By Paul Ramadge This year a senior group of Indonesian academics visited Monash University‘s Clayton campus and toured some of the national facilities co-located at the university – the synchrotron, the centre for nano-fabrication, the bio-sciences precinct and the New Horizons zone developing next-generation engineering and manufacturing technologies. Monash had a clear objective. It wanted…
Category: Economies
How science, research and innovation can drive economic growth and development.
Amartya Sen: ‘You need an educated, healthy workforce to sustain economic development’
by Udit Misra, Forbes India To reclaim a high growth trajectory, prioritise expenditure on education and healthcare instead of ill-directed subsidies and tax exemptions, the Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen tells Forbes India at the launch of An Uncertain Glory: India and its contradictions, a book he’s co-authored with Jean DrezDuring the last two…
Smart Societies on Flipboard
Smart Societies (smart-societies.com) is an active research project led by a group of growing number of individuals interested in themes of education, research and innovation in emerging economies. The project specifically examines the changing social, political, education and business landscapes and the forces and under-currents that are transforming economies in the Asia Pacific, Africa and Latin…
Financial crisis boosts suicides
Two curious and contrasting things happens during a financial crisis: massive layoffs and bankruptcies leads to a surge in suicides, at the same time, many rich got richer, doubling their wealth in some cases. A study by the University of Hong Kong examining suicide data from the World Health Organisation‘s mortality database and the online…
Word of mouth and advertising in Southeast Asia
In Southeast Asia, word-of-mouth recommendations from family and friends continues to be the most influential source of advertising among consumers, according to research released by Nielsen. The study also revealed that consumers’ trust in traditional advertising remains strong, while the credibility of online advertising improved in recent years. Nielsen’s Global Survey of Trust in Advertising…
When it comes to innovation, Asia trails behind
When it comes to innovation, Asia trails behind Europe and North America according to the latest Global Innovation Index 2013. Only two Asian economies, Hong Kong (ranked 7th) and Singapore (ranked 8th), were listed in the top 10. Switzerland, Sweden, Netherlands, UK and the US topped the rankings. The Asia Wall Street Journal attributes North…
Indonesia: Asia’s Next Big Opportunity
The Boston Consulting Group has a new report examining Indonesia’s rising middle-class and affluent consumers. Indonesia’s middle class is growing in size and purchasing power. With a population of 248 million, it is already the fourth-largest in the world. Its middle class expected to double to 141 million by 2020. During that period, some 8…
The world’s most and least ethnically diverse countries
If you called up two people at random in a particular country and ask them their ethnicity, what are the odds that they would give different answers? The higher the odds, the more ethnically diverse the country. Five Harvard economists and social scientists set out to measure ethnic diversity and have mapped out the results….
China Changing: What does it mean for developing countries
Three decades of rapid growth and structural change have transformed China into an upper-middle-income country and global economic powerhouse. China’s transformations over this period wielded increasing influence over the development path of other countries, either directly through bilateral trade and financial flows or indirectly through growth spillovers and terms of trade effects. Looking ahead, as…
5 ways to engage Asia’s innovation century
By Eugene Sebastian A couple of months ago, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade called for submissions that would help inform its whole-of-Australia approach to developing country strategies with the five Asia Pacific priority countries: China, India, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea. Nearly 250 submissions were submitted. One submission from Monash University…
Silent transformation of India’s R&D
Authors: Eugene Sebastian and Mohan Krishnamoorthy Over the next decade India’s research and development (R&D) sector is expected to undergo major changes as the Indian government progressively reforms and scales up public investments into science and technology. India along with China is set to drive global R&D. According to latest data, global R&D spending is expected…
Emerging economies to grow in 2013
A recent Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) predicts China’s economy to rebound and grow at 8.5% in 2013 and 8.9% in 2014. Brazil, India, Indonesia, Russia and South Africa economies are also set to grow. The report, which is a twice-yearly analysis of the major economic trends and prospects for the next two…
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