Utilizing the random effects model and Faccio (2010)’s methodology for classifying political connections, I find that politically connected Southeast Asian firms tend to have higher taxes and accounting performance than non-politically connected firms. The type of connection matters, with state-ownership producing the strongest benefits for market share. Contingent country-level variables, such as the economy, corruption, and the legal environment, also influence the value of corporate political ties. I find that Faccio (2010)’s results are likely more economically important than mine, even when controlling for the panel data effect.

The proto-histories of Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand previously have been considered in isolation, and have been written predominantly by European researchers. This thesis shows that the history of the Hindu religions, adopted by at least the ruling classes in Southeast Asian countries, had been developed far earlier than previous researchers had acknowledged. By taking a regional view, by considering the religion upon which the ‘Indianisation’ process rested, by using Geographic Information Systems and by not pre-judging possible outcomes, this thesis shows that the ‘Brahmanic’ temples of Southeast Asia were originally established to a pattern which represented the Brahmanic priests’ views of their place in both space and time, which in turn related to the greater astronomical cosmos as well as to their inner cosmos. This thesis demonstrates a need for the re-consideration of the proto-history of Southeast Asia, in particular that of Viet Nam, to better reflect the basis on which the ‘Indianisation’ process was adopted by the indigenous peoples and to better collate the data from the various parts of the central to south Vietnamese coast before providing an alternative meta-narrative to that which has been accepted for over 100 years by much of the archaeological community. / Doctor of Philosophhy (PhD)

The purpose of this study is to critically evaluate three scholarly perspectives -- balance of power, institutional, and security complex -- to examine the evolving dynamics of security interdependence and inter-state relations among Southeast Asian states and external powers since 1945. This study is thus a comparative evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the three methods in their empirical analysis of the regional security dynamics of Southeast Asia.¶ There is much merit in the balance of power approach. It tracked the consequences of the bipolar Cold War rivalry on Southeast Asia. Its logical construction led it to be concerned with alliances, coalitions and alignments. But it has not satisfactorily explained the relatively benign conditions after the Cold War. The institutional approach similarly emphasizes material explanatory factors (although, in its case, not exclusively so). It identifies the emergence of institutions when groups of countries find it in their mutual interest to cooperate through rules and norms. But the approach may prove to be incomplete in assessing ASEAN's post-Cold War behaviour. As an analytical device, the security complex is deployed to provide a corrective to the over-emphasis (of the other two approaches) on the systemic dynamics. By identifying regional and local dynamics interacting with systemic dynamics via patterns of amity and enmity, it offers explanatory accounts of the behaviour of regional states in situations where the other two approaches fail to do satisfactorily. Moreover, it provides a framework for the deployment of constructivism, which identifies the ideational process whereby interdependent regional states respond to changes in both the power and amity-enmity attributes.¶ This study concludes that security relations among Southeast Asian states and in their relations with external powers after the Cold War, are better examined using the three approaches in a complementary manner. In this way, the influence of local amity-enmity patterns is seen to impact on balance of power and institutional situations.

There is a general belief that a decline in health of prehistoric people occurred with the adoption and intensification of agriculture. However, recent bioarchaeological research in Southeast Asia does not seem to fit this model. An investigation of subadult health is particularly useful to assess this issue because immature individuals are very responsive to environmental changes. The increase of archaeological investigation in this region has provided an adequate sample to address this important aspect of human health using subadults. The aim of this thesis was to produce a synthesis of subadult health and disease from late prehistoric Mainland Southeast Asia and assess whether there was evidence for a change in health with agricultural intensification. The samples, comprising a total 325 individuals, are from seven sites in Thailand, six from the Northeast and one from the Southeast coast, and collectively span from c. 4000 to 1500 B.P. Two hypotheses were developed based on previous bioarchaeological research in Southeast Asia. Firstly, there would be maintenance in health with the intensification of agriculture. Secondly, contrary to the first hypothesis, an increase in infectious disease in the later samples was predicted. A biocultural research approach was used, where health and disease were assessed in relationship to evidence of the natural and cultural milieu. A comparative analysis of health indicators was carried out among the sites to assess whether there were any changes in health over time in response to environmental changes. Non-specific indicators of health were used in the assessment of palaeodemography, growth, growth disruption, dental health and skeletal pathology. Analysis of mortality, fertility, growth, growth disruption and dental health found no differences among the sites that could be explained by temporality. These results support the first hypothesis, that health was maintained. The skeletal pathology results tentatively suggested an increase in these indicators in the later sites. An analysis of multiple indicators of stress in the populations indicated a possible decline in health, interpreted with environmental evidence suggesting an increase of infectious disease at the later sites. However, they suggest that the earliest site of Khok Phanom Di had extremely poor health. Thus, the second hypothesis was only partially supported. Environmental evidence was used to provide possible explanations for these results. The heterogeneity of the health indicators support recent interpretations of localised environments of the sites. Also, retention of a broad-spectrum subsistence economy with agriculture may have overridden some of these changes that were seen in other parts of the world. Khok Phanom Di and the later sites were undergoing major changes in their natural and cultural environment, which could have resulted in an increase of infectious disease. These health results are consistent with suggestions that Khok Phanom Di was a distinct genetic population from those at the Northeast Thai sites. This biocultural interpretation emphasises the importance of understanding the environmental context in which these people lived.

Studies of tourism statistics have revealed that tourism movements worldwide are based on intraregional tourism, which includes cross-border mobility, rather than long-haul tourism. Although there have been studies on borders carried out in the past for various purposes, there remains a distinct lack of research into cross-border leisure-oriented mobility, particularly in Southeast Asia. As a result, examining constraints and permeability on leisure-oriented cross-border mobility may well help to overcome the tourist behaviour and cross-border mobility divide in literature, thus the subject of this thesis. The aims of this thesis are to investigate an identifiable sector of the population (i.e. Thai university students) and to analyze the motivations that drive, and constraints that limit their ability to travel to the neighbouring countries of Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, and Myanmar. Using a self-administered closed-questionnaire, data was collected from 750 students in seven universities in three provinces: Assumption, Kasetsart, and Thammasart Universities in Bangkok, Naresuan, and Pibunsongkram Rajabhat Universities, in Phitsanulok, and Mae Fah Luang and Chiang Rai Rajabhat Universities in Chiang Rai. The data was collected from October to December 2005. A response rate of approximately fifty percent was achieved. Analysis of the data showed that Thai university students were motivated by visiting heritage and historical sites to cross borders to Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar; whereas, the driving force for visits to Malaysia was to see new things and places. Interestingly, fear emerged as the constraint which most limited the students from travelling over the border to each of Thailand�s neighbouring countries. Psychological constraints were reported as having more influence on the respondents� border crossings than physical constraints. Distance from the borders also influenced cross-border ability. The study showed that cross-border travel behaviour was related to gender and income, but unrelated to the respondents� age. The research revealed that the respondents felt the easiest way to overcome their constraints to travel was to gain more travel experience and search for more information on their destination of choice. Interviews were gathered from fifteen key persons employed in five different fields of the travel industry and whose work related either directly and indirectly to cross-border mobility. The interviews took place during November 2005 to February 2006 at informants� workplaces in Bangkok and Chiang Rai. It was revealed that tourism development in border areas is regarded by society as having substantial social and economic benefits to the local people and their communities. It also revealed that borders do not have any direct physical effects toward people�s movement. It was found that the tenets of people�s leisure-oriented cross-border mobility were formed by both motivations and constraints; therefore, individuals must find a way to negotiate or overcome constraints before achieving the actual action. The uniqueness of the study was to illustrate the dynamic and simultaneous treatment of the fundamentals contributing to cross border mobility. This thesis has broken new ground in analyzing the theories developed predominantly in Western contexts of travel motivations and leisure constraints in an Asian setting, particularly in the context of Thai studies. It was found that the Thai tourist behaviour especially the university students, who are an important and significant and separate population, are difference from those students in the Western society in that Thai university students more concern in cross-border travelling to gain knowledge than to enjoy nightlife (sex, alcohol, and drugs).

Doctoral dissertation. / Database: Nordic Web Publications. Format: PDF. Bibl.

Doktorafhandling. / Format: PDF. Bibl.

Master's thesis. / Format: PDF. Bibl.

Master's thesis. / Format: PDF. Bibl.

Master's thesis. / Format: PDF. Bibl.