Varieties & Modalities of Asian Capitalisms

The convergence of security crises and health crises has forced policy transitions in Asian statecraft. This is not simply a reorientation toward domestic versus cross-border ties. It now extends to regional and global trade and investment which remain critical for growth. Theories of the “developmental” or “entrepreneurial” state remain relevant, even as the central institutions reorient.

Knowledge is power, and critical for technological development. We are particularly interested in the process of innovation, which highlights the critical role of both indigenous and foreign knowledge sources. Scholarship in just the past decade has advanced from technology transfer, then to knowledge economies, and recently to innovation in cross-border value chains. Currently, state policy makers have joined the conversation, crafting domestic controls or “securing” knowledge flows in global supply chains.

How has the shifting global order reshaped theories and patterns of socioeconomic organization in Asia? How will national constraints on economic exchange across borders affect information exchange within indigenous and multi-national firms (MNCs).

Do emerging state policies on global knowledge sharing reflect a return to an earlier connectivity, or a shift to a new division into politically defined spheres of influence? Finally, what have we learned of the resilience of global value chains (GVCs)? And how might this refine political economic concepts of the state? n This panel moves between concept and case, theory and application. We invite critical assessment of the role of the neo-developmental state or neo entrepreneurial state among Asian states North and South.