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This chapter investigates the evolution of cross-strait economic relations and Asian regional integration and its implications for future development in the region. Trade and investment in Asia is fundamentally market-driven, and cross-border FDI is the major driving force. This investment-induced trade explained the cross-strait economic relations and intensive trade in intra-industry and intra-regional trade in Asia. The rise of China in 1990s with the assistance of Taiwanese firms further accelerated the trend of integration by forming regional production networks. However, after 2000 institutional arrangement like bilateral or plural-lateral FTA emerged to normalize and institutionalize the de facto economic integration. RCEP and TPP have evolved as the two major platforms for Asian regional cooperation with two key players, China and the United States, on each side. We argue that in the long run the win-win solution that the two platforms will further merge into FTAAP, which benefits all participants including China and the United States. However, in the short run, based on its 50 years of developmental experience, Taiwan can play an important role to promote and consolidate Asian regional integration as a technology provider and resource coordinator for the region and a risk buffer for entering Chinese market. We thus propose a roadmap for Taiwan and China to jointly participate in regional integration process. In the intermediate run, Asian economies need to change the structure toward more regional-centered trade in final goods through domestic consumption market in order to reduce the dependence on Western markets and mitigate any loss may arise from external shocks.

Using the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis as a theoretical framework and applying Estimated Generalised Least Square (EGLS) approach, this chapter examines the impact of energy consumption, economic growth, industrialisation and corruption on carbon dioxide emissions as well as finds out the causal relationship among them using panel data of 10 Asian economies over the period 1980–2019. Our empirical findings from EGLS model suggest that there exists an ongoing rising relationship between CO₂ emissions and economic growth both in the short-run and long-run which is opposing to what is claimed by the EKC hypothesis. Moreover, per capita CO₂ emissions rise positively with respect to increase in energy consumption, urbanisation, gradual industrialisation and growth in urban population in the long-run. Moreover, countries with adoption of more corruptive practices are found to have causing more environmental degradation through excessive emission of carbon dioxide in the long-run. The study also indicates the existence of unidirectional causalities running from carbon dioxide emission to energy consumption, from industrialisation and urban population growth to per capita CO₂ emissions, from industrialisation to GDP growth per capita and bidirectional causality between financial development and economic growth via GDP growth per capita. Therefore, these unidirectional causalities entail that CO₂ emission reduction or abatement measures can be applied without having any unpleasant effect on the real industrialisation, energy consumption and urbanisation in selected Asian countries.

Age at migration is commonly utilized as a proxy measure for assimilation in health behavior research. We reconsider this approach by examining the role of continued connection with places of origin on alcohol use, an important marker of health behavior and overall population health. Cross-border connections may buffer the association between earlier age at migration and alcohol use by providing an alternative channel of influence for behavioral norms. Alternatively, a stress and coping perspective on cross-border ties suggests potentially countervailing adverse impacts of these connections on alcohol use. We used data from the 2002/2003 National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS) (n = 1,641/1,630 Asian and Latino origin respondents, respectively). We first estimated the association between age at migration (child/adolescent versus adult migrant) and any past-year alcohol use. We subsequently tested the interaction between age at migration and two measures of cross-border connections. All models were stratified by region of origin and gender. For Latin American-origin women, cross-border ties were associated with increased risk of past-year alcohol use among those who migrated early in life. In contrast, Asian-origin men and women who migrated as adults and had contact with family and friends abroad had the lowest predicted probabilities of past-year alcohol use. The results among Asians support the idea that cross-border ties may be alternative influences on health behavior outcomes, particularly for adult migrants. Overall, we find qualified support for both transnational and assimilationist perspectives on alcohol use behaviors among US immigrants – as well as the interaction between these two frameworks. The joint influences of cross-border ties and age at migration were observed primarily for immigrant women, and not always in expected directions. We nevertheless urge future research to consider both US and country of origin influences on a wider range of health and health behavior outcomes for immigrants, as well as the potential intersection between US and cross-border connections.

Past studies have shown wide variation in the obesity rates of Asian American ethnic subgroups. However, whether weight-related behaviors that occur during acculturation are associated with obesity disparities among Asian American ethnic subgroups is unknown. This study examines the differences in body mass index (BMI) across Asian American ethnic subgroups and assesses how acculturation and weight-related behaviors influence these differences. The linear regression models employed in this study use data pools from 2011 to 2014 released by the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). The sample comprises 3,248 foreign-born Asian Americans aged 18–59 years. Asian Americans who spoke fluent English had significantly lower BMIs than those who spoke poor English, but English fluency did not explain body size disparities among Asian American ethnic subgroups. Filipino Americans had the highest average BMI (25.89 kg/m²) and obesity rate (53.12%), and they were particularly prone to engage in unhealthy weight-related behaviors, such as consuming fast food, drinking soda, and engaging in sedentary lifestyles. However, weight-related behaviors did not explain their high risk of obesity compared to other Asian American ethnic subgroups. The results underscore the potential for misinterpretation when pan-ethnic labels, such as Asian American, collapse the unique experiences of different immigrant origin groups. Future research may investigate whether other factors that affect the acculturation process, such as attitudes, self-identity, beliefs, or experiences with racism and discrimination, explain obesity disparities among Asian American ethnic subgroups.

Purpose – The purpose of this study was to explore Chinese consumers’ motivations for purchasing luxury products, and to unravel the interrelationships among individual differences, motives, and luxury consumption.

Methodology – Data were collected from general consumers living in a large cosmopolitan city of China. A total of 473 questionnaires provided usable data and were analyzed using SPSS.

Findings – Eight motives were identified: self-actualization, product quality, social comparison, others’ influence, investment for future, gifting, special occasions, and emotional purchasing. Results showed that personal income, age, the motives of gifting, others’ influence, and product quality were significant predictors of luxury spending. Younger consumers, who did not typically make plans before buying, were more likely to buy luxury products out of emotion and less likely to do so for self-actualization or future investment.

Research limitations – The conceptualization and operationalization of some concepts used in this study (e.g., luxury brands, luxury consumption, and motives) may not be robust. Social desirability bias could comprise the validity of some research findings.

Originality – Despite a large body of research on luxury consumption, to date, most studies have been conducted in Western developed countries. Past research has showed that the symbolic and social values related to luxury consumption are deeply embedded in culture. As such, it is meaningful to investigate luxury consumption in China, whose culture is vastly different from the West.

Coffee shops are becoming more aware that brand loyalty can be an effective strategy for securing a competitive edge in business. To supplement current understanding of the importance of coffee shop branding, this study investigates the role of personality traits and congruity in the formation of brand loyalty. This study finds that personality traits have direct effects on congruity and customer satisfaction, the two defining factors of brand loyalty. Overall, our results suggest that the interaction of personality traits, congruity, and satisfaction is essential to the process of influencing coffee shop customers’ brand loyalty.

The purpose of this study is to examine empirically different characteristics between theme park visitors who did and did not visit theme parks during the SARS outbreak period in Taiwan. The data consisting of 1,255 respondents were obtained from visitors to the five leading theme parks. Discriminant analysis was used to analyze respondents’ characteristics such as age, benefit sought, product involvement, and risk perception to examine significant differences between the two categories of respondents. Results of this study showed that younger or more frequent visitors more likely continued to visit theme parks during the SARS outbreak. Besides, visitors who continued to visit theme parks perceived greater infectious risk than those who did not visit theme parks during the SARS outbreak.

The case study demonstrates that China and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s (KSA) energy transformation strategies share many similarities and enjoy a great degree of complementarity. This complementarity is not limited to the territory of the two nations, but has become a successful vehicle for joint Sino-KSA investments in the Arab peninsula as well as in the Middle East and North Africa. Leading to a new paradigm that runs along the lines of China’s staggering Belt and Road Initiative, the convergence of policies represents a new reality due to its potentiality to influence not only the energy sectors of the largest Arab’s economy and world’s most powerful one, but also over their partners.