This book traces the growth of capitalism in South East Asia between 1870 and 1941, a crucial element in understanding contemporary economic and political developments in the region. It focuses on three questions. Why was indigenous capitalism so weak in colonial South East Asia? What were the institutional weaknesses in an otherwise dominant Chinese capitalist class, and why did it fail to transform itself into a modern industrial elite? What was the impact of western colonialism and Japanese economic penetration on South East Asia's prospects for achieving sustainable economic growth?

This volume, first published in 1995, looks at the development of Chinese business and management practices across Asia from the late nineteenth century. Experts examine how familism and informal networks have contributed to Chinese entrepreneurial success. They demonstrate how effective these factors have been in overcoming restrictive state policies: through alliances with ethnic and international traders and connections between financial networks in Hong Kong, South East Asia, China and Australia. An institutional model of analysis is developed to determine the efficacy of Chinese business practices and structures. The relationship between culture and environment is examined as well as how modern institutions are embedded not only in culture but also in history and economics.

This book addresses the complexity of Islam in Thailand, by focusing on Islamic charities and institutions affiliated to the mosque. By extrapolating through Islam and the waqf (Islamic charity) in different regions of Thailand the diversity in races and institutions, it demonstrates the regional contrasts within Thai Islam. The book also underlines the importance of the internal histories of these separate spaces, and the processes by which institutions and ideologies become entrenched. It goes on to look at the socio economic transformation that is taking place within the context of trading networks through Islamic institutions and civil networks linked to mosques, madrasahs and regional power brokers. Brown casts this study of private Islamic welfare as strengthening rather than weakening relations with the secular Thai state. The current regime's effectiveness in coopting these Muslim elites, including Lutfi and Wisoot, into state bureaucracies assists in widening their popular base in the south, in the north-east, and in Bangkok. Such appointments were efficacious in reinforcing the elite's Islamic identity within a modern, secular, literate, and cosmopolitan Thai culture. In challenging existing studies of Thai Muslims as furtive protest minorities, this book diverts our attention to how Islamic philanthropy provides the logic and dynamism behind the creation of autonomous spaces for these independent groups, affording unusual insights into their economic, political and social histories.

This book looks at the operation of indigenous charities at a regional, localised and global level. Chapters focus on the adaptation, accountability and operation of charities across a wide range of jurisdictions from China to Indonesia, Thailand, Iran, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Lebanon and Turkey. It examines the ownership, participation and accountability of charities in a regional, localised and international context, and draws on the experiences and operation of charities. By presenting a cross-disciplinary exploration of the operation of charities, the book offers an interesting insight into the functioning and identification of the influencing factors impacting the operation of charities.

This book looks at the operation of indigenous charities at a regional, localised and global level. Chapters focus on the adaptation, accountability and operation of charities across a wide range of jurisdictions from China to Indonesia, Thailand, Iran, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Lebanon and Turkey. It examines the ownership, participation and accountability of charities in a regional, localised and international context, and draws on the experiences and operation of charities. By presenting a cross-disciplinary exploration of the operation of charities, the book offers an interesting insight into the functioning and identification of the influencing factors impacting the operation of charities.

This book addresses the complexity of Islam in Thailand, by focusing on Islamic charities and institutions affiliated to the mosque. By extrapolating through Islam and the waqf (Islamic charity) in different regions of Thailand the diversity in races and institutions, it demonstrates the regional contrasts within Thai Islam. The book also underlines the importance of the internal histories of these separate spaces, and the processes by which institutions and ideologies become entrenched. It goes on to look at the socio economic transformation that is taking place within the context of trading networks through Islamic institutions and civil networks linked to mosques, madrasahs and regional power brokers. Brown casts this study of private Islamic welfare as strengthening rather than weakening relations with the secular Thai state. The current regime's effectiveness in coopting these Muslim elites, including Lutfi and Wisoot, into state bureaucracies assists in widening their popular base in the south, in the north-east, and in Bangkok. Such appointments were efficacious in reinforcing the elite's Islamic identity within a modern, secular, literate, and cosmopolitan Thai culture. In challenging existing studies of Thai Muslims as furtive protest minorities, this book diverts our attention to how Islamic philanthropy provides the logic and dynamism behind the creation of autonomous spaces for these independent groups, affording unusual insights into their economic, political and social histories.

This volume, first published in 1995, looks at the development of Chinese business and management practices across Asia from the late nineteenth century. Experts examine how familism and informal networks have contributed to Chinese entrepreneurial success. They demonstrate how effective these factors have been in overcoming restrictive state policies: through alliances with ethnic and international traders and connections between financial networks in Hong Kong, South East Asia, China and Australia. An institutional model of analysis is developed to determine the efficacy of Chinese business practices and structures. The relationship between culture and environment is examined as well as how modern institutions are embedded not only in culture but also in history and economics.

The Rise of the Corporate Economy in Southeast Asia surveys the growth of large corporations in Southeast Asia, focusing in particular on corporate organization, methods of finance, the business environment and corporate governance. It details the different phases of corporate and financial development, particularly liberalization and globalization from the mid-1980s, the 1997 crisis, and subsequent attempts at liberalization and the reform of corporate governance. Raj Brown considers the key themes of the rise of the Southeast Asian corporate economy, and illustrates the theoretical issues through deployment of carefully selected country-specific case studies from across the region. An examination of critical subjects include: the variety of corporate forms found in Southeast Asia issues of ethnicity the concentration of ownership, particularly among families links between the state, the military, banks and corporations state-owned enterprises and forms of state control the role of foreign capital. Providing a comprehensive analysis of the rise of the corporate economy in Southeast Asia, this study will be an important resource for students of the region and those concerned with theoretical issues of corporate governance.

The Rise of the Corporate Economy in Southeast Asia surveys the growth of large corporations in Southeast Asia, focusing in particular on corporate organization, methods of finance, the business environment and corporate governance. It details the different phases of corporate and financial development, particularly liberalization and globalization from the mid-1980s, the 1997 crisis, and subsequent attempts at liberalization and the reform of corporate governance. Raj Brown considers the key themes of the rise of the Southeast Asian corporate economy, and illustrates the theoretical issues through deployment of carefully selected country-specific case studies from across the region. An examination of critical subjects include: the variety of corporate forms found in Southeast Asia issues of ethnicity the concentration of ownership, particularly among families links between the state, the military, banks and corporations state-owned enterprises and forms of state control the role of foreign capital. Providing a comprehensive analysis of the rise of the corporate economy in Southeast Asia, this study will be an important resource for students of the region and those concerned with theoretical issues of corporate governance.

This book traces the growth of capitalism in South East Asia between 1870 and 1941, a crucial element in understanding contemporary economic and political developments in the region. It focuses on three questions. Why was indigenous capitalism so weak in colonial South East Asia? What were the institutional weaknesses in an otherwise dominant Chinese capitalist class, and why did it fail to transform itself into a modern industrial elite? What was the impact of western colonialism and Japanese economic penetration on South East Asia's prospects for achieving sustainable economic growth?

In recent decades, the culture, society, politics, and economics of Bahrain have been transformed, driving its global ambitions while retaining to a degree the rule of law and cosmopolitanism. Islam and Capitalism in the Making of Modern Bahrain examines the transformation of Bahrain from the 1930s, from a regional trading port and then an important oil producer into the financial hub for the Gulf and into a global centre of Islamic finance. It focuses on the changes and tensions that transformation brought to Bahrain's political, legal, economic, religious, and social structures. In this book, Rajeswary Brown explores the rising force of youth populism driven by the persistence of poverty and unemployment, notably among rural Shi'ite communities and unemployed middle-class youth, as well as examining Bahrain's skillful reconciliation of the demands of Islamic faith, expressed in the Sharia, to the requirements of modern financial capitalism. In this, Bahrain's experience can be set against the modern history of much of the rest of the Middle East, most strikingly with respect to the position of Islamic charities, notably in Syria, comparisons of which are fully explored here.