This work examines Japans economic activities in Singapore from 1870 to 1965. Drawing upon a range of published and unpublished sources, the authors shed light on issues such as: prostitution; foreign trade by Kobe's overseas Chinese; fishermen in the inter-war period; Japanese economic activities during the Pacific War; Japanese involvement in Singapore's post-war industrialization plan; the Lee Kuan Yew regime's policy towards Japan; and the 1960s Japanese investment boom. The book challenges commonly-held views on Japan's economic advance into Southeast Asia in general, and Singapore in particular.

This book looks at two-stage industrial cluster theory and new innovation models in view of IT-ization and servitization of products. The formation of industrial clusters such as export processing zones and special economic zones has been the preferred mechanism for developing countries to boost their industrial development and export performance for the last several decades. Existing literature related to Development Economics cited numerous benefits of industrial clusters and several countries have reaped such benefits. The book goes beyond formation of traditional industrial clusters. It promotes the idea of formation of two-stage clusters. The book further stresses on new innovation models. The ideas are promoted based on the empirical evidence of Chinese and Taiwanese firms in consumer electronics and automobile sectors. Finally, the book looks at firm strategies in new business environment which is dominated by servitization of industrial products. It argues for firms to integrate manufacturing and services to a great extent. To substantiate the arguments, empirical evidence comes from India, Taiwan, and Bangladesh. The study further finds evidence, perhaps for the first time that innovation and knowledge acquisition strategies are influenced not only by size of firms but also vary with market preferences.

This book looks at two-stage industrial cluster theory and new innovation models in the context of the IT-ization and servitization of products. The formation of industrial clusters, such as export processing zones and special economic zones, has been the preferred mechanism for developing countries to boost their industrial development and export performance for the past several decades. Existing literature related to development economics cites numerous benefi ts of industrial clusters, and several countries have demonstrably reaped such benefits. The book goes beyond an evaluation of the development of traditional industrial clusters by promoting the idea of the formation of two-stage clusters. Moreover, it takes into consideration new innovation models, with ideas promoted that are based on empirical evidence available through evaluations of Chinese and Taiwanese firms in the consumer electronics and automobile sectors. Finally, the book looks at company strategies in a new business environment dominated by the servitization of industrial products. It proposes that firms integrate manufacturing and services to a greater extent, and, to substantiate these arguments, presents empirical evidence from India, Taiwan, and Bangladesh. Furthermore, the study contends that innovation and knowledge acquisition strategies are infl uenced not only by the size of fi rms but that they also vary with market preferences.