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15200 results in ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute

Page 730 of 760

The Uruguay Round
  • ASEAN Trade Policy and Options
  • Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    21 October 2015
    Print publication:
    01 January 1988
  • International trade is the life-blood of the countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Faced with several global trade issues the ASEAN countries individually and collectively pursue a multilateral approach by actively participating in the current Uruguay Round of GATT. The seven studies in this volume assess the strengths and weaknesses of international trading.

  • VI - Conclusion

  • Stella R. Quah
  • Book:
    Between Two Worlds
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    21 October 2015
    Print publication:
    01 January 1988, pp 39-41

  • Summary

    In the analysis of parenthood decisions, most studies agree that the most important predictors of the age at which a wife would have her first child are her age at marriage and the number of years she has been married. These two are demographic aspects of childbearing. In this investigation, the same two demographic aspects, particularly the number of years married, appear as the key predictors of actual postponement. When all the assumed factors tested in this study were analysed jointly (through a procedure called factor analysis), the data revealed that these two demographic aspects, that is, age at marriage and years of marriage, explained 29 per cent of the variation (the highest proportion explained by any one variable in this study) in the number of years of postponement: wives who married later had the shortest delay (maximum two years) in having their first child. Wives who married at a younger age could afford to wait three years or more.

    Such findings are informative. Yet, in the sociological inquiry into attitudes and feelings, one still needs to identify what other aspects (in addition to age and length of marriage) influence a person's decision on the timing of the first child. Hence, the objective of the preceding discussion has been to identify the influence of non-demographic factors and to explore the assumption that postponement is a choice made under certain circumstances, depending on the wife's perception of marriage, marital satisfaction and husband's agreement, for example.

    The conversations with the 233 wives in this study revealed two main aspects of their situation as wives and mothers. The search for the first aspect was carefully charted by including, as variables in the study, all aspects of marriage and family life assumed to be relevant. The general finding is that a wife would be very likely to choose delaying her first child if she believes that postponing their first child would give her and her husband a unique opportunity to enjoy their marriage (defined in modern terms); that such postponement would not create conflict between the spouses (spouses would agree on this); and that she would not be risking pregnancy complications or loss in fertility.

  • 3 - Thai Bureaucratic Behaviour: The Impact of Dual Values on Public Policies

  • Book:
    Reflections on Development in Southeast Asia
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    21 October 2015
    Print publication:
    01 January 1988, pp 49-79

  • Summary

    Introduction

    Since the undertaking of bureaucratic reforms in the second half of the nineteenth century by King Chulalongkorn, Thai bureaucracy has expanded in both size and role. Although the King may have had other motives for restructuring his bureaucracy, he genuinely sought a more effective and efficient administrative system. The King was convinced of the necessity to renovate the machinery of government partly on account of the following conditions which Malcolm Smith described:

    There was no fixed code of laws; no system of general education; no proper control of revenue and finance; no postal or telegraph service …. The opium laws were badly administered; there was no medical organization. … There was no army or modern railways and almost no roads.

    In renovating the government's machinery, the King not only reformed his court structure but also introduced a new educational system. As David K. Wyatt puts it, the King felt that “literacy and general improvement in educational standards worked to the benefit of the society as a whole”. Educational reform, however, was originally concentrated among younger members of the royal family and nobility 4 so that they would be available to provide “better” service in the royal bureaucracy. Thus, King Chulalong korris educational reform was, in part, a supporting mechanism to facilitate his bureaucratic reform. In undertaking educational reform as well as re-forming the court structure, King Chulalongkorn initiated and supported the first major bureaucratic growth in Thailand.

    The second major growth of the Thai bureaucracy was related to the 1932 revolution. An important spark for this revolution was a decision by King Prachathipok to reduce the number of bureaucrats, an action known as dullqyaparp (balancing), because of a financial crisis in the country. The dullqyaparp which created widespread dissatisfaction, was an important contributing factor to the 1932 revolution. Almost all the key leaders of the revolution were either civilian or military bureaucrats, including Pridi Panomyong, Col. Praya Phaholpolpayuhasena, Col. Praya Songsuradaj, and Major Phibulsongkram.

  • V - Implementation of the NES

  • Soon Teck Wong
  • Book:
    Singapore's New Education System
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    18 November 2017
    Print publication:
    01 January 1988, pp 15-18

  • Summary

    Primary Schools

    THE New Education System (NES] was implemented in primary schools beginning with the 1979 Primary Three (P3) cohort. As recommended by the Goh Report, all pupils would follow a common curriculum (which would place emphasis on the learning of languages and mathematics) during their first three years of formal schooling, that is, from PI to P3. Pupils would be streamed at the end of P3 on the basis of their examination performances in P2 and P3. Tb avoid additional pressure through the introduction of a new national examination, the end-of-year P3 examination (sometimes referred to as the streaming examination) would be school-based. However, in order to ensure some uniformity of standards, this examination would be constructed from item banks to be maintained by the Ministry of Education. Pupils would be streamed on the following basis:

  • 1. Those who passed P3 would be streamed to the Normal Bilingual course leading to the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) in three years.

  • 2. Those who failed P3 but passed P2 would be streamed to the Extended Bilingual course leading to the PSLE in five years.

  • 3. Those who failed both P2 and P3 would be required to sit for an Achievement Test (AT)Z1 set by the Ministry of Education. If they passed the AT, they would be streamed to the Extended Bilingual course. Only those who failed the AT would be streamed to the Monolingual course leading to the Primary School Proficiency Examination (PSPE) in five years.

    • With the provision for lateral transfers across streams, primary schooling would be completed within six to eight years. The Normal and Extended courses are essentially academic courses in which pupils are prepared for the PSLE.2t The Monolingual course is a non-academic course, the objective of which is to ensure basic literacy and numeracy for the less academically inclined- and to prepare them for prevocational training at ihe institutes of the VITB,

    Secondary Schools

    The NES was implemented for the secondary schools beginning with the 1980 Primary Six (P6) cohort.

  • 7 - Non-Government Organizations and Human Development: The ASEAN Experience

  • Book:
    Reflections on Development in Southeast Asia
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    21 October 2015
    Print publication:
    01 January 1988, pp 160-191

  • Summary

    OVERVIEW OF NGOS IN ASEAN COUNTRIES

    Introduction

    One of the most striking developments in the recent history of countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region has been the emergence of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as articulate and organized critics of the prevailing political, economic and social systems in their respective countries. Initially attracting only a small membership from the literate and middle-class segment of society, these organizations have rapidly proliferated in the past decade and attracted a larger and more diversified membership. More importantly, they have been able to insert themselves in the forefront of public articulation on many crucial questions, including those related to the broader issues of democratic rights and freedom traditionally articulated by political parties and a host of newer issues related to the development goals and strategies of their societies.

    The growth and increasing importance of what might be characterized as interest groups or issue-oriented organizations might appear surprising as it comes at a time when there has been a hardening of the centralizing and authoritarian political tendencies in the region. The period after World War II initially saw a wave of decolonization followed by the unshackling of social restrictions but this was quickly followed by increased pressures towards concentration of power, attempts towards single political parties and encroachment on oppositional politics. In many countries, moves by the parties in power to enforce a “national solidarity”, largely through institutions and organizations at local and national levels which they control, have been supplemented by a weakening of the legislature and judicial process. At the same time the number of military and authoritarian regimes has risen. The position of political democracy in one of the ASEAN countries described below can be taken as a fair reflection of the regional pattern.

    The increasingly dominant position of the executive branch of government is one of the general characteristics of the decline of freedom.… The other is the curtailment or even elimination of the rights of participation in the democratic process for a whole variety of social groups.

  • Introduction

  • Book:
    Reflections on Development in Southeast Asia
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    21 October 2015
    Print publication:
    01 January 1988, pp ix-xvi

  • Summary

    In 1983, the Rockefeller Foundation announced a programme of social science fellowships for scholars in Southeast Asia and English-speaking Africa to advance knowledge on fundamental development issues in these regions. Although the Foundation did not specify any substantive theme to which proposals were to be directed, it indicated that it was particularly interested in studies which would

    1. examine the assumptions underlying alternative development objectives and the relation of these assumptions to development practices and outcomes; and

    2. probe the human dimensions of rapid economic and technological change, including the relationship of traditional values, structures and power relations to development aims and institutions, and the concept and role of the state in the development effort.

    This volume, which brings together contributions from the Southeast Asian scholars selected for the fellowships, represents an important part of the programme which officially ended with an international workshop at Bellagio in September 1985. However, the seven papers included here form only a part of the larger social and historical studies that these chosen scholars are undertaking on the process of development as it relates to their individual societies. In the interests of a manageable volume, I have had to considerably prune down the original manuscript submissions - in one case, the paper published in this volume is only one-third the length of the original submission.

    Nevertheless, most if not all of the central concerns that sparked off the Rockefeller Foundation's initiative in this programme are addressed in these edited papers. The volume begins with two papers that focus on Islam and Buddhism and the important role that these organized religions and their adherents play in the development process in Malaysia and Thailand respectively. However, the approaches that Chandra Muzaffar and Somboon Suksamran employ in emphasizing the need to consider religion as a means to understand the behaviour of individual groups and the society at large, are quite different.

  • I - The CPF: Pension Plan, Tax Shelter and Debt Instrument

  • Antal Deutsch, Hanna Zowall
  • Book:
    Compulsory Savings and Taxes in Singapore
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    21 October 2015
    Print publication:
    01 January 1988, pp 1-17

  • Summary

    The Central Provident Fund of Singapore (hereafter CPF), may be thought of as a very unusual institution for the working life accumulation of funds to provide a pension. As its most basic arrangements go, there is not much to distinguish its features from many other pension plans in the world. It provides a fully vested money purchase account accumulated as a fixed percentage of pay, with an employer and an employee share. Interest is credited at something resembling market rates at regular intervals. Account balances are reported periodically to the members. There is a “normal retirement age” at 55 in the plan.

    CPF differs from many other pension plans by the proportion of income it absorbs, the income tax treatment of CPF savings, the exceptions to the arrangements to lock savings in until age 55, and the forms of access to the accumulation at that age. In a most significant way, CPF appears to have a role beyond that normally expected of a pension plan, as an instrument of government policy.

    Singapore's savings rate, by world standards, is very high. Most of the savings arise in the public sector, but the compulsory personal savings collected by the CPF provide a considerable addition. The rate of contributions, now 25 per cent of pay by the employee and 10 per cent by the employer to a maximum total annual contribution of $27,300, was at 25 per cent until April 1986 for each employer and employee, with a total annual maximum of $39,000. Either of these magnitudes accumulated through a working life, and compounded at, say, 3 per cent over the inflation rate, should provide for a life annuity ample enough to pay for a comfortable retirement. Chapter Four provides many illustrations of the magnitudes. The accumulation of large sums by an individual is, of course, contingent on a stable lifetime record of contributions, hence of employment.

  • IV - Contributions of Inputs to Land Productivity and Overall Growth of Agricultural Output

  • Book:
    Growth Pattern of Burmese Agriculture
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    27 November 2017
    Print publication:
    01 January 1988, pp 37-39

  • Summary

    In this chapter the marginal contribution of each input to the resultant output is estimated with the help of the Cobb-Douglas production function. Such estimates will enable us to evaluate the performance of inputs vis-a-vis land productivity7 as well as to total output. The Cobb-Douglas function undoubtedly has its limits. The lack of knowledge of the precise nature of the input-output relationships and the difficulty of accurately measuring all inputs somewhat erode the results obtained from the assumed Cobb-Douglas function. Moreover, there can exist inter-correlationships among inputs, whereas the function assumes a unilateral causal relation between input and output. Despite its shortcomings, the Cobb-Douglas function may still yield the best possible estimates of marginal contributions of various inputs to the output.

    Contribution of Inputs to Land Productivity

    Table 10 presents the result of applying a Cobb-Douglas production function, taking land productivity as the dependent variable with total fixed capital per acre (including state capital expenditure, tractors, and draught cattle) and total current capital per acre (including state current expenditure, fertilizers, and chemicals) as independent variables. As far as the T-value is concerned, total fixed capital was the only input which is significant here while that of other inputs was less than one — in other words, insignificant. This suggests that at the present technological level, fixed capital is the major determinant towards improving land productivity. Since the sum of the regression coefficients (elasticity coefficients) is greater than one, it indicates an increasing return to inputs on land productivity. Theoretically, the regression coefficient of total fixed capital suggests that a 10 per cent increase in total fixed capital would increase 14 per cent in land productivity while a 10 per cent increase in total current capital could produce an increase of only 0.3 per cent in land productivity. The value of R1 = 0.99 shows that the joint influence of the inputs explained 99 per cent of land productivity.

    Contribution of Inputs to Total Net Output

    Assuming total agricultural net output as a dependent variable with respect to inputs such as total fixed capital per acre and total current capital per acre, the results from the application of a Cobb-Douglas production function is shown in Table 11.

ASEAN-U.S. Economic Relations
  • Changes in the Economic Environment and Opportunities
  • Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    21 October 2015
    Print publication:
    01 January 1988
  • The volume is divided into four parts. Part I considers the broad trends in the recent economic performances of the United States and the problem of increasing protectionism. Part II analyses the structural adjustments in both the United States and the developing countries in ASEAN. Part III provides analyses of U.S. ASEAN trade in services from both the U.S. and ASEAN perspectives.

  • Changes in the ASEAN-U.S. Economic Environment and Opportunities: An Introductory Overview

  • Book:
    ASEAN-U.S. Economic Relations
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    21 October 2015
    Print publication:
    01 January 1988, pp xv-xxii

  • Summary

    Addressing the 20th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on 15 June 1987 in Singapore, Singapore's Premier Lee Kuan Yew outlined the major changes ASEAN countries were undergoing against a backdrop of four Pacific powers – the United States, Japan, China, and the Soviet Union – and made two observations which are particularly pertinent to the discussion here. First, on the optimism in ASEAN's economic future, he said “sooner or later, the world economy will enter a new cycle of growth and prosperity. We would do well to restructure our economies and prepare ourselves for (his next surge of high economic activities.…” Second, with reference to the United States, Mr Lee added that it was in ASEAN's interest to have the U.S. quickly regain its competitiveness and become once again a creditor rather than a debtor nation. The challenge for the United States is to muster the political will to resolve the root causes of its huge budget and trade deficits (Straits Times, 16 June 1987).

    The papers in this volume address the changes in the ASEAN-U.S. economic environment and opportunities. To explore this theme in a more focused and systematic way, the volume is divided into four parts. Part I considers the broad trends of recent economic performance of the United States and the problem of increasing protectionism. The implications and consequences of these trends on ASEAN or ASEAN-U.S. economic relations are also examined. Part II analyses the structural adjustments both in the developed country, i.e., the United States, and in the developing countries in ASEAN. It examines the comparative advantage of ASEAN countries and how they should respond to likely changes of industrial and trade policies in general, and those of the U.S. in particular. Part III provides analyses of U.S.-ASEAN trade in services, both from the U.S. and ASEAN viewpoints, and includes discussions of past experience in the light of future directions. Similarly, Part IV examines the role of private enterprise in the development of U.S.-ASEAN economic relations, with illustrations of selected American and Thai agribusiness firms operating in Thailand.

  • IV - Trade Policy Options for the Philippines

  • Book:
    The Uruguay Round
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    21 October 2015
    Print publication:
    01 January 1988, pp 104-131

  • Summary

    Introduction

    This paper explores trade options for the Philippines in the forthcoming Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations. We do not purport to be exhaustive in identifying a wide range of alternatives nor do we claim to have the best ideas concerning the stance the country should take in the negotiations.

    The specific objectives of this paper are: (a) to review the trade experience of the Philippines; (b) to indicate some policy options in the context of the Uruguay Round; (c) to describe the products or markets which have apparent importance to the Philippines in the present round, the priorities the country can take, and the new issues that will be covered in the round; and (d) to suggest some strategies which can be pursued by the Philippines in the round.

    Trade Structure and Performance

    The trade and exchange controls of the 1950s created an economic environment favourable to full-scale import substitution as consumer-goods industries profited from relatively free imports of capital goods and the high domestic price of finished products engendered by the system. The foreign exchange needs of the import-substituting industries were satisfied mainly through the exports of commercial agricultural crops and not through the concomitant break-out into industrial exports. As a result, Philippine exports have been characterized by products with low value added, weak inter-industry linkages, excessive concentration on a few items and continuing reliance on agriculture or agriculture-related products in terms of net foreign exchange earnings, the respectable surge of non-traditional manufactured exports in the late 1970s notwithstanding.

  • Foreword

  • Book:
    Technology and Skills in ASEAN
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    09 November 2017
    Print publication:
    01 January 1988, pp ix-x

  • Summary

    One of the central objectives of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as embodied in the Bangkok Declaration under which ASEAN was founded, is the promotion of Southeast Asian studies. In this context, ASEAN warmly welcomed the offer of Mr Zenko Suzuki, the Prime Minister of Japan, in early 1981 to support the launching of an ASEAN Regional Studies Promotion Programme.

    After extensive consultations among ASEAN member countries and between ASEAN and Japan, it was agreed that the ASEAN Regional Studies Promotion Programme, initially to extend over a period of five years, should focus on policy-oriented socio-economic research. Given the overriding importance that ASEAN attaches to economic development and the vital role of ASEAN-Japan economic relations in this regard, ASEAN-Japan Industrial Co-operation was adopted as the first topic of research under the Programme. The second topic chosen was Effective Mechanisms for the Enhancement of Technology and Skills in ASEAN. An integrated ASEAN–Japan Overview, together with volumes on the individual ASEAN countries, are the fruits of this second phase of research.

    The recent history of ASEAN–Japan relations has been marked by a degree ol ambivalence. As the first Asian nation to industrialize successfully and to have risen as a phoenix from the ashes ol war-time destruction to the leading heights of industrial and technological power, Japan has always been held with a degree of awe and admiration by its southern ASEAN neighbours. Such awe and admiration have, however, been tinged with a certain amount of suspicion derived from war-time memories, especially as the impact of Japan's post-war economic expansion becomes increasingly felt in the ASEAN region.

    On the Japanese side, historical circumstances and the need for economic reconstruction in the early post-war years made it unavoidable that, initially, its external relations were largely oriented towards the West, especially the United States. However, as Japan rose to global economic prominence, and its economic presence in Southeast Asia grew, it increasingly came to attach greater importance to its relationship with the ASEAN countries.

  • III - Productivity and Its Relationships

  • Book:
    Growth Pattern of Burmese Agriculture
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    27 November 2017
    Print publication:
    01 January 1988, pp 18-36

  • Summary

    Productivity

    Four types of productivity are considered here: labour productivity, land productivity, capital-output ratio, and total productivity index (see Table 6).

    Labour Productivity

    This is the ratio of agricultural net output to labour force employed in agriculture for a given year. Three points are noted regarding the labour productivity trend from 1974/75 to 1984/85:

  • the labour productivity increased by 54 per cent from 470 in 1974/75 to 723 in 1985/86;

  • the annual compound rate of growth is 4 per cent, which is lower than that of output; and

  • the momentum gained through the period has slowed down since the 1981/82 agricultural season.

    • Land Productivity

    This is the ratio of net agricultural output to agricultural land comprising net area sown (net cultivated area) and fallow land for a given year. As far as land productivity is concerned, as for labour productivity, three features stand out:

  • the land productivity increased by 87 per cent from 152 in 1974/75 to 284 in 1985/86;

  • the annual compound rate of growth is 5.85 per cent, which is very close to that of the output (5.91 per cent); and

  • the momentum of change through the period has slowed down since the 1981/82 agricultural season.

    • Capital-Output Ratio

    This is the ratio of fixed capital — consisting of capital expenditure (moving average for four successive years), value of tractors deployed, and value of draught cattled used — to net agricultural output. As for the above cases, three distinct features are noted:

  • the capital-output ratio decreased by 25 per cent from 1.52 in 1974/75 to 1.14 in 1985/86;

  • the annual compound rate of growth is -1.02, which is very low compared with that of labour and land productivities; and

  • the momentum of change through the period slowed down from 1980/81 up to the end of the 1985/86 agricultural season.

    • Total Productivity Index

    This index is the ratio of the net total output index to the net total input index, which is the weighted aggregate of the indices of labour, land, fixed capital, and current inputs (factor shares in 1975/76 are used as weights for the years 1974/75 to 1979/80 and those in 1980/81 are used for the years 1980/81 to 1984/85, as shown in Table 7).

Page 730 of 760