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on South East Asia |
| By: | Watanabe, Tomoaki; Tokushima, Yutaka |
| Abstract: | This paper reports a participatory case study of a locally based digital technology center, a FabLab in Bohol, Philippines. A FabLab offers a range of digital fabrication technologies to the local public, which potentially can be used for creating tools for work, prototyping and manufacturing products for sale, and a wide range of other purposes. The technologies typically include 3D printer, laser cutter, CNC milling machine, and others. A FabLab abide by its Charter, including the principle of openness to the public at least some of its operating hours. One of the authors were involved in the launch of the place, and the process of help locals to take advantage of the technological capacities for improving their living conditions. The paper argues that keys to the success are not simply technological capabilities. The facility needs active users who are willing to connect technological capabilities, locally available skills and resources, and market opportunities or local problems causing less-than desirable living conditions. The chance of such matching to occur is not necessarily high for localities in general. In Bohol, it was not a process that happens easily. There were a group of people interested in improving quality of local life and local economy who actively explored matching possibilities to arrive at some working combinations. In addition, it is pointed out that the existence of inter-local connections, specifically the organizational proximity with another FabLab located in Indonesia served as a crucial catalyst for bringing about the development of local craft product. In a more abstract terms, the case in authors' view points to the possibility that successful ICT-enabled development occur not just because of technological capabilities, but because of active body taking charge of matching process and inter-local network serving to complement otherwise scarce human resources and skills and ideas embedded in them. In order to connect this case more with existing body of scholarship on ICTs for development, this paper compares the nature of FabLab with telecenters, more prevalent form of locally based community technology centers. Limitations of telecenters in terms of contributing to development seem to exist with two types of passivity. First, the users may remain passive users of information services provided online. Second, the facility may be a passive provider of capabilities waiting for users. This is close to a local library open to the general public, although telecenters are not bound to be a passive institution. FabLab Bohol seems to be active in the sense that users are not just consumers of service, but creators of things that they use or sell. It is also active in that the core members running the Lab are active match-makers. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itsr15:146331&r=sea |
| By: | Srinuan, Chalita |
| Abstract: | The great promise of cloud computing is the immediate access to enterprise grade software and next generation Information Technology solutions. Cloud service enables SMEs anywhere to expand their market reach, delivery and service, and customer interaction. Some small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are yet to fully realize the advantages of cloud solutions. In the meantime, hundreds of cloud vendors are preparing for the expected major upswing in popularity among cloud services for SMEs and for private consumers. This study examines the factor affecting a decision to use cloud computing service for Thai SMEs. A questionnaire was employed for data collection from a sample of SMEs that use cloud computing technology in the Bangkok area during January 2015- June 2015. A statistic model was utilized in order to analyses the determined factor on using cloud computing service of Thai SMEs. Moreover, the willingness-to-pay (WTP) to additional cloud computing service was calculated. The findings can be used to gauge SMEs demand for improved cloud computing services. |
| Keywords: | Willingness to pay,cloud service,SMEs |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itsr15:146326&r=sea |
| By: | Srinuan, Chalita; Srinuan, Pratompong |
| Abstract: | This study aims to investigate the customer loyalty on Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) in Thailand. Data were collected from the accidental sampling which consists of 400 IPTV customers in Bangkok through the self-administered questionnaire in 2014. Descriptive statistics, including percentage, mean and standard deviation, path analysis were employed for hypothesis testing. The results showed that majority of respondent are female, age between 18-25 years old, work at private company and have average income 10,000-20,000 THB. Customer expectation and customer loyalty have a highest impact to customer loyalty if compared to others variables. Service providers should attempt to enhance the content, improve the user interface, system reliability and connectivity as customer will regard the service as valuable service. This could help service providers maintain and gain their market share, increasing their profitability and performance. |
| Keywords: | IPTV,Customer loyalty,Thailand |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itsr15:146327&r=sea |
| By: | Yoshino, Naoyuki (Asian Development Bank Institute); Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | Difficulty in accessing finance is one of the critical factors constraining the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Asia. Owing to their significance to national economies, it is important to find ways to provide SMEs with stable finance. One efficient way to promote SME financing is through credit guarantee schemes, where the government guarantees a portion (ratio) of a loan provided by a bank to an SME. This research provides a theoretical model and an empirical analysis of factors that determine optimal credit guarantee ratio. The ratio should be able to fulfill the government’s goal of minimizing the bank’s nonperforming loans to SMEs, and at the same time fulfill the government policies for supporting SMEs. Our results show that three categories of factors can determine the optimal credit guarantee ratio: (i) government policy, (ii) macroeconomic conditions, and (iii) banking behavior. It is crucial for governments to set the optimal credit guarantee ratio based on macroeconomic conditions and vary it for each bank or each group of banks based on their soundness, in order to avoid moral hazard and ensure the stability of lending to SMEs. |
| Keywords: | small and medium-sized enterprises; SME financing; credit guarantee scheme; government guarantee; nonperforming loan; NPLs; macroeconomics; financial soundness; moral hazard; loans |
| JEL: | G21 H81 |
| Date: | 2016–09–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0586&r=sea |
| By: | VU, Tien Manh |
| Abstract: | We examined the gender gap between wives and husbands with regard to time spent on unpaid housework using interaction terms between the appearance of home appliances and gender among 36,480 Vietnamese households. We found the gender gap is persistent regardless of the number of co-residing children, age cohorts, household size and income, and working status of the couples. In household fixed-effect estimations, the gender gap of time increased with the appearance of home appliances such as gas cookers. One of the main reasons is the reduction in the probability of men participating in housework tasks related to home appliances. |
| Keywords: | home appliances, gender gap, housework, time use, housework division, home appliances, gender gap, housework, time use, housework division, D13, J16, J22 |
| Date: | 2016–09–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agi:wpaper:00000115&r=sea |
| By: | Maningo, Gary V. (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises are a backbone of the Philippine economy. One factor that hinders the growth of these enterprises is their difficulty in accessing finance from banks and other financial institutions. The Credit Surety Fund (CSF) was established to help these enterprises and other organizations become creditworthy and bankable. The CSF is a credit guarantee program initiated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas that enables enterprises and cooperatives to gain easier access to loans from banks without providing collateral. The CSF pools contributions from cooperatives and nongovernment organizations, local government units, institutions such as the Development Bank of the Philippines, the Land Bank of the Philippines, the Industrial Guarantee and Loan Fund, and other organizations. In this way, it is a public–private partnership that links the key players of the economy to empower enterprises and cooperatives. |
| Keywords: | credit Surety Fund; public–private partnerships; credit innovation; credit guarantee programs |
| JEL: | G21 G24 G32 |
| Date: | 2016–09–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0589&r=sea |
| By: | Phan, Diep (Beloit College); Coxhead, Ian (University of Wisconsin) |
| Abstract: | We examine remittance behavior of rural-urban migrants in Vietnam using a unique data set that links the 2012 round of the Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey (VHLSS) with a 2013 tracer study of migrants from VHLSS households. We estimate factors associated with remittances, taking migrant selection issues into account. We also estimate impacts of net remittances on per capita income in migrant-sending rural households, taking into account the endogeneity of remittances. We find that migration and remittances increase the incomes of rural households. However, the estimated direct income effects are small, and become smaller still as migrants become more established in their new place of residence. Members of ethnic minority groups gain far less than others from migration and remittances. More data and research are needed to broaden these assessments to include non-economic benefits and costs of migration. |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:wisagr:581&r=sea |
| By: | Sophie Hooge (CGS i3 - Centre de Gestion Scientifique i3 - MINES ParisTech - École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris - PSL - PSL Research University - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Kevin Levillain (CGS i3 - Centre de Gestion Scientifique i3 - MINES ParisTech - École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris - PSL - PSL Research University - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Ludivine Guérineau (Nutriset); Anne Bion-Robin (Nutriset); Julie Gautier (Nutriset) |
| Abstract: | Malnutrition linked to under nutrition is a cause of 3.1 million child deaths annually. Stakeholders from all over the word, gathered within various organizations, from public to private sector, tend to work together to fight against this disease that affects very vulnerable people. However, these stakeholders are generally highly dependent on numerous geopolitical issues and form together a highly fragmented ecosystem, which appears to be not efficient enough to provide nutrition solutions to all affected children. At the same time, researchers have identified for decades that other forms of malnutrition, such as chronic malnutrition, could also result from dietary habits that are linked to specific sociocultural contexts, which require a radically different approach: instead of treating an easily diagnosable patient, the aim is to prevent and change nutritional habits, and the mass of affected children is much larger. Thus, innovative partnerships beyond NGOs, local actors and public agencies need to be explored, for instance with private actors, to consider new ways to structure such a sustainable ecosystem. And the shift in the understanding of how to treat the disease entails necessarily deep changes in the structuration of an appropriate ecosystem to deal with it, which also highlights the need for a collective capability for innovation. In this paper, we tackle the organizational issue of building a sustainable ecosystem, both robust and innovative, to prevent chronic malnutrition in Southeast Asia. In particular, we study the building of innovative partnerships that contribute to long-term nutrition transition in this area where there international funds alone are not sufficient to support the stunting prevention, and thus private and public actors must work to develop hybrids models. |
| Keywords: | exploratory partnership, innovation capability, NGOs |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01364198&r=sea |
| By: | Jiranyakul, Komain |
| Abstract: | Using daily data from 2004 to 2015, this paper attempts to examine the relationship between return, volume and volatility in the Thai stock market. The main findings are that trading volume plays a dominant role in the dynamic relationships. Specifically, trading volume causes both return and return volatility when the US subprime crisis is taken into account. The results may give understanding on how investors make their trading decisions that can affect portfolio adjustment. |
| Keywords: | Stock return, trading volume, volatility, VAR, subprime crisis |
| JEL: | C22 G1 G15 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:73791&r=sea |
| By: | Quan-Hoang Vuong; Thu Trang Vuong |
| Abstract: | This short communication report some new results obtained from a medical survey among 900 Vietnamese patients. Both income and medical expenditure have positive influence to improving patient satisfaction. But insurance reimbursement rate has negative influence. Patients with residency status are more demanding than those without. The more seriously ill, the less patients find the health services to be satisfactory. The probability of satisfaction conditional on insurance reimbursement is lower for patients with residency status, and higher for those without. There exist thresholds of income, expenditures and insurance reimbursement rate, surpassing which probabilistic trends switch. The expenditure threshold for resident patients is almost three times that for nonresidents. The computed “insurance threshold” exists only within the group of non-resident patients, ~65%, suggesting that getting a reimbursement rate higher than this can be very difficult. Therefore, the government's ambitious goal of universal coverage may be both unrealistic and too rigid as patients with different conditions show different perceptions toward healthcare services. |
| Keywords: | Health insurance; threshold; medical expenditures; healthcare policy; Vietnam |
| JEL: | I18 |
| Date: | 2016–09–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/238099&r=sea |
| By: | Cavallo, Eduardo (Inter-American Development Bank); Sanchez, Gabriel (Inter-American Development Bank); Valenzuela, Patricio (University of Chile) |
| Abstract: | This study explores the relationship between demographic factors and saving rates using a panel dataset covering 110 countries between 1963 and 2012. In line with predictions from theory, this paper finds that lower dependency rates and greater longevity increase domestic saving rates. However, these effects are statistically robust only in Asia. In particular, Latin America, which is a region that has undergone a remarkably similar demographic transition, did not experience the same boost in saving rates as Asia. The paper highlights that the potential dividends arising from a favorable demographic transition are not automatically accrued. This is a sobering message at a time when the demographic tide is shifting in the world. |
| JEL: | E21 J10 O16 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:upafin:16-04&r=sea |
| By: | Choon-Yin Sam (PSB Academy, Singapore) |
| Abstract: | The Environment Kuznets Curve (EKC) shows that there exists an inverted 'U' relationship between indicators of environmental degradation and economic growth. This means that environmental degradation first increases (worsens), and then decreases as per capita income increases. The hypothesis is tested for the case of Singapore. The paper finds that Granger causality flows from export performance, trade intensity and energy consumption to CO 2 emission, and the EKC exists in the long run, but not in the short run. |
| Keywords: | environment, Singapore |
| Date: | 2016–08–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01352925&r=sea |
| By: | Chen, Hongyi; Funke, Michael; Tsang, Andrew |
| Abstract: | Persistent producer price deflation in China and other Asian economies has become a genuine concern for policymakers. In June 2016, China’s producer prices were down 12.7 percent from their peak in 2011, following a 52-month stretch of consecutive negative producer price readings (March 2012 to June 2016). Given problems with overcapacity and heavy corporate debt burdens, the incessant decline in producer prices has eroded corporate profitability, dampened fixed in-vestment and depressed growth overall. This paper analyzes the determinants of producer price declines across eleven Asian economies, finding that the recent synchronous and protracted pro-ducer price deflation has been driven by weak production growth, low commodity prices, spill-over effects from China, and, to a lesser extent, exchange rate pass-through. With China at the heart of the region’s producer price deflation challenge, we consider the structural adjustments needed in China to cope with the decline and head off deflationary threats. |
| Keywords: | producer prices, international spillovers, deflation, Asia |
| JEL: | C23 C32 E31 |
| Date: | 2016–09–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bof:bofitp:2016_011&r=sea |
| By: | Xiu Chen (Department of Economics, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong); Fuhai Hong (Division of Economics, Nanyang Technological University, 14 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637332.); Xiaojian Zhao (Department of Economics, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how people’s forecasts about financial market are shaped by the environment, in which people interact before making investment decisions. By recruiting 1385 subjects on WeChat, one of the largest social media, we conduct an online experiment of artificial investment games. Our treatments manipulate whether subjects can observe others’ forecasts and whether subjects engage in public or private investment decisions. We find that subjects’ forecasts significantly converge when shared, though in different directions across groups. We also observe a strong positive correlation between forecasts and investments, suggesting that an individual’s reported forecast is associated with his belief. |
| Keywords: | forecast, investment, online experiment |
| JEL: | C90 D83 D84 G11 |
| Date: | 2016–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nan:wpaper:1608&r=sea |
| By: | Yew-Kwang NG (Division of Economics, Nanyang Technological University, 14 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637332.) |
| Abstract: | Extending traditional economic policy analysis to include factors emphasized by other social scientists and philosophers, more social and public policy issues may be analyzed more adequately. For example, should the market expand beyond its traditional confines of goods and services? Should more immigration be allowed? Wider effects like social harmony, repugnance and morality should also be considered. Though the extended analysis does not provide a definite general answer, in combination with the first theorem of welfare economics and the principle of treating a dollar as a dollar in specific issues, it provides some general propositions that guide the analysis of relevant costs and benefits of specific policy changes beyond narrow economic efficiency. |
| Keywords: | Economic analysis; public policy; political economy; economics imperialism; markets; morals. |
| JEL: | H D6 A12 |
| Date: | 2016–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nan:wpaper:1609&r=sea |
| By: | Eric Mottet (UQAM - Université du Québec à Montréal); Bruno Jetin (Université Paris 13) |
| Abstract: | En Asie du Sud-Est, l’après-Seconde Guerre mondiale a ouvert la voie à une vaste recomposition des politiques publiques grâce à la libéralisation des échanges et à la réaffirmation des formes autoritaires de domination politique. S’inspirant peu ou prou du développement nippon, on a assisté à une montée en puissance économique de l’Asie du Sud-Est à partir du tournant des années 1960-1970, ascension économique s’inscrivant dans la foulée de la politique des nouveaux pays industrialisés (NPI) asiatique. Le Japon s’est d’autant plus imposé comme modèle à suivre pour les États du Sud-Est asiatique ont cherché à s’intégrer dans la chaîne mondiale de valeurs. Les composantes structurelles de l’économie de la région sont bien connues : elles se caractérisent par la forte imbrication des élites politiques et du monde des affaires, la nette séparation de l’économie cédée aux entreprises étrangères et les entreprises d’État dominant les marchés nationaux |
| Keywords: | ASEAN, Chine, Chaine de valeur, géopolitique, IDE, politiques publiques,Asie du Sud-est |
| Date: | 2016–04–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01343928&r=sea |