Search results for ""Author François Gipouloux""

'A fascinating analysis of the proposition that the start of the 21st century is witnessing the rapid rise in South East Asia of a new and powerful transnational economic zone, the Asian Mediterranean. It uses a wide range of historical and contemporary multidisciplinary sources to systematically explore how, why, and in what ways we can better interpret and understand this contemporary version of economic globalisation by looking back to the equivalent processes centred on the ports around the Mediterranean and the Baltic seas during late 16th century.'- Peter Daniels, University of Birmingham, UK'Francois Gipouloux has written a vast and comprehensive history of the Asian economic system. In the tradition of Braudel, he paints a picture that is detailed, full of insight, and essentially very long term. On the basis of an analysis of the old Mediterranean and Hanseatic economic networks, he surveys the pre-modern Asian system, bringing it up to date with studies of Yokohama, Hong Kong, Singapore and other Asian hubs. The culmination of many years work, Gipouloux throws light on a new China -- a China no longer land based and inward looking but dependent on, and a power in, a maritime world.'- Christopher Howe, University of London, UK'Gipouloux's ground breaking study based on a long career as a scholar of Asia's past is a most original contribution to the study of globalization. Connecting past and present, the author has further developed the somewhat vague metaphor of an Asian Mediterranean into a well defined concept that can also be applied for analyzing contemporary affairs. While in the past the traditional Chinese and Japanese state systems were failing to formulate adequate answers, on a more informal level, the port cities were able to meet with the maritime challenges of the emerging modern world system. The author convincingly shows how also in the age of globalization, a string of coastal metropolises continues to be instrumental in opening up the Far Eastern economy to the global economy.'- Leonard Blusse, Leiden University, The NetherlandsThis insightful book draws upon a wide range of disciplines - political economy, geography and international relations - to examine how Asia has returned to its central position in the world economy. As in the case of the hosting of the Olympic games, it is cities rather than states which compete, whether as financial centers, logistical hubs or platforms for coordinating international subcontracting. Analyzing the historical precedents of the Mediterranean maritime republics, the Baltic Sea Hanseatic League and the South China Sea mercantile kingdoms, the book delineates the way stable economic and legal institutions were developed largely beyond the purview of, and at times in conflict with, the State. Discussing the strong link between history and contemporary economic situation, The Asian Mediterranean will appeal to academics, including post-graduates students, of economics, geography, history, regional studies and Asian studies.

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Offering a fresh analysis of late imperial China, this cutting-edge book revisits the roles played by merchant networks, economic institutions, and business practices in the divergence between Europe and China during the trade revolution.Focusing on the operating modes of three major regional trading networks active in Fujian, Huizhou, and Shanxi from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, François Gipouloux assesses the driving forces behind their dynamism, the role they played in Chinese economic development, and the constraints in which they were embedded. Examining merchants’ business practices, partnerships,and investment strategies, chapters portray the three central figures of China’s economy – the financier, the middleman, and the business entrepreneur – and their complex relationships with the imperial bureaucracy. By analysing the divergent trajectory of seemingly identical institutions in China and Europe, Elusive Capital takes a comparative approach to shed light on the factors that inhibited the transformation of commercial development into an industrial revolution, ultimately discovering why capital accumulation proved so elusive in late imperial China.Revealing novel insights from primary documentation including trial accounts, Elusive Capital will prove an invigorating read for students and scholars of economic history, business studies, and Asian urban and regional studies

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A new geography of economic power is emerging in East Asia. Written by leading experts in the areas of globalization, trade, producer services, financial centers, logistics and R&D, the book provides indepth and updated analyses of the leading role of Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Singapore in the recent rise of Asia as a major manufacturing base and exporter. The book reveals the historical, geographical, socio-economic and political peculiarities in the formation of world cities in East Asia. Jianfa Shen, Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies and The Chinese University of Hong Kong 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, CanadaAsia'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 centers such as Tokyo, Beijing, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai situated on the periphery of the maritime corridor of East Asia, form a system characterized 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 centers 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 be of interest to academics and post-graduates students in economics, geography, finance, history, regional studies and Asian studies, as well as those who have a general interest in globalization. Contributors include: L. Bastide, P. Carioti, P. Daniels, D. Du, A. Ekman, F. Gipouloux, R. Hisasue, Y. Hu, C. Hung, J. Meng, P. Miege, C. Smith, Y.-W. Sung, J. Wang, X. Xu, Z.Yuan, L. Zhang, S. Zhao

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China's Urban Century is the impressive outcome of a European and Chinese collaborative project. The book extensively covers Chinese urban governance, environment, heritage, lifestyle and megacities. Ambitious and timely, François Gipouloux edits the book, not only to address topical issues such as migrant housing, social security and low-carbon development, but also to probe into the fundamental process of city creation, fiscal relations, and community configuration.'- Fulong Wu, Bartlett Professor of Planning, University College London, UK'This is an exciting, informative, and insightful volume produced out of truly multi-disciplinary and international collaborations. It makes a timely and landmark contribution to the understanding of China's phenomenal urban transformation and its social, political, and environmental implications. With its unparalleled breadth and depth, this book provides illuminative accounts of the many facets of China's urbanization past, present, and in the years to come. A must-read for any scholars and practitioners interested in the dawn of China's urban century and the new age of global urbanism.'- George C.S. Lin, Hong Kong UniversityThe achievements of China's urbanization should not be evaluated solely in terms of adequate infrastructures, but also in their ability to implement sound governance practices to ensure social, environmental and economic development. This book addresses sever al key challenges faced by Chinese cities, based on the most recent policies and experiments adopted by central and local governments.The contributors offer an interdisciplinary analysis of the urbanization process in China, and examine the following key topics: the institutional foundations of Chinese cities, the legal status of the land, the rural to urban migration, the preservation of the urban heritage and the creation of urban community, and the competitiveness of Chinese cities. They define the current issues and challenges emerging from China's urbanization.Students and academics of urban studies and related subjects will find the strong theoretical backgrounds to be of use to their research. Policy-makers and other practitioners will benefit from the practical advice and recommendations.Contributors: C.-H. Ai, L. Balula, O. Bina, K.W. Chan, H. Chen, D. Du, M. Elosua, S. Feuchtwang, F. Ged, F. Gipouloux, W. Gong, S. Goulard, Y. Hu, L. Huang, A. Hussain, S. Li, P. Morais, P. Ni, D.H. Perkins, O. Pillet, Y. Pu, Y. Shao, J. Tan, J. Wang, A. Xiong, W. Xu, Z. Yuan, H. Zhang

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