Gateway regions are nodes that act as saddle points between a region and the global economy. This work discusses infrastructure networks such as the Internet and air transport, as well as networking activities such as long-distance scientific cooperation, financial networks, and direct investments. Contributors have expertise in fields such as regional economics, economic geography, institutional economics, and business administration. Ake Andersson teaches infrastructure and planning at the Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden. David Andersson is research fellow at the Institute of Economics at Academia Sinica, Taiwan. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR

'Gateways to Globalisation makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the emerging East Asian regional system of financial centres within the broader global context and how they interact within the global circuits of finance. In particular, it focuses on the emergence of the financial centres of Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore and the attempts by both national governments and the private sector to position them so that they become more competitive in the global and regional context. The volume shows much historical sensitivity showing that while the increase in the importance of these financial centres is principally post 1945, their emergence has been aided by the deep historical roots that go back several centuries. The book will be of great value in the interpretation of the role of East Asia in what many commentators have called the "Asian Century".' – Terry McGee, The University of British Columbia, Canada 'Gateways to Globalisation cogently demonstrates that Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai, and Tokyo operate as gateways to Asia and as linchpins for Asia to the global economy. The authors' theoretical frameworks and original empirical research support provocative findings that challenge conventional thinking. Tokyo may decline as a global city. As Beijing and Shanghai ride China's rapid growth they face uncertainty about its future openness to the global economy. Vibrant Hong Kong and Singapore confront challenges from other rising centers.' – David Meyer, Washington University in St Louis, US 'This book distinguishes itself in its emphasis on historical and cultural links as well as contemporary globalization processes on large East Asian cities. Arising from a research program and four seminars, the editor has picked scholars who can relate past and present trends. Historical links of Japanese cities are explored. Leading world cities in the region are analysed in their evolution from entrepôts to modern gateways, service integrators, transport hubs and financial centres. It is a study of the integration and interrelationships of East Asian cities in the global economy.' – Yue-man Yeung, Chinese University of Hong Kong Asia's trading and financial hubs have become global cities which frequently have more in common and closer linkages with each other than with their corresponding hinterlands. As this book expounds, these global cities illustrate to what extent world trends deeply penetrate and permeate the national territorial interiors and processes that were otherwise presumed to be controlled by the State. Gateways to Globalisation is soundly based on accurate and extensive research (including perspectives from historians, economists, geographers and sociologists) from China, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong, in order to grasp the regional character of trade and finance, beyond national borders and traditional academic frameworks. The book documents that today, major urban centres such as Tokyo, Beijing, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai situated on the periphery of the maritime corridor of East Asia, form a system characterised by the intensity of their economic linkages and integration into the world economy. Since the mid-1980s, these major Asian cities have become the worldwide-oriented centres for production, trade, finance and research. This collective effort offers, in addition to its regional framework, up-to-date information that strengthens an original trans-disciplinary analysis of a region and its economic characteristics, which will be of interest to readers within academia and beyond. This well-detailed and thorough work will interest academics and post-graduate students in economics, geography, finance, history, regional studies and Asian studies, as well as those who have a general interest in globalisation.

Many countries in Africa and Asia have coastlines that present opportunities for them to become gateways for trade between the hinterlands and global trading routes. However, policy makers struggle to translate this potential into engines of economic development and social transformation. In the past 40 years, China has taken advantage of its strategic geographical location and its status as one of the world’s top manufacturing regions. From a very low position on almost all metrics, today China has become home to more than half of the world’s top 50 ports. The rapid development of China’s ports was critical for the country’s remarkable economic growth. What China achieved can be informative; how and why China revived and modernized its port sector is especially relevant and provides valuable lessons for other countries. This book explores the transformation of China’s port sector through four topics and four periods, beginning with China’s major economic reforms that started in 1978. The first topic addresses the links between China’s macroeconomic and regional development strategies and development of the port sector. During this period—through about 1991—China began decentralizing port management to facilitate development of special economic zones. Thesecond topic—during the period 1992 through about 2001—is more specific about the ports and analyzes changes in port governance, including the way in which essential investments were determined and financed. Thethird topic examines the relationship of ports to the cities where they are located and to the hinterlands on which they depend—coinciding with the period 2002†“11. Domestic and international investment resulted in many new export-oriented processing factories during this period. The accompanying boost in trade required further expansion of port capacity. The fourth topic addresses how—from 2011 onward—human resource and innovation policies in the port sector have responded to changing demands as the country looks to become a less resource-dependent and more regionally balanced economy.

It is clear that although the human resource management field has been drastically affected by global competition over the last twenty years, most of the research and publications in the field are geared to providing corporations with an understanding of their business environment. This book takes an entirely different approach by looking at the job and career markets from the point of view of individuals who are searching for new strategies to develop their careers in a global environment. This book offers readers the tools they need to evaluate and manage their career environment and personal career profiles, and ultimately, to have a rewarding global career.

Within a matter of decades, Gulf port cities have rapidly evolved from regional centers of cultural and economic exchange to globalizing cities deeply embedded within the global economy. Explicitly evident features of Gulf cities such as international hotel chains, shopping centers, and entertainment complexes have classified these cities as centers of consumption. Other urban trends, such as exhibition and conference centers, media and knowledge cities, and branch campuses of Western universities have integrated Gulf cities within numerous global networks. In line with this, the CIRS research initiative on “The Evolution of Gulf Global Cities” examines dynamics of urban configurations in the Gulf region (the GCC, Yemen, Iraq, and Iran) in order to understand the city as a cultural and social space. Over the course of two working group meetings, CIRS invited academics from various disciplinary backgrounds as well as architects, urban planners, and designers to discuss their research findings and to present papers linking macro-level knowledge of urbanization and modernization projects in the Gulf with the micro-level understanding of everyday spaces of living and human interaction. The chapters are combined into an edited volume titled, Gateways to the World: Port Cities in the Persian Gulf.

The Global Economy: A Concise History traces the history of the global economy over the past thousand years. In doing so, it explores all the main waves of globalization, from the trade revolution of the Middle Ages, to the Great and Little Divergence between the West and the East, as well as the North and the South of the world. This book examines the Industrial Revolution and the World Wars, and their respective consequences, as well as the interaction between technological shifts and the transition in geopolitical equilibria. The last chapters are dedicated to an in-depth examination of the transformation which occurred in the global economy after 1989. The chronological structure of the book is designed to help students memorize and understand key events. This book also discusses broader themes, such as convergence–divergence, growth and decline, development, and industrial revolutions. This will make it of interest not only to students and academics, but to all readers wishing to gain a deeper understanding of the history and current state of the global economy.