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"Asia is vast and varied, its physical contours subject to many different demarcations. For many centuries, European chroniclers considered that Asia started at Constantinople although over time this boundary was displaced eastwards. In this book, the Asia that we are talking about starts thousands of miles east of the Bosphorus in the flat and densely populated Indus and Gangetic plains of Pakistan and India before traversing the massive and desolate highland spaces of the Himalayas and Tibet, passing into the very diverse topologies of the many Chinese provinces and at its eastern perimeter, the Koreas, before falling into the sea opposite Japan. Beneath China lie the states of South-East Asia, stretching from Myanmar and Thailand through to the Mekong basin with Vietnam curled around its outer edge, while further south stretch the elongated archipelagos of Malaysia and then Indonesia, the latter extending far in the direction of the Antipodes. Over this immense terrain, it is scarcely any wonder that disparities in climate, ecology, social and political organisation and culture are so large. Yet in recent decades, there has been a marked tendency to speak as much about regional attributes as those at a national or local level. Indeed, talk of an Asian miracle or the Asian 21st century has become a new staple"--
List of contents
List of figures; List of tables; Acknowledgments; List of acronyms; 1. The strengths and fallibilities of Asian capitalism; 2. To the foothills of Everest. Asia's resurgence; 3. The power of networks of connections; 4. Networks, connections and business organisation; 5. What scope for innovation?; 6. Employment in the connections world; 7. Whither Asia? Prospects and policy challenges; References; Index.
About the author
Simon Commander is Managing Partner of Altura Partners and Visiting Professor of Economics at IE Business School in Madrid.Saul Estrin is Professor Emeritus of Managerial Economics and Strategy at London School of Economics.
Summary
Asia's economic resurgence has relied on networks of close ties between politicians and businesses. Yet this connections world now impedes critical innovation and job creation, whilst spawning huge inequality and risking political instability. A break with the connections world is needed if Asia's claims to the 21st century are not to be derailed.
Foreword
Asia's powerful networks tying together business and politicians threaten risk derailing Asia's claim to the 21st century.
