Senior Fellowships

5 senior scholars from ASEAN and Canada have been selected for this second fellowship cycle. Their projects will seek to address the theme of ‘Natural Resource Management for Sustainable Growth’. Research will seek to address the challenge of finding means of improving systems for managing natural resources to allow sustainable economic growth and meet growing energy needs in the ASEAN region, without degrading common resources (increasing atmospheric pollution and greenhouse gas concentrations, and overharvesting and causing degradation of open access fisheries and forest resources) and with due regard to human security.

Canada

1)     Dr Melissa Marschke

Associate Professor

School of International Development and Global Studies

University of Ottawa (Canada)

Melissa Marschke is Associate Professor at the School of International Development and Global Studies, University of Ottawa (Canada), where she teaches courses on sustainability, political ecology, and research methods. Melissa’s research interests are in the broad area of human-environment relations, with a particular interest in resource governance (i.e. community based management, adaptive co-management), livelihoods and social-ecological change. Her current research project involves examining the interplay between fisheries and aquaculture in Cambodia and Vietnam, with a particular interest in livelihood transitions, environmental change and poverty alleviation. She has just completed a book Life, Fish and Mangroves: Resource Governance in Coastal Cambodia (2012, U Ottawa Press). Her publications have appeared in journals such as Global Environmental Change, Ecology and Society, Development Policy Review, and Marine Policy.

Paper outline:

Melissa Marschke’s research focuses on sustainability, environmental change and household livelihoods within coastal areas of Southeast Asia.  Besides China, Southeast Asia is the highest aquaculture producing region in the world. Those involved in fishing and aquaculture are mainly household-level producers, a group traditionally regarded as extremely vulnerable in poverty terms. While growth in aquaculture production likely contributes to poverty alleviation, food security and general economic development in Southeast Asia, such growth also excludes poorer fishing and fish farming households, may lead to large-scale consolidation, and contribute towards increased levels of social-ecological vulnerability.

Research is guided by three objectives: (a) to illustrate fisheries’ transitions in Cambodia and Vietnam, paying particular attention to who wins and who loses in these transition processes; (b) to provide a comprehensive assessment of current regulations, standards and governance arrangements for small-producer fishers and aquaculturalists, and to identify how these regulations, standards and arrangements contribute (or not) towards social-ecological sustainability; and, (c) to theorise what ‘aquarian’ transitions mean in the Southeast Asian context.

2)     Dr Gary Q. Bull

Professor of Forest Sciences

University of British Columbia

Gary Bull has spent most of his early career working in a consultative capacity with forest products companies, resource based communities, various government agencies and environmental non-governmental organisations. Internationally, he has worked with organisations such as the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis in Vienna, the International Institute for Environment and Development in London, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome and the US Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. He has supervised research projects with CIFOR, World Bank, Shell Canada, Wildlife Conservation Society, WWF, Iisaak Forest Resources Ltd., Forest Trends and FAO.

Gary has a background in commerce as well as three degrees in Forestry, specialising in economics and policy. He has an interest in global forestry policy issues and has, or is, currently studying forest and timber markets in Asia and ecosystem services markets in Afghanistan, Canada, China, India, Mozambique and Uganda. He is an advocate for interdisciplinary research.

Research abstract:

An approach to forest and conservation policy in Southeast Asia

Forest and conservation policy in Southeast Asia is now at another crossroads. Despite decades of efforts, the challenges ahead remain formidable. These challenges include: continued deforestation and degradation of forest, limited recognition of forests in climate change policy^, increased impacts from a demand for bioenergy and biofuels, tenure and access conflicts, and continued loss of forest biodiversity. Overlaying these challenges are broader societal challenges of human population growth, poverty, changing patterns of consumption, and the perceived need to continually grow economies.

The success in conserving and managing forests depends upon effective governance mechanisms that are transparent, participatory, and accountable. It also requires tools to allow different policy actors to evaluate effectiveness at multiple scales: local, regional, national and international. Actions at one scale alone, whether global or local is insufficient. The forests and its people, needs to find the energy and will to address the key forest problems we face in the 21^st century with a new approach to policy and a new suite of tools to measure our progress.

ASEAN

1)     Dr Pichamon Yeophantong

Global Leaders Fellow

Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance

Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University

Pichamon Yeophantong is a Global Leaders Fellow in the Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University, having been previously based at the Global Economic Governance Programme, University College, Oxford. Pichamon completed her PhD in Politics and International Relations as an inaugural China Institute Scholar at the Australian National University, and has held visiting lectureships and research positions at Peking University, National Taiwan University and Thammasat University, among others. Her work has appeared in such publications as Pacific Affairs, Chinese Journal of International Politics, Yale Global and China News Magazines. She is currently working on two book manuscripts: one on China’s ‘responsibility’ to global environmental governance, and the other on the politics of Chinese-backed resource development in Southeast Asia.   

Research Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to uncover the implications of Chinese investment in mainland Southeast Asia’s extractive industries for regional development and the natural environment. To do this, it assesses the extent to which Chinese-backed resource development schemes have contributed to aggravating ecological and social problems in four countries – Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam – while also accounting for the role of Mekong governments in perpetuating weak governance and the unsustainable management of common pool resources. In light of the contentious responses Chinese projects have elicited from host societies, the study focuses in particular on how Chinese investment can be regulated to generate good policy outcomes and encourage sustainable development within this industrialising region. Here, attention is directed to the potential for processes of ‘civil regulation’ – channeled through both formal and informal pathways of influence – to contribute to filling governance gaps and to remedying ‘accountability deficits’ on the part of Chinese companies.

2)     Mr Tulus T.H. Tambunan

Head and Senior Researcher

Center for Industry, SME and Business Competition Studies

Trisakti University, Indonesia

Tulus Tambunan holds a PhD in Economics from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He is Professor in the Faculty of Economics and Head of the Center for Industry, SME and Business Competition Studies in Trisakti University. Since 1995, he has been Country Researcher (Indonesia) for the annual Global Competitiveness Report by World Economic Forum (WEF), Geneva. He has done many studies on various issues related to micro-, small and medium enterprises, economic crises, global competitiveness, trade and regional economies, particularly ASEAN.

In addition, Tulus is an editorial board member or reviewer of a number of international business journals such as the Journal of Business and Entrepreneurship, the Journal of Asian Business, the Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, and the African Journal of Business and Management. He also serves as the economic adviser for the Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin Indonesia). In the last decade, he has been involved as a national consultant or an associate researcher for a number of international agencies such as ILO, UNDP, UNIDO, ADB, World Bank, JETRO, UNESCAP and many others on industrial and SME development issues.

Research abstract

This proposed qualitative-based research aims to identify an appropriate system for managing natural resources with the focus on land management in ASEAN region (except Singapore). More specifically, this study aims to identify the stakeholders that influence land management and the best approach to land management by adopting stakeholder analysis.

The aims of stakeholder analysis in this study are the following (Billgrena and Holme, 2008): (1) to identify and categorise the stakeholders that may have influence on land management; (2) to develop an understanding of why changes occur; and (3) to establish who from all stakeholders can make changes happen.  This approach gives transparency and clarity to policymaking, allowing all stakeholders to recognise conflicts of interest and facilitate resolutions, and examine the various adopted approaches to land management.

3)     Dr Nguyen Huy Hoang

Deputy Director

Institute for Southeast Asian Studies

Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences

Dr Nguyen Huy Hoang is Deputy Director of the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies. He obtained his Engineering degree from the Hanoi University of Mining and Geology in 1989, his Master’s degree in Economics from Banaras Hindu University, India in 1997 and his PhD in Development Economics from Wageningen University, the Netherlands in 2009.

Professionally, Dr Nguyen has been conducting various research projects in areas such as development studies, political economics, contemporary issues in Southeast Asia, as well as regional integration and cooperation issues. He has written numerous publications on these issues as well. Dr Nguyen can be reached at [email protected].

Research abstract

Climate change and waste use for deferent purposes has led to water scarcity in the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam (CLV) Development Triangle. The increasing scarcity of water would heavily impact the agricultural production, industry and ecosystems that in turn would harm sustainable development in the CLV Development Triangle. This paper will try to identify areas aggravated by water scarcity and reasons for water scarcity in the CLV Development Triangle. Then, the paper will try to develop integrated measures to be taken by both local and central governments of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam to counter these problems in order to enhance water use efficiency for sustainable development in the Development Triangle.

3 senior scholars from ASEAN and Canada have been selected for this round of fellowships. Their projects will seek to address the theme of ‘Towards Balanced Growth – Alternative Development Models and Redistribution Mechanisms’.

ASEAN

1)     Dr Vu Thanh Tu Anh
Director of Research
Fulbright Economics Teaching Program, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; and
Senior Research Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School, US

Vu Thanh Tu Anh is Director of Research at the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program in Ho Chi Minh City, and Senior Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. Dr Tu Anh’s primary research interests include political economy, public finance, economic development and industrial policy. As the Fulbright School’s research director, Dr Tu Anh leads the school’s policy research and analysis efforts, coordinating research teams that often include faculty from both the Fulbright School and Harvard Kennedy School as well as Vietnamese policy analysts from inside and outside government. He teaches regularly in the Fulbright School’s executive education programme and participates in policy dialogue initiatives with the Vietnamese government. Dr Tu Anh has also served as a member of the Consultative Group of the National Assembly’s Economic Committee and The National Finance Supervision Council. He is, in addition, a member of the Scientific Committee at Vietnam National University. Dr Tu Anh frequently comments on economic policy issues in the Vietnamese media. He is currently the op-ed columnist for the Saigon Economic Times, a leading economic and business journal in Vietnam. Dr Tu Anh received his PhD degree in economics from Boston College.

Paper outline

Dr Tu Anh’s research for the ASEAN-Canada Senior Fellowship will seek to understand why East Asia and Southeast Asia have followed divergent economic growth paths, despite the fact that they entered the post-World War II period with similarly low levels of economic development. The East Asian countries, particularly from the 1960s to the 1990s, have grown at historically unprecedented rates and become some of the most developed economies in the world. In contrast, despite periods of rapid growth, Southeast Asian countries still find themselves at the middle income level and have yet to achieve the economic, political and social transformation that sets East Asia apart from the rest of the developing world.

2)     Dr Chia Siow Yue
Senior Research Fellow
Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA)

Chia Siow Yue was formerly Director, CEO and Professor of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (1996–2002); Director of the Singapore APEC Study Centre (1998–2002); founding Regional Coordinator of the East Asian Development Network (1998–2004); and Professor of Economics at the National University of Singapore (1967–1996).

Dr Chia has consulted for international and regional organisations including the World Bank, IMF, ILO, UNCTAD, WTO, UNESCAP, Asian Development Bank, Asian Development Bank Institute, ASEAN Secretariat, ERIA as well as Singapore government agencies.

She specialises in development and international economics, and has numerous publications on trade and regional economic integration, international labour mobility and foreign direct investment focusing on Singapore, ASEAN and East Asia. She obtained her BA Honours (Economics) from the University of Malaya in Singapore, and PhD in Economics from McGill University.

Her recent publications include:

• ‘Free Flow of Skilled Labor in the ASEAN Economic Community’, in S. Urata and M. Okabe (eds), Towards a Competitive ASEAN Single Market: Sectoral Analysis,ERIA Research Project 2010 No.3
• ‘Association of Southeast Asian Nations Economic Integration: Developments and Challenges’, Asian Economic Policy Review,Vol. 6, No. 1, June 2011.
• ‘Singapore’ in M. Kawai and G. Wignaraja (eds), Asia’s Free Trade Agreements, How is Business Responding?,UK:Edward Elgar, 2011.
• ‘Inward and Outward FDI and the Restructuring of the Singapore Economy’ in C. Sussangkarn, Y.C. Park and S.J. Kang (eds), Foreign Direct Investment in Asia,UK: Taylor and Francis, 2011.
• ‘Foreign Labor in Singapore: Trends, Policies, Impacts and Challenges’, Philippines Institute for Development Studies, Discussion Paper Series, No. 2011-24.
• ‘AEC and Free Flow of Skilled Labour’, Paper presented at the ASEAN Roundtable 2012 on Examining the ASEAN Economic Community Scorecard, organised by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 25 May 2012.
• ‘The Emerging Regional Economic Integration Architecture in East Asia’, Asian Economic Papers (forthcoming early 2013).

Paper outline

ASEAN economic integration gives high priority to narrowing the development gap so as not to hinder the realisation of the ASEAN Community. The perceived gap between CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) and the rest of ASEAN has either widened or narrowed depending on the criteria used. This ASEAN-Canada Senior Fellowship paper will develop a set of criteria to measure the gap. It will examine the implications of the gap; and propose policy and institutional reforms, including technical assistance (including sharing of best practices and experiences) and resource transfers (including financial and technological assistance, and private sector investments) from ASEAN partners, external dialogue partners and development agencies.

3)     Dr Celia Reyes

Senior Research Fellow

Philippine Institute for Development Studies, Philippines

Celia Reyes is Senior Research Fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies where she spearheads the Institute’s research on poverty. She is also the Network Leader for Community-Based Monitoring Systems (CBMS), a network of researchers and government officials in Asia, Africa and Latin America working on the development and institutionalisation of community-based monitoring systems to track the well-being of households and communities.

Dr Reyes obtained her BSc in Statistics and MA in Economics from the University of the Philippines and her PhD in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Paper outline

With the increasing frequency and severity of shocks, particularly natural calamities, transient poverty is expected to rise in Southeast Asia. Unless appropriate safety nets are put in place, it may be harder for affected populations to recover quickly from transient poverty. Some may even be pushed into chronic poverty. The nature of economic growth in some of the countries has also led to increasing inequalities, exacerbating the poverty situation in some countries. This ASEAN-Canada Senior Fellowship paper will map the emerging vulnerabilities and explore the appropriate regional and national policy responses to poverty alleviation.