Capital and Knowledge in Asia: Changing Power Relations (Routledge Studies in the Growth Economies of Asia)

Global economic integration, widening communication networks and government policies supportive of private enterprise are changing opportunities for accumulating wealth, status and power. In varying degrees throughout Asia, this process is accompanied by the development of service enterprises such as banking, insurance, legal firms and IT firms, which provide access to the resources required for a profitable connection to the wider world. This book focuses on the key role played by producer services in shaping new business areas and new patterns for social mobility, and their interdependence with the State as either a facilitator of, or an obstacle to, the emergence and flourishing of the new professions.

Heidi Dahles is Associate Professor in the Department of Culture, Organisation and Management at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands.