Asia Pacific Region (asia + pacific_region)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


A study on the temporal dynamics of tourism demand in the Asia Pacific Region

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM RESEARCH, Issue 5 2009
Vincent Cho
Abstract Using the monthly statistics of tourists from four different origins (America, Europe, Asia and Oceania) among seven places in the Asia Pacific region for a period from January 1991 to December 2005, we investigate these 28 time series using the Holt-Winters method, artificial neural network and numerical graphical plots. Interesting comparisons on level fluctuations, trends and seasonal patterns of the time series among the Asia Pacific region are explored. These findings enable us to understand more about the temporal aspect of tourism demand in the Asia Pacific region. In sum, this paper lays out the importance of understanding the trend and seasonality indices in details. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Nagano Shigeo: Business Leadership in the Asia Pacific Region and the Formation of the Pacific Basin Economic Council

AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF POLITICS AND HISTORY, Issue 4 2001
Takashi Terada
The Pacific Basin Economic Council (PBEC) was established in 1968 through the initiatives taken by the Japanese and Australian business leaders. This article focuses on the ideas and activities of the Japanese and Australian business leaders in the establishment of PBEC, especially those of Nagano Shigeo and W.R.C. Anderson, both of whom devoted themselves to the establishment of PBEC, while cooperating with each other. The central questions posed are: how and why Nagano and Anderson came to consider it desirable to establish an economic institution in the Asia Pacific region in the mid-1960s; how and why those ideas were refined and transformed into the establishment of PBEC; what approaches business leaders in other countries took towards Pacific cooperation and how the Japanese and Australians adjusted different interests of people in other countries in organising PBEC. Finally, the article assesses the role played by PBEC in the development of economic cooperation in Asia and the Pacific and insists that it should help set up foundations for the subsequent organisations of regional economic institutions such as the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. [source]


Human resources planning on terrorism and crises in the Asia Pacific region: Cross-national challenge, reconsideration, and proposition from western experiences

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2008
Dian-Yan Liou
Since the 9/11 attacks in the United States (2001) and the two bombing events in Bali (2002, 2005), there has been renewed interest in emergency prevention policies in many organizations around the world. Functional terrorism preparedness requires changes in organizational thinking about external environmental threats. This shift in organizational thinking could be led by human resource departments. In order to achieve this goal, HR departments must redefine their role in terms of crisis management, and then four key planning measures for insuring postemergency operations should be observed. Using system dynamics (SD) methodology, this article examines the causes of states in which organizations operate after terrorist attacks. Based on the qualitative analytic approach of causal loops, this article explores the major challenges for HR development prompted by terrorism. Specifically, we focus on changes both to organizational communication and to workforce planning and succession. These activities are a tremendous challenge immediately following a disaster. A functional HR plan must include elements for proactive alertness, the ability to dispatch inventory, evacuation plans, and record preservation coupled with dissemination to employees and explicit employee training and cross-cultural management. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]


Hydrology and water resources in monsoon Asia: a consideration of the necessity of establishing a standing research community of hydrology and water resources in the Asia Pacific region

HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 14 2003
Katumi Musiake
Abstract Hydrological and water resources issues appear very differently in different regions, and are strongly affected by geographical conditions. Hydrological knowledge and methodologies obtained in a specific region cannot necessarily be adapted to other regions. The purpose of this paper is to clarify one way to address adequately the regional characteristics of hydrology and water resources in monsoon Asia, especially the ,too much water' problems in the region. For this purpose, geomorphological factors, climatic factors and human intervention in the natural environment are taken into consideration as the three major factors governing the regional characteristics of the hydrology,water resources system. To identify geomorphological features macroscopically between the Asia Pacific region and other continental regions, the concepts ,tectonic zone' and ,stable region', which are two major subdivisions of continental masses in the world, are introduced. Also, a new climatic subdivision termed ,warm-humid' is proposed to express the abundant precipitation due to the Asian monsoon. Then, hydrological characteristics common or similar in ,warm-humid tectonic zones' in the Asia Pacific region, contrasted with those in stable regions, are enumerated together with the human intervention corresponding to these characteristics, and research targets peculiar to warm-humid tectonic zones are discussed. Finally, the establishment of a standing research community called ,Asia Pacific Association of Hydrology and Water Resources' is proposed to promote the exchange of operational knowledge and experience in water resources management, cooperative research activities, and professional education in the Asia Pacific region. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Sustainable consumption and the financial sector: analysing the markets for responsible investment in Hong Kong and Japan

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSUMER STUDIES, Issue 2 2009
Jacob ParkArticle first published online: 6 APR 200
Abstract The origins of the modern socially responsible investment (SRI) movement can be traced to the turbulent period in the 1960s when powerful social undercurrents including environmentalism and anti-war activism fuelled a rise, in a radical change, in the way society viewed faith, values and commerce. Today, nearly 1 out of every US$9 under professional management in the US is currently invested using social investment strategies while the European green and ethical investment market is estimated to be ,1 trillion or as much as 10,15% of the total funds under management. While some preliminary figures and analyses exist for countries outside these two regions, SRI has been, to date, largely explored within the context of North America and Europe. This is unfortunate as the sustainability of SRI as a consumer market is going to depend, to a great extent, to what happens outside of North America and Europe, and most notably in the rapidly developing Asian economies. In this article, I will explore the development of SRI as a mainstream financial consumer instrument in industrialized (Japan) and emerging (Hong Kong/China) economies of the Asia Pacific region. To fully analyse the SRI market development in Hong Kong and Japan, I will examine the following three issues and questions: first, how does the sustainable consumption framework offer a useful lens from which to explore SRI, and why is the Asia Pacific market and policy context so important for the broader issue of sustainable consumption? Second, what precisely is SRI and how did it develop into an important global financial investment vehicle? Third, how did the SRI market develop in the case of Hong Kong and Japan? I will then conclude the article with some analysis on the important lessons SRI market development in Hong Kong and Japan hold for market sustainability of the financial sector and sustainable consumption. [source]


A study on the temporal dynamics of tourism demand in the Asia Pacific Region

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM RESEARCH, Issue 5 2009
Vincent Cho
Abstract Using the monthly statistics of tourists from four different origins (America, Europe, Asia and Oceania) among seven places in the Asia Pacific region for a period from January 1991 to December 2005, we investigate these 28 time series using the Holt-Winters method, artificial neural network and numerical graphical plots. Interesting comparisons on level fluctuations, trends and seasonal patterns of the time series among the Asia Pacific region are explored. These findings enable us to understand more about the temporal aspect of tourism demand in the Asia Pacific region. In sum, this paper lays out the importance of understanding the trend and seasonality indices in details. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Public Health Conditions and Policies in the Asia Pacific region

ASIAN-PACIFIC ECONOMIC LITERATURE, Issue 2 2001
Dennis A. Ahlburg
Health has improved dramatically in Asia over the last 40 years. Infant mortality dropped over 60 per cent and life expectancy increased by 40 per cent. Despite these gains, health outcomes remain relatively low in many Asian countries, and vary tremendously by region, income level and demographic group. Little progress has been made, for example, in decreasing maternal mortality. Asia is experiencing an epidemiological transition from a high burden of communicable diseases to a high burden of non-communicable diseases. The pace of this transition varies across countries, and some countries will experience increasing incidence of non-communicable diseases before the level of communicable diseases has decreased. Ill-health imposes a heavy economic cost: HIV/AIDS may reduce economic growth in some countries. As incomes and expectations rise, the demand for health care also rises and one of the greatest challenges facing Asia is how to provide and finance this care. [source]


Nagano Shigeo: Business Leadership in the Asia Pacific Region and the Formation of the Pacific Basin Economic Council

AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF POLITICS AND HISTORY, Issue 4 2001
Takashi Terada
The Pacific Basin Economic Council (PBEC) was established in 1968 through the initiatives taken by the Japanese and Australian business leaders. This article focuses on the ideas and activities of the Japanese and Australian business leaders in the establishment of PBEC, especially those of Nagano Shigeo and W.R.C. Anderson, both of whom devoted themselves to the establishment of PBEC, while cooperating with each other. The central questions posed are: how and why Nagano and Anderson came to consider it desirable to establish an economic institution in the Asia Pacific region in the mid-1960s; how and why those ideas were refined and transformed into the establishment of PBEC; what approaches business leaders in other countries took towards Pacific cooperation and how the Japanese and Australians adjusted different interests of people in other countries in organising PBEC. Finally, the article assesses the role played by PBEC in the development of economic cooperation in Asia and the Pacific and insists that it should help set up foundations for the subsequent organisations of regional economic institutions such as the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. [source]