The Rise of Asia: Trade and Investment in Global Perspective

Explaining the inspiration for this collection, editor Athukorala (economics, Australian National U.), suggests that the literature on foreign trade and investment in Asian development is too dependent on lessons from the experiences of Japan and the newly industrialized countries in East Asia in the early stages of their economic transition, lessons which may very well not hold true because of the ongoing process of international production fragmentation and because of new opportunities for intra-regional division of labor within the wider context of global economic integration. Following an introductory analytical overview of trade and investment patterns in Asia, he presents 13 chapters that analyze the implications of the formation and operations of global production networks; the role of foreign direct investment in Asian growth and structural change; and selected policy issues such as the implications of Chinese and Indian growth for resource-rich economies, Chinese trade patterns and their implications for the export performance of other East Asian countries, and the factors behind real wage growth. Annotation Ac2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Prema-Chandra Athukorala is Professor of Economics at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Australia.