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Expert briefing
Publication date: 12 March 2024
Expert Briefings Powered by Oxford Analytica

ASEAN-Australia relations will grow

Besides a leaders’ plenary and retreat, there were events linked to four thematic tracks: business; climate and clean energy; maritime cooperation; and emerging leaders…

Expert briefing
Publication date: 11 March 2024

ASEAN's first attempt to formulate a stand-alone framework on artificial intelligence (AI), the guide is non-binding and covers AI systems broadly rather than focusing on…

Article
Publication date: 23 January 2024

Edirimuni Nadeesh Rangana de Silva

South Asia is a region urgently seeking development, although it has failed in regional integration. It is the second least integrated region regarding the number of Free Trade…

Abstract

Purpose

South Asia is a region urgently seeking development, although it has failed in regional integration. It is the second least integrated region regarding the number of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and can thus be recognised as a missing bloc in the global multilateral system. This study aims to focus on South Asian FTAs and explores the problems of the inter-relations and compatibility between the systemic and regional trade systems.

Design/methodology/approach

The study proposes a framework to benchmark the compatibility of South Asian FTAs with WTO rules. Primary data from 2000 to 2020, including descriptive analyses of reports, legal text of the FTAs, official documents and factual presentations, have been collected and analysed through thematic analysis using the proposed framework.

Findings

The study finds that, although South Asian FTAs meet most of the WTO requirements, they are not progressing toward facilitating and promoting trade. Data from 2000 to 2020 show us that South Asian FTAs have not significantly impacted trade between themselves. The study argues that, although South Asian FTAs fulfil some benchmarks, they show only a lukewarm interest in contributing to the international trading system as building blocs. It is therefore recommended that the case of South Asian trade liberalisation must be understood contextually and be given careful and exclusive attention by the WTO.

Originality/value

As such, this study is the first to claim that South Asian FTAs are not fully compatible with the WTO rules. They remain a missing regional bloc in the multilateral system, rather than a building bloc or a stumbling bloc, delaying the region’s opportunity to develop as a region and within the larger system.

Details

Journal of International Trade Law and Policy, vol. 23 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-0024

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 March 2024

Verdiana Giannetti, Jieke Chen and Xingjie Wei

Anecdotal evidence suggests that casting actors with similar facial features in a movie can pose challenges in foreign markets, hindering the audience's ability to recognize and…

Abstract

Purpose

Anecdotal evidence suggests that casting actors with similar facial features in a movie can pose challenges in foreign markets, hindering the audience's ability to recognize and remember characters. Extending developments in the literature on the cross-race effect, we hypothesize that facial similarity – the extent to which the actors starring in a movie share similar facial features – will reduce the country-level box-office performance of US movies in East and South-East Asia (ESEA) countries.

Design/methodology/approach

We assembled data from various secondary data sources on US non-animation movies (2012–2021) and their releases in ESEA countries. Combining the data resulted in a cross-section of 2,616 movie-country observations.

Findings

Actors' facial similarity in a US movie's cast reduces its box-office performance in ESEA countries. This effect is weakened as immigration in the country, internet penetration in the country and star power increase and strengthened as cast size increases.

Originality/value

This first study on the effects of cast's facial similarity on box-office performance represents a novel extension to the growing literature on the antecedents of movies' box-office performance by being at the intersection of the two literature streams on (1) the box-office effects of cast characteristics and (2) the antecedents, in general, of box-office performance in the ESEA region.

Details

International Marketing Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-1335

Keywords

Expert briefing
Publication date: 4 March 2024

Although it does not have the force of law, the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement, along with the associated IPEF Critical Minerals Dialogue, is expected to strengthen chains of…

Expert briefing
Publication date: 18 March 2024

The visit was especially notable in light of the tough measures the United States adopted to promote democracy in Bangladesh ahead of the January general election, and…

Book part
Publication date: 20 March 2024

Rahila Huma Anwar, Urooj Yahya and Sajida Zaki

Before the British colonial regime, Muslims in South Asia recognized a transnational notion of education that stretched on all sides, including the Middle East, Africa, Europe…

Abstract

Before the British colonial regime, Muslims in South Asia recognized a transnational notion of education that stretched on all sides, including the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Central and South-East Asia, with a great social awakening and consciousness about the importance of inclusive education. Academia included theological and secular subjects and focused on producing thoughtful, sophisticated, and confident individuals ready to defend their beliefs with sound knowledge and reasoning. However, the British Raj in the 19th and 20th centuries had a lasting and indelible impression on the Muslims and the Islamic education system. British colonial regime challenged the theological discourse and education and compelled a Western style of education. These transformations in the education system raised several dilemmas and impasses for the Muslims of South Asia. Pakistan has remained a silent recipient of this tension underpinned in its educational systems even before its inception. This chapter traces the roots of education systems operating in Pakistan starting from the ninth century with the victory of Mohammad Bin Qasim through the 19th-century colonial rule of Great Britain until today, when the country offers a blend of diverse education systems. The study explores values embedded in different education systems operating in Pakistan. It is essential to understand the values inherent in these systems to see the harmony or conflict prevailing as a consequence which might have repercussions for the different societal segments and communities. Renewed focus toward value realization will facilitate refining educational frameworks and a promise for the acceptance of global and international advancements.

Details

Worldviews and Values in Higher Education
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80262-898-2

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 5 March 2024

Jane Knight

This article focuses on regional-level cooperation in higher education by examining the functional, organizational and political approaches (FOPA) framework for higher education…

Abstract

Purpose

This article focuses on regional-level cooperation in higher education by examining the functional, organizational and political approaches (FOPA) framework for higher education regionalization and using supra-national regional universities as established and successful examples of regional-level higher education cooperation among countries.

Design/methodology/approach

A conceptual framework is used to provide the structure for analyzing the key approaches to higher education regionalization, followed by an analysis of supra-national regional universities to demonstrate the application of the model.

Findings

The FOPA framework for higher education regionalization includes three approaches. The first is the functional approach, which includes both collaborative academic and research activities among higher education institutions as well strategies and policies to help align systems across a region. The second is the organizational approach, which focuses on networks, organizations, institutions and programs, which facilitate partnerships. The third is the political approach, which includes regional-level agreements, declarations and strategic plans to promote higher education collaboration. Key higher education activities for each approach are discussed in generic terms, with examples provided from major regions of the world.

Research limitations/implications

The research was based on desk research only. No interviews were conducted.

Practical implications

A conceptual analysis and a model were provided for the concept of regionalization of higher education and for regional universities, which can help readers locate their interests and research in the regionalization of higher education. Examples of three different types of regional universities were provided to give concrete illustrations of a regional university.

Social implications

One of the rationales driving regional universities is to address and increase a sense of regional identify and to meet the social, economic and educational needs of the specified region.

Originality/value

Regional universities, such as the University of West Indies, Arab Open University and the Pan-Africa University, are an understudied phenomenon. Using them as innovative and sustainable examples of higher education regional cooperation and the FOPA model, this study illustrates how single-campus, multiple-campus and virtual regional universities are functioning to meet the diversified needs and priorities across a region through cooperation among countries.

Details

Journal of International Cooperation in Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2755-029X

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Children and the Climate Migration Crisis: A Casebook for Global Climate Action in Practice and Policy
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-910-9

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 14 March 2024

Ivan D. Trofimov

In this paper we examine the validity of the J-curve hypothesis in four Southeast Asian economies (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand) over the 1980–2017 period.

Abstract

Purpose

In this paper we examine the validity of the J-curve hypothesis in four Southeast Asian economies (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand) over the 1980–2017 period.

Design/methodology/approach

We employ the linear autoregressive distributed lags (ARDL) model that captures the dynamic relationships between the variables and additionally use the nonlinear ARDL model that considers the asymmetric effects of the real exchange rate changes.

Findings

The estimated models were diagnostically sound, and the variables were found to be cointegrated. However, with the exception of Malaysia, the short- and long-run relationships did not attest to the presence of the J-curve effect. The trade flows were affected asymmetrically in Malaysia and the Philippines, suggesting the appropriateness of nonlinear ARDL in these countries.

Originality/value

The previous research tended to examine the effects of the real exchange rate changes on the agricultural trade balance and specifically the J-curve effect (deterioration of the trade balance followed by its improvement) in the developed economies and rarely in the developing ones. In this paper, we address this omission.

Details

Review of Economics and Political Science, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2356-9980

Keywords

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