Business and Politics in Asia's Key Financial Centres ― Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai

This book provides unique insights into the politics of finance and the socio-political relations which drive financial policymaking in Hong kong, Singapore, and Shanghai. While existing literature in the field focuses mainly on economic explanations for financial centre development, this book fills a gap by focusing on the socio-political relations which underpin the financial policy-making process. Drawing on extensive interviews with senior policy-makers and financial sector professionals, the book describes how state-industry relations drive financial policy-making in three major financial hubs. Insights and policy recommendations drawn from these interviews will be particularly useful for policy-makers and financial sector professionals hoping to draw lessons from the successful development of the three leading Asian financial centres. Business and Politics in Asia's Key Financial Centres draws on public policy theoretical frameworks for its analytical basis. The three chapters focusing on the historical development of Hong Kong, Singapore, and Shanghai also provide a consolidated narrative with regard to the development of these three cities as leading financial centres, while also serving as independent case studies. Scholars focusing on policy processes and political factors that underpin financial sector development, as well as instructors and students of public policy, international political economy, and financial sector policy, will find this book useful for their research.

J.J. Woo is Assistant Professor in School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University. He holds a PhD from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore and a Master of Science in International Political Economy from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University. His research interests include Singapore politics, international financial centres, and the political economy of finance.