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The Malaysian economy: spatial perspectives
86
Book
Reviews
Cho, G. The Malaysian economy; spatia(perspect&es. London: Routledge, 1990. 314 pp. f35 hardback. This is an ambitious book for, in the space of 315 pages, the author attempts to describe the development of the Malaysian economy since 1950 in a manner which gives due weight to the spatial and geographical dimensions within which that process has occurred. In this task the author is assisted by his own deep knowledge of the country and by the wide-ranging published literature which is introduced in the full list of references (of some 400 references about 350 refer to studies of Malaysia). The approach is straightforward, with chapters on background, historical sequence, the rural sector, the urban sector, manufacturing and the future. Such an approach gives a clear and easy-to-follow structure and there is careful attention to the ethnic, religious and political framework in which the economic planning takes place (but is Chapter 6 a little late for this). The objective of ‘spatial analysis’ is assisted by the fact that statistics for economic activities are available separately for the 14 states of the Federation and this provides a rough picture of the geographical ‘inequalities’ in development. It thus provides a clear, wellresearched and useful case study of what is generally thought to be one of the more successful third world development stories (unemployment around 7 per cent, and an annual growth rate of about 5 per cent). There are, however, some curious omissions. Firrt, within the author’s own frame of reference it seems strange that there is so littte reference to petroleum and timber in the primary sector or transport and tourism in the tertiary sector, for the author’s tables show that these continue to be key elements for the economy. Secondly, and again within the author’s own paradigm, there is little real analysis of the statistical relationships implied in the text and illustrated in the tables. Thirdly, although there is reference to Gore’s Regions in Question there is too little recognition of alternative paradigms in which themes like dependency, unequal exchange and uneven devefopnlent have been explored, yet Malaysia appears to be a classic caSe of heavy dependence on external investment (see p. 202) and marked regional disparity (p. 24). Fourthly, there is too little reference (except on p. 106) to the environnlentai problems which have been created by tin mining, petroleum exploitation, forestry, industry and urbanization; the issue of sustainable development is seen as more financial than ecological. I came to this book as one who has no first-hand knowledge of the country but has often referred to the Malaysian example in teaching. This background will have influenced my judgement that although this is a very useful book which can safely be given to anyone wanting an introduction to Malaysia’s development, the reader must be
warned that it is an incomplete guide to the issues posed by Malaysia’s development. Alan M. Hay ~eparft)ie~t
Green,
M.
?f Geography,
B. Mergers spatial
University
of Sh~~~;eld
and acquisitions: geoperspectives. London:
graphicaf
and
Routledge,
1990. 234 pp. f35 hardback.
In the industrialized world, mergers and acquisitions are commonly seen to have great potential importance, both in threatening the stability of the acquired establishments and in boosting or shifting the role of centres of corporate control. The topic of US acquisition activity is of special policy interest to Canada, where this book was written. It claims to be the first volume exploring the spatial aspects of all post-war US mergers and acquisitions, based on computerization of a very large data set covering the years 1955 to 1985. The aims of the work are first to describe this data set. This is done in terms of the ‘origins’ and ‘destinations’of merger activity at the international level, at the US inter-state level, and at the level of Standard Metropolitan Statisticai Areas. The principal analyses are undertaken in terms of tabulations by these areas, showing how in one of the sub-periods New York, for instance, originated 24 per cent and received I3 per cent of US mergers and acquisitions. The approach is thus at the aggregate level, and one of the particular methods developed is to distinguish large core and peripheral spatial units which arise from this kind of business interaction. The study therefore picks up some of the major trends in US economic geography, including the declining dominance of the largest urban centres in merger activity. A mathematical Ftudy of the spatial centres of acquiring and acquired firms showed a westward drift, but ‘in 30 years, the centroids have moved at most a couple of hundred miles’ (p. 101). Important as this research study is, it sticks too much to the aggregate level to draw out many geographical and policy lessons. The reader will find good introductory summaries of wider related work but the theories presented here relateonly to gravity models and structure, not those which are critical of the role of business. Many points about the redistribution of economic power and activity could have been iflustrated by industry and companyspecific analysis of corporate behaviour. Indeed the aggregate level reported here is problematic in this field, compared with the potential policy lessons if a good number of case studies had been presented. The non-American reader will find some of the 30 tables and 43 figures interesting, but the language is not always fully accessible and the production is camera-ready. A. R. Townsend Department
of Geo~~uph~,
U~jversjt~
of Durham
Book
Reviews
Cho, G. The Malaysian economy; spatia(perspect&es. London: Routledge, 1990. 314 pp. f35 hardback. This is an ambitious book for, in the space of 315 pages, the author attempts to describe the development of the Malaysian economy since 1950 in a manner which gives due weight to the spatial and geographical dimensions within which that process has occurred. In this task the author is assisted by his own deep knowledge of the country and by the wide-ranging published literature which is introduced in the full list of references (of some 400 references about 350 refer to studies of Malaysia). The approach is straightforward, with chapters on background, historical sequence, the rural sector, the urban sector, manufacturing and the future. Such an approach gives a clear and easy-to-follow structure and there is careful attention to the ethnic, religious and political framework in which the economic planning takes place (but is Chapter 6 a little late for this). The objective of ‘spatial analysis’ is assisted by the fact that statistics for economic activities are available separately for the 14 states of the Federation and this provides a rough picture of the geographical ‘inequalities’ in development. It thus provides a clear, wellresearched and useful case study of what is generally thought to be one of the more successful third world development stories (unemployment around 7 per cent, and an annual growth rate of about 5 per cent). There are, however, some curious omissions. Firrt, within the author’s own frame of reference it seems strange that there is so littte reference to petroleum and timber in the primary sector or transport and tourism in the tertiary sector, for the author’s tables show that these continue to be key elements for the economy. Secondly, and again within the author’s own paradigm, there is little real analysis of the statistical relationships implied in the text and illustrated in the tables. Thirdly, although there is reference to Gore’s Regions in Question there is too little recognition of alternative paradigms in which themes like dependency, unequal exchange and uneven devefopnlent have been explored, yet Malaysia appears to be a classic caSe of heavy dependence on external investment (see p. 202) and marked regional disparity (p. 24). Fourthly, there is too little reference (except on p. 106) to the environnlentai problems which have been created by tin mining, petroleum exploitation, forestry, industry and urbanization; the issue of sustainable development is seen as more financial than ecological. I came to this book as one who has no first-hand knowledge of the country but has often referred to the Malaysian example in teaching. This background will have influenced my judgement that although this is a very useful book which can safely be given to anyone wanting an introduction to Malaysia’s development, the reader must be
warned that it is an incomplete guide to the issues posed by Malaysia’s development. Alan M. Hay ~eparft)ie~t
Green,
M.
?f Geography,
B. Mergers spatial
University
of Sh~~~;eld
and acquisitions: geoperspectives. London:
graphicaf
and
Routledge,
1990. 234 pp. f35 hardback.
In the industrialized world, mergers and acquisitions are commonly seen to have great potential importance, both in threatening the stability of the acquired establishments and in boosting or shifting the role of centres of corporate control. The topic of US acquisition activity is of special policy interest to Canada, where this book was written. It claims to be the first volume exploring the spatial aspects of all post-war US mergers and acquisitions, based on computerization of a very large data set covering the years 1955 to 1985. The aims of the work are first to describe this data set. This is done in terms of the ‘origins’ and ‘destinations’of merger activity at the international level, at the US inter-state level, and at the level of Standard Metropolitan Statisticai Areas. The principal analyses are undertaken in terms of tabulations by these areas, showing how in one of the sub-periods New York, for instance, originated 24 per cent and received I3 per cent of US mergers and acquisitions. The approach is thus at the aggregate level, and one of the particular methods developed is to distinguish large core and peripheral spatial units which arise from this kind of business interaction. The study therefore picks up some of the major trends in US economic geography, including the declining dominance of the largest urban centres in merger activity. A mathematical Ftudy of the spatial centres of acquiring and acquired firms showed a westward drift, but ‘in 30 years, the centroids have moved at most a couple of hundred miles’ (p. 101). Important as this research study is, it sticks too much to the aggregate level to draw out many geographical and policy lessons. The reader will find good introductory summaries of wider related work but the theories presented here relateonly to gravity models and structure, not those which are critical of the role of business. Many points about the redistribution of economic power and activity could have been iflustrated by industry and companyspecific analysis of corporate behaviour. Indeed the aggregate level reported here is problematic in this field, compared with the potential policy lessons if a good number of case studies had been presented. The non-American reader will find some of the 30 tables and 43 figures interesting, but the language is not always fully accessible and the production is camera-ready. A. R. Townsend Department
of Geo~~uph~,
U~jversjt~
of Durham