Public Organisations and New Approaches to Building Markets in Asia
This research agenda seeks to elucidate the pivotal, yet often little understood roles that international organisations play in constituting markets across different sectors in Asia and the impact of and upon such activities
Public organisations, such as the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), national development assistance bodies and export credit agencies, are playing increasingly important roles in constituting markets in the name of poverty reduction and development. While these organisations are popularly-known as important sources of finance, they also perform crucial legitimising and risk mitigating roles, and bring with them an array of conditions and safeguards beyond those of regular financing streams.
This research project, part of the broader New Approaches to Building Markets in Asia research agenda, explores the pivotal, yet little understood role that international organisations play in constituting markets across different sectors in Asia and the impact of and upon such activities. Such organisations have been increasingly central in constituting markets in high-risk/high-return areas – where political, social, economic and environmental factors present cause for concern but where significant opportunities for profit exist (such as in the palm oil and oil and gas sectors). In these new markets, the sovereign relationships of these organisations provide confidence to the private sector, while their structural regulatory requirements work to mitigate risks.
This said, the involvement of these organisations in market constituting exercises is often far from straightforward. One issue relates to the effectiveness of the safeguards deployed to protect local populations from project impact (issues over land compensation for a pipeline project, for example). Concerns also relate to the negative ongoing consequences of market-constitution projects (the empowering of corrupt elites resulting from the flow of oil revenues and the exacerbation of inequality, for example). Finally, the policies and conditions tied to providing assistance can also be controversial, particularly when meeting the mandate of development and poverty reduction.
Given all of this, the Public Organisation and New Approaches to Building Markets in Asia research project asks several core research questions:
- What novel roles are public institutions playing in constituting markets in Asia?
- What impact do such roles have on different actors?
- What are the implications of the answers to the above questions for policy makers, private interests, civil society and individual citizens?
The research project will collaborate with colleagues at Griffith University (Australia), University of South Australia, Murdoch University (Australia), Sydney University (Australia) and Ritsumeikan University (Japan) and beyond.
The research project will also include a research seminar series at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy starting in October 2010. The seminar series will ask pointed questions of the market building project. For example, what new roles are being played by multilateral organisations, such as the IFC and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, in Asia? What new relationships are created by the market building project and what do these mean for citizens, private interests and policy makers? What are the ideological and practical implications of the market building project? What challenges exist to the market building project and how can they be resolved?
Both the project and its seminar series seeks to draw in both established researchers with theoretical and empirical expertise in elements of the market building project and postgraduate students and early career researchers interested in the topic.
The project is headed by CAG Research Fellow Toby Carroll with the support of Rita Padawangi and Darryl Jarvis at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.
Call for Papers
This call for papers is for the first component of the broader project, "New Approaches to Building Markets in Asia". This component is centred upon the production of an edited volume and/or special issue of a journal produced from papers presented at a workshop to be held in Singapore, April 17-18 2011. The component also seeks submissions to be presented within a new working paper series and seminar series (to begin November 2011). Funding has been secured to support the attendance (airfare, accommodation, per diem) of authors of successful paper/seminar paper submissions. Two subsequent phases of the "New Approaches to Building Markets in Asia" research agenda will look at "Private Organisations and New Approaches to Building Markets in Asia" and “Citizens and New Approaches to Building Markets in Asia". Calls for papers for these components will be posted on the website shortly.
New Approaches to Building Markets in Asia Seminar Series
This seminar series will run from Oct 2010 to March 2011. Read More [â–º]
