU–China research cooperation between 2021 and 2025 as an empirical window, this article examines how the EU’s de-risking agenda is reconfiguring research governance through the securitisation of knowledge exchange. Drawing on securitisation theory and a qualitative analysis of publicly available EU policy documents—including the Horizon Europe regulation and participation rules (Articles 22(5)– (6)), the European Economic Security Strategy, and the 2024 Council Recommendation on enhancing research security—alongside Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) readouts and state-media commentaries, the article traces how “research security” is constructed and operationalised. It finds that EU actors increasingly frame knowledge flows with China as strategically sensitive, and translate this framing into a growing toolkit of eligibility rules, risk screening, and guidance on foreign interference and safeguarding. Empirically, the analysis identifies a dual trajectory at the level of governance: established cooperation architectures and dialogues largely persist, yet are increasingly overlaid with security-oriented constraints that tighten eligibility and risk parameters for collaboration. In parallel, Chinese actors mobilise counter-narratives of openness, reciprocity, and “opportunity rather than risk,” seeking to contest the legitimacy of EU securitising moves and to re-politicise the costs of over-securitisation. The article contributes to debates on geoeconomics and science diplomacy by specifying how de-risking is institutionalised in research governance, and by highlighting narrative contestation as a constitutive element of knowledge securitisation.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-026-00080-0.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148380580","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"AI as skills governance: reconfiguring authority and ethics in China’s TVET reform","authors":"Guoying Lu,&nbsp;Sirui Han,&nbsp;Yike Guo","doi":"10.1007/s44216-026-00082-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-026-00082-y","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Artificial intelligence has become increasingly embedded in technical and vocational education and training systems, reshaping not only teaching and learning practices but also the governance of skills formation. In contexts where vocational education is closely linked to labour-market regulation and national development strategies, AI-related platforms and data infrastructures play a growing role in defining competencies, evaluating performance, and steering institutional behaviour. In practice, however, many current reforms operate through digitalisation, data integration, and platformization that lay the institutional groundwork for more intensive AI governance. This article approaches AI-driven TVET reform as a transformation of skills governance rather than a technological upgrade. Drawing on theories of algorithmic governance, political economy, and sociotechnical systems, it develops a governance-oriented analytical framework that links ethical concerns to institutional arrangements. The framework is applied to China’s Smart Vocational Education initiative, understood as a platformized and data-driven reform assemblage through which AI governance is being built. The analysis shows that AI-related platforms function as governance infrastructures that coordinate vocational education with industrial priorities through data-driven standards, metrics, and decision systems. In the Chinese case, these governance effects arise not only from fully fledged AI applications but also from the platformization, standardisation, and data centralisation that make algorithmic intervention scalable. While these arrangements enhance system-level coordination and efficiency, they also generate significant tensions related to learner autonomy, teacher agency, data governance, transparency, and structural inequality across institutions and regions. Ethical challenges therefore arise not as abstract risks but as concrete governance problems embedded in platform design and responsibility allocation. By reframing AI in TVET as a problem of skills governance, this study contributes a context-sensitive framework for analysing the institutional and ethical implications of AI-driven reform. The findings from the Chinese case offer broader insights for policymakers and researchers seeking to balance efficiency, accountability, and educational values as AI becomes increasingly infrastructural to vocational education systems.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-026-00082-y.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148236824","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}