Since its launch in late 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has become a significant factor in shaping China's economic and diplomatic relations with the world. China's increasing clout presents opportunities as well as challenges, especially for the developing economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which constitute major sites for investment and trade alongside the BRI routes.This edited volume examines whether and to what extent China's economic ascendancy has impacted the proposed ASEAN Economic Community and the respective nations in the region. It deals with this question by grounding the analysis along three themes — institutions at a regional level, industry/sector, and particular ASEAN countries' economic relationship with China. Sixteen articles are presented to illuminate the state of affairs at the regional level and in specific ASEAN economies. They point to the importance of managing trade and investment flows stemming from China's increasingly sophisticated national firms. This in turn hinges on forging 'rules of the game' at both the multilateral and bilateral levels, which potentially leads to mutually beneficial industrialization and long-term wealth creation.The Political Economy of Regionalism, Trade, and Infrastructure will be of great interest to scholars of political economy and industrial policy in East Asia, as well as to scholars and policy professionals analyzing approaches to development strategy more broadly.

Contents:

• About the Book


• About the Editors


• Foreword


• Acknowledgements


• Introduction: In Pursuit of Regionalism, Trade, and Infrastructure: Southeast Asia, China, and the Belt and Road Initiative in a New Era


• Belt and Road Initiative: A Framework to Address Challenges and Unlock Potential for High-Quality and Inclusive Growth (Hoe Ee Khor, Chaipat Poonpatpibul and Suan Yong Foo)


• The Decentralizing International Trade Architecture: Perspectives from and Role of Asia (Pradumna B. Rana, Wai-Mun Chia and Xianbai Ji)


• Spatial Panel Analysis on ASEAN–China Trade Links (Chen-Chen Yong, Siew-Yong Yew and Mui-Yin Chin)


• Why Participate in the 'One Belt and One Road' Initiative? An Income Convergence Approach (Guo Heng Hu, Chi-Keung Marco Lau, Zhou Lu and Xin Sheng)


• ASEAN Electricity Market Integration: How can Belt and Road Initiative Bring New Life to It? (Lixia Yao, Philip Andrews-Speed and Xunpeng Shi)


• China's Outbound Investment in ASEAN Economies in Three Periods: Changing Patterns and Trends (Yee-Siong Tong)


• Evolution of China's Outward Foreign Direct Investment Regime: Implications for Southeast Asia under the Belt and Road Initiative (Theresa Yan and Peter Enderwick)


• Does the Belt and Road Initiative Reshape China's Outward Foreign Direct Investment in ASEAN? Shifting Motives of State-Owned and Private-Owned Enterprises (Jin Shi, Xiaohui Hu, Yunxiong Li and Tao Feng)


• The Impact of the Belt and Road Initiative on Firms' Employment Structure and Wage — Evidence from China's Public Listed Firms (Bo Chen and Yue Chen)


• Rooting in Nanyang: How Efficient are Chinese Manufacturing Firms in Malaysia? (Miao Zhang and Md Aslam Mia)


• Singapore–China Economic Collaboration 2.0 (Eng Cheong Teo)


• Singapore Engages the Belt and Road Initiative: Perceptions, Policies, and Institutions (Hong Liu, Xin Fan and Guanie Lim)


• How Do Investors Respond to Territorial Disputes? Evidence from the South China Sea and Implications on Philippines Economic Strategy (Alvin Camba and Janica Magat)


• The Flying Geese and China's BRI in Indonesia (Siwage Dharma Negara and Leo Suryadinata)


• China's Belt and Road Initiative: A View from a Mahathirist Imaginary (Boo Teik Khoo)

Readership: Advanced undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of economics and business studies; researchers and practitioners in the fields of economics and international business.

Key Features:

• The articles are timely, especially in view of the increasingly tense global/regional environment


• The articles provide both a quantitative and qualitative angles to important questions facing our world; too many quantitative-oriented papers will not appeal to the broader audience while too many qualitative-oriented papers will not attract the attention of economists and data scientists


• The articles are drawn from a diverse range of professions including academia, government, and the financial sector