Modern focus on the Asia Pacific has centred on its rapid transformation in the span of a mere two decades. Since the 1997 economic crisis however, attention has now turned to transition issues as the region faces the challenge of global structural transformation that has and will affect the direction of the region's long-term development. Drawing from a range of contributors from several disciplines, this book seeks to capture some of the multifaceted dimensions of these transitions as the region adjusts to new global realities.

List of Figures and Tables
Notes on the Contributors
INTRODUCTION
Overview; D.E.Andersson & J.P.H.Poon
Growth and Development in Eastern Asia and the OECD Countries; A.E.Andersson
PART I: INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORKS
The Chinese Kaleidoscope: Chinese Economic Development in the Light of the New Institutional Theories; K.Lundgren
On Lao Tzu: His Impact on Chinese Thought; Z.Wei-bin
Value Systems and Organization of Scholarship and Research in East and West; M.Beckmann
Illiberal Democracy in Southeast Asia; J.Engberg
Beyond Dire Straits? Transnationalization and Renationalization in the Southern Growth Triangle; N.Eklund
Landuse Controls and Economic Freedom: The Diverging Histories of Singapore and Taipei; D.E.Andersson
PART II: ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC CONSTRAINTS
Ecological Sustainability; F.Forsund
Pollution Transitions and Economic Growth in Asia; H.Chang-I
Social Security Systems in Southeast Asia: Are They Sustainable; M.Asher
Stable Expansion for the Chinese Economy: Lessons from International Experience; L.R.Klein
PART III: CROSS-BORDER NETWORKS
The Complexity of Self-Organizing East Asian Networks; D.F.Batten
Asia Pacific and European Patterns of Intra and Extra Regional Trade; J.P.H.Poon & E.R.Thompson
Japanese Exports and Foreign Direct Investment; P.Aberg
Business Integration Across the Hong Kong-Chinese Border: Patterns and Explanations in the Garment Industry; E.R.Thompson
Illiberal and Successful? In Search of Sustainable Regional Growth in Authoritarian States; J.Gidlund
Japanese Transition to Knowledge Arenas: An Infrastructural Perspective; K.Kobayashi
Emerging Knowledge Networks in Eastern Asia; D.E.Andersson
Bibliography
Index

DAVID E. ANDERSSON is an Economist with the World Economics Institute in Taipei and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of Economics, Academia Sinica, Taiwan. His research interests are on spatial and institutional economics.

JESSIE P.H. POON is Assistant Professor, Department of Geography and Canada-US Trade Center at the University of Buffalo-SUNY, USA. Her main research fields are in economic geography, trade studies, and Asian economic development.