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Asia Pacific Journal of Management
Published in: Asia Pacific Journal of Management 3/2009

01-09-2009

Southeast Asian capitalism: History, institutions, states, and firms

Author: Frank B. Tipton

Published in: Asia Pacific Journal of Management | Issue 3/2009

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Abstract

This paper examines the structures of capitalism in Southeast Asia. Following the lead of Gordon Redding and others, it argues that parallel to varieties of capitalism elsewhere, there are distinctive features to the Southeast Asian business system, but that institutions play a relatively large role compared to firm specific resources or industry structures. Historically, with the exception of Thailand all the countries in the region are former colonies. All including Thailand share a distinctive style of nationalism, and partly as a result of this, all are governed by states that claim to be strong and lay wide claims but whose capacities are low. Typical features of the region, particularly the roles of large business groups and the Chinese minority, also can be interpreted as a result of this history. One of the outcomes of the analysis is an extension of the varieties of capitalism approach along the dimensions of state capacity and state direction, and of the approach to the internationalizing firm along the dimensions of dynamic capacity and control of subsidiaries. A further outcome is a questioning of the traditional picture of indigenous Southeast Asian business people as lacking in entrepreneurial skills, or more broadly of Southeast Asian nations as lacking in entrepreneurial values. Rather, the past history of these countries has resulted in a set of structures that militate against successful entrepreneurial activity.
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Footnotes
1
He served as president of the coconut farmers’ association under Marcos, and borrowed money from the association to purchase a controlling interest in San Miguel. The holding was confiscated when Marcos fell, but Cojuangco regained possession under subsequent president Joseph Estrada. Following Estrada’s fall the government sued, contending that the original purchase was made with what were in reality tax revenues, and in 2005 the courts stripped Cojuangco of 27% of San Miguel, leaving him with 20%.
 
2
A further point made by Chatterjee is that women are defined as the bearers of this national essence, and therefore colonial nationalisms are highly gendered. See Tipton, 1998: ch. 11; Edwards and Roces, 2000; on Indonesia especially Sears, 1996.
 
3
A parallel attempt to impart morality through a religious studies course failed when Chinese students did not take up the Confucianism option as hoped, and also because government leaders came to the conclusion that religion could form a basis for oppositional political activity. See Rahim, 1998; Tipton, 2008a.
 
4
Interview with a senior business analyst of an Australian mining company, November 2007. The reason may be that these lower level officials did not want to pass on the bad news that the mine had only an 8-year life expectancy even at the current extremely high prices prevailing for its output, and would be closed immediately if those prices declined.
 
5
See Thompson, 1989. Anecdotal evidence is extensive. In addition, although possible sample bias and variations in questionnaires make the results only suggestive, at the University of Sydney from 1998 through 2007 participants in executive training programs for middle and senior level government officials from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines have typically seen themselves as an elite with a responsibility to guide their countries’ development, and responses of Master of Commerce students have consistently shown that Southeast Asians prefer taller management structures and a more autocratic leadership style than Europeans or Chinese. It is also suggestive that ethnic Chinese from Southeast Asia prefer taller structures than students from Southern China, the region from which their families generally came.
 
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Metadata
Title
Southeast Asian capitalism: History, institutions, states, and firms
Author
Frank B. Tipton
Publication date
01-09-2009
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Asia Pacific Journal of Management / Issue 3/2009
Print ISSN: 0217-4561
Electronic ISSN: 1572-9958
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-008-9118-z

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