Browsing by Subject "East Asia"
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Item An Empirical Evaluation of Developmental Networks and Mentoring Practices Effect on Doctoral Science TrainingAviles, Jorge L; Ynalvez, Marcus Antonius; Ynalvez, Marcus Antonius; Kilburn, John C.; Haruna, Peter FuseiniThis study aimed at examining the impact of doctoral mentoring practices (DMP) and of developmental networks (DN) on the doctoral training practices (DTP) of students enrolled in selected elite doctoral science programs in three East Asian countries. It focuses on these social aspects that potentially enhance and/or diversify training practices that develop scientific occupational competencies. The recognition that mentoring during career development may be available from a variety of individuals beyond the traditional dyadic mentor-mentee relationship led this study to examine the impact of students’ developmental networks. The approach taken is novel in that the developmental network typology has yet to be systematically and empirically examined. The population investigated comprised students in chemical science doctoral training programs at elite universities in Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan. A sample of n = 115 students, stratified by university and by country, participated in structured face-to-face interviews that collected information on DMP, DTP, and egocentric networks. Network information was utilized to identify respondents’ developmental network type based on diversity of alters' sector (e.g. academia, government, industry, etc.) and ego-alter tie strength. Two sets of principal component analysis, one for the 15 original DMP items and another for the 17 original DTP items, were performed to examine the effect of DN and of DMP on DTP. It was found that students who reported that their advisor engaged in mentoring activities that involved career and psychosocial support also reported enhanced engagement in leadership-driven training practices. Enhanced engagement with sources of training and learning outside of the lab was also found. There was no evidence that developmental network types influenced DTP. Hence, it is recommended that institutions of higher education formulate and monitor the outcomes of policies that foster the development of mentoring practices among faculty. This would aid in the preparation of doctoral students for work within and outside of academia. Further exploration and improvement of the empirical application of the developmental network typology in doctoral science training is also suggested.Item Currency and political choice : analytical political economy of exchange rate policy in East Asia(2010-05) Meng, Chih-Cheng; Roberts, Brian E.; Hinich, Melvin J.; Lin, Tse-min; Elkins, Zachary; Vaughn, BrandonHow do catch-up East Asian countries cultivate their exchange rate (ER) policies in a different trajectory than advanced economies often cited in current literature? What are the dynamics and results (pros and cons) of choosing a particular ER policy, and what influence does it have on the progress of developmental states? How do domestic and international politics explain the convergences and variances of ER policy decisions in East Asia? The decisions of ER policy are by all means political choices. ERs influence the prices of daily exchanged goods, and thereby determine resource allocation within and across national borders. Therefore, any internal political actor, including a government, interest group, foreign party or constituent exerts discretionary power to manipulate an ER to satisfy its own interests. Externally, the size of foreign trade and the status of international monetary accounts closely depend on the valuation and volatility of ER. Thus for the transitional polities and the trade-driving economies in East Asia, the analysis of ER politics not only helps to clarify the complex mechanisms of ER influences combined with various interests and institutional settings, but also to advance the political study of globalization. My dissertation proposes an integrated framework to contend that the domestic distributional politics and economic determinants, as well as the international monetary relations, and regional market force and adaptive policy diffusion are crucial factors that influence and interact with ER policy in East Asia. This theoretical framework explains how an ER policy decision is compromised between domestically generated preferences and apparently intense international interactions. Likewise, this dissertation provides a vigorous empirical specification toward the spatiotemporal differences of ER policy in East Asia. The application of the structural vector autoregression (SVAR) model properly specifies the theoretical dynamics across variables in the East Asian panel data compiled from 1980 to 2004. Furthermore, by using the alternative Bayesian estimation, SVAR successfully demonstrates the "spinning stories" that distinguish the variances with regard to country-specific development under the asymmetrically international and interdependently regional monetary system. The empirical findings verify that my theoretical variables interact significantly with ER policy decisions in East Asia. The statistics also demonstrate that most East Asian countries tend to strategically withstand influences from the various waves of capital liberalization and keep their currencies at low values. In a general testing, however, domestic pursuits for preferred interests gradually yield to the persistent influences of international and regional forces on ER policy making in East Asia.Item Vitalization of natural gas market in East Asia(2012-05) Han, Sung-Hee; Groat, Charles G.; Malik, Krishan A.A competitive gas-to-gas trading market has yet to emerge in Asia. Yet in spite of the various barriers and restrictions, the trend of liberalization seems to inevitable. How a natural gas trading market just might develop in East Asia is what this thesis explains and predicts. Moreover, it lays out what the preconditions for the changes are, and what the costs and benefits from such changes may be. Considering Asia’s current market situation, the wholesale competition model could be a practical option for Asia’s gas markets. A critical role in building up the gas-to-gas trading market will be played by China. In the first stage of market liberalization, China alone can be expected to form its own trading hub on its east coast, say in Shanghai. If the transactions of the trading hub work smoothly and the set prices lower than oil-linked gas prices, then other gas-importing countries would likely join the trading hub by interconnecting with a physical pipeline.