Background
The economy of Asia consists of more than 4.5 billion people (about 60% of the world population) living in 49 different countries and regions. Asia is one of the fastest growing economic regions, as well as the largest continental economy by both nominal GDP ($31.58 trillion in 2019) and PPP-adjusted GDP ($65.44 trillion in 2019) in the world. Moreover, Asia is the site of some of the world’s longest modern economic booms, starting from the Japanese economic miracle, Miracle on the Han River in South Korea, and economic boom in China. Therefore, the study of Asian Economics is of essential importance in understanding regional economics, economic growth, and industrialization.
The Asia-Pacific Academy of Economics and Management (APAEM) is particularly interested in the economies of Macao and China. Given that tourism is the backbone of Macao’s economy, tourism economics will be one of the major focuses of APAEM. Additionally, the focuses of APEAM include Macao’s economic relation to other Asian regions and the role of Macao in cooperation in innovation and technology with other Greater Bay Area (GBA) cities.
Objectives
APAEM has outlined several perspectives in Asian Economics by which it aims to contribute to academic research and policy analysis in the economies of Macao, the GBA, and China, respectively. The following are the detailed directions in Asian Economics that APAEM plans to explore.
To fully evaluate the role of tourism economics in the Macao economy
Traditionally, empirical research in tourism economics is often based on econometric analysis of data. One of APAEM’s research is to use frontier macroeconomic models to study the quantitative implications of the tourism industry. Specifically, to fulfil this goal, the Asian Economics team at APAEM plans to (1) integrate tourism economics and macroeconomics; (2) develop a macroeconomic model for the Macao economy; and (3) quantify and mitigate the effects of tourism shocks on the Macao economy.
Through the research in tourism economics, the Asian Economics team expects to better identify the key role of Macao in the “Outline Development Plan for the Greater Bay Area” (known as the “Outline Development Plan”), that is “to support Macao in developing into a world-class tourism and leisure centre”, as well as to provide a solid theoretical foundation for policy design and decision making of Macao’s tourism industry. Overall, this research objective is to help improve the quality of tourism and leisure in Macao.
To improve the economic cooperation between Macao and other Asian economies
Given that Macao is an open economy that involves interactions with the rest of Asia in various aspects, such as international trade, transportation, and financial services, it is also necessary to study economic relationships between Macao and other important Asian economies. In particular, the Asian Economics team expects to conduct research that highlights the impact of strengthening Macao’s cooperation and joint participation with the Asian economies in the Belt and Road Initiative. This research objective includes theoretical and quantitative analysis in (1) increasing the degree of market integration; (2) creating a globally competitive business environment, and (3) “joining hands to expand opening-up”.
Furthermore, this research theme contributes to the theoretical analysis in the joint development for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Cooperation, which aims to spearhead a comprehensive cooperation among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao and take forward the demonstrative functions of Hengqin of Zhuhai for in-depth cooperation among Macao and other Asian economies.
To identify the effects of innovation in the development of Macao and Asian economies
To better facilitate the long-term development of Macao economy and the solid cooperation foundations to other Asian economies, the basic principle is to transform Macao and the conjunctive regions, such as the GBA and China Mainland, to modern economies that are driven by innovation and led by economic reform. Therefore, one research objective of the Asian Economics team is to study the implications of the innovation-driven development strategy and identify the effects of related policy regimes on various macroeconomic variables (i.e., economic growth, social welfare and income inequality). This research objective has important contributions for investigating the strategic positioning of Macao and the GBA in the “Outline Development Plan” in terms of developing into a globally influential international innovation and technology hub. With the aim of this research, it is expected to provide a clear picture that depicts the development of the “Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macao” innovation and technology corridor and a complete understanding of how the allocation of resources for innovation is optimized in benefiting different industries within Macao and the GBA.