{"title":"How inflation affects Japan’s “quantitatively eased” economy","authors":"Chris G. Pope","doi":"10.1007/s44216-023-00018-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-023-00018-w","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This article argues that the Bank of Japan is caught in a bind owing to both its quantitative easing policies of the last two decades and chronic inflation. In response to quantitative tightening abroad, the Bank of Japan is under pressure to raise interest rates and/or allow yields on ten-year government bonds to rise. This is because the response to inflation among G7 nations has undermined the yen, which have made clear the flaws of the Bank of Japan’s approach to restoring economic growth, namely quantitative easing as any attempt to adapt to international efforts to address inflation, using monetary methods, runs the risk of triggering a cascade of loan defaults due to illiquidity issues both at home and in foreign markets. To demonstrate this, the article evaluates Japanese quantitative easing measures, including the Bank of Japan’s yield curve control policy, and assesses the problems it faces due to inflation and the responses to it, including monetary tightening abroad.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-023-00018-w.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139004602","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":"Ye, Jing. (2022). The myth of local governance: state-building and participatory budget reform. Peking University Press","authors":"Hanyu Yang","doi":"10.1007/s44216-023-00019-9","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-023-00019-9","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-023-00019-9.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135136262","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":"Albertus, Michael. (2021). Property without rights: origins and consequences of the property rights gap. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press","authors":"Yuchen Liu","doi":"10.1007/s44216-023-00017-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-023-00017-x","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-023-00017-x.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136209268","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":"Japan-Bangladesh geo-economic cooperation: the lens of Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) for peace, stability and prosperity","authors":"Md. Jahangir Alam, Md. Saifullah Akon","doi":"10.1007/s44216-023-00015-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-023-00015-z","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The ongoing transfer of economic power from the West to the East created a shift in economic dominance and the global power balance, allowing emerging nations to enhance their positions. Several countries favor a Free and Open Indo-Pacific initiative to preserve the status quo. Because it maintains an essential seaport in the Indian Ocean, Bangladesh is recognized as a maritime nation. Bangladesh’s geographic advantage allows it to serve as a node and hub in regional and inter-regional trade and investment. This potential stems from the global movement of economic power toward the Indo-Pacific Region. This study assesses whether Japan’s FOIP can provide peace and stability to Bangladesh while grasping geopolitical sustainability. Furthermore, this paper argues FOIP’s regional economic cooperation is managed effectively, and Japanese investment might benefit Bangladesh’s economy for sustainable development. This qualitative study uses primary and secondary data to evaluate the feasibility of Japanese geopolitical projects in Bangladesh for peace, stability, and prosperity. This study provides a new paradigm in analyzing the strategic geopolitical implications of FOIP in the Bay of Bengal area, highlighting the repercussions of geopolitical transformation into a strategic focal point. This study depicts the equiangular developmental diplomacy’s balancing instrument and standards for joint stability and growth in the Bay of Bengal area.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-023-00015-z.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135815598","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":"Big business as vanguard: social welfare expansion in China","authors":"Hao Chen","doi":"10.1007/s44216-023-00014-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-023-00014-0","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Why would an emerging market economy without Western democratic institutions provide and promote social welfare to its citizens? This paper explores the driving forces behind the rapid yet unequal expansion of social welfare in China, a phenomenon notable since the late 1990s. Rather than adhering to the conventional state-centered approach that views welfare expansion as a strategy for one-party regimes to seek legitimacy, this study offers an alternate perspective that emphasizes the ‘demand’ side, particularly the role of business. Through a systematic analysis of all 336 Chinese municipalities from 2001 to 2012, the study demonstrates how big businesses act as ‘vanguard,’ pushing local governments to enhance social welfare provision. It suggests that big businesses, in the absence of institutionalized democratic institutions, serve as ‘functional equivalents,’ channeling societal demands to the government. This paper also finds that firms’ influence on social policy in non-democracies is more capability based instead of institutional based; large domestic and multinational corporations are more capable in lobbying the government.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-023-00014-0.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78370241","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":"Chen, Zhaoyuan. (2023). Investing in state capacity: FDI structure and state building in the developing countries. Shanghai People's Publishing House","authors":"Liu Luxin","doi":"10.1007/s44216-023-00013-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-023-00013-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Liu L, Investing in State Capacity: FDI Structure and State Building in the Developing Countries (in Chinese: <i>投资国家能力:外国直接投资结构与发展中世界的国家建设</i>), by Chen Zhaoyuan, Shanghai People’s Press, 2023,328 pages, ¥85 (paperback)</p>","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-023-00013-1.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73228621","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":"Zhang, Changdong. (2021). Governing and ruling: the political logic of taxation in China. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press","authors":"Guangming Jiang","doi":"10.1007/s44216-023-00012-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-023-00012-2","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-023-00012-2.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82673769","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":"A recent regulatory storm in China: theoretical interpretation and applicability","authors":"Youyi Zhang, Sen Gong","doi":"10.1007/s44216-023-00011-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-023-00011-3","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>While the recent “regulatory storm” in China has attracted attention from media, academia, and policy makers both in China and overseas, there lacks theoretical interpretation of Chinese central government’s major regulatory practices. Based on the review on global reflection of the shortcomings of the current market economy system and China’s own market economy practices, this article argues that China’s strengthening of market regulation is based on a people-centered paradigm of the state-market relationship that takes into account both efficient market and effective government and that is consistent with the international framework to improve the market economy system, in particular the stakeholder economy. To support the argument, this article illustrates China’s “regulatory storm” in terms of corporate governance, environmental goals, social impacts, adverse consequences, and employee rights with reference to cases from sectors affected by the “regulatory storm”. Moreover, China’s recent regulatory measures reflect the effectiveness of the “strong government” in rapidly rectifying market order and are in line with the global trend of building a new market system, which is worthy of reference for other Asian countries with similar political and economic contexts.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-023-00011-3.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76388294","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":"China’s emergence and development challenges that China faces in Central Asia","authors":"Chi Zhang","doi":"10.1007/s44216-022-00005-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-022-00005-7","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Development in Central Asia faces intensifying headwinds in various aspects. Terrorism and political instability have been the primary sources of concern for this chessboard of rivaling great powers. The US’s withdrawal from Afghanistan left a power vacuum, and the region’s future is further clouded by elevated uncertainty. The so-called ‘new Cold War’ discourse is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy that contextualizes regional geopolitical maneuverings. These developments present a pressing need to evaluate development challenges in Central Asia in the context of China’s rising influence in the region through the Belt and Road Initiative and other regional frameworks, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and China Pakistan Economic Corridor.</p><p>This paper seeks to examine the shifting geopolitical and geoeconomic landscape in Central Asia in the context of global ideological confrontations and the regional Great Game between China and Russia. Drawing on think tank reports, English-language media reports, and scholarly works, it argues that China’s investment and development strategy in Central Asia can be improved by giving geopolitical and geoeconomic factors full consideration. The changing political dynamics in the region have significant implications for China’s engagement with Central Asian countries, its broader Belt and Road Initiative extending through Central Asia to Europe, and development challenges that transcend the dualistic categorization of development and security.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-022-00005-7.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84518429","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":"Ma, Xiao. (2022). Localized bargaining: the political economy of China's high-speed railway program. Oxford University Press","authors":"Zhihao Wang","doi":"10.1007/s44216-022-00006-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-022-00006-6","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-022-00006-6.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91481042","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}