This may not be an answer to Michael's question, but I have a historian of China contributing an essay on economic nationalism through national brands in China in a forthcoming edited volume on economic nationalism in Asia.
As for why successful brand products are missing in China, they are partly because of the subcontracting driven export economy. It is entirely possible that China will/could have its global brands once learning has gone deep enough. And they are learning. Since good imitation is also innovation and since low costs remain a factor in market penetration, the Chinese (and to some extent Indians) will be able to get in initially in mature products. If China's R&D ambitions is any indicator (GERD close to 4% by 2020) we should expect something. Acer from Taiwan is a good example of how a subcontractor to American firms including IBM is now a global brand for notebook computers. But dislodging current MNC brands is difficult. On the other hand, as a BA thesis defence yesterday demonstrated that luxury products brands (as seen in airports and fashionable streets in OECD cities) are virtually unknown in India. Brand creation has to be worked at and the Chinese are working hard at it. They unlike Indians however recognize luxury branded goods very easily and is set of become the world's largest consumer of such products. Cheers, Anthony On Tue, Jun 8, 2010 at 1:45 AM, michael perelman <[email protected]>wrote: > This post is very informative about the minimum wage. The China Daily > published a piece arguing that the increase in the minimum wage would > increase capital investment, which would force Chinese manufactures to > become more sophisticated. > > I kept asking a question that a long-ago message from Marty prompted: > Why China has not successful brand products, such as S. Korea. Nobody > seemed to have a clue. The most common answer was Lenovo, whose major > products came via acquisition from IBM. > > Mary's observations on minimum wage are fascinating. I had not thought > that out, but in many respects, the country has some fine laws, which > are never enforced until something very embarrassing happens. > > Martin Hart-Landsberg wrote: > > Increasing the minimum wage is of course generally good for workers. > > But remember, such an increase only helps regular workers. Also worth > > remembering is that most local governments canceled their minimum wage > > hikes in 2009 in an effort to protect exporters—so this increase is > > really catch up and it doesn’t go very far in that direction either. > > > > > > > > As the NYT’s explained, China became the world’s number one exporter in > > 2009 largely because it is “winning a larger piece of a shrinking pie.” > > In other words, although it is selling less than the year before, China > > has raised its import share in both the United States and Europe by > > taking market share from other countries. The reason, as the /New York > > Times /points out, is that “because of the recession consumers are > > demanding lower-priced goods and Beijing, determined to keep its export > > machine humming, is finding a way to deliver.” “Delivering,” in this > > context, means that the Chinese government is doing whatever is > > necessary to ensure the “ability of Chinese [based] manufacturers to > > quickly slash prices by reducing wages and other costs in production > > zones that often rely on migrant workers.” > > > > > > > > Even more critical in evaluating the significance of the minimum wage > > hike is the fact that the minimum wage is specified in monthly terms. > > Thus there is an issue of how many hours of work are necessary to > > actually earn the minimum wage. Chinese labor law says workers are to > > work a maximum of 44 hours a week plus a total of 9 overtime hours a > > month. No one sticks to that. > > > > > > > > Many of the manufacturing workers in the big export plants work about > > 270 or 280 hours a month. And, they almost never get overtime premium > > pay and in fact most of them don’t get paid for a share of the hours > > that they do work. For example: “In January, the sportswear giant Nike > > released Corporate Social Responsibility reports for the 2007-2009 > > fiscal years indicating overtime in its factories was increasing. In > > 2007, there were 110 factories that saw workers put in between 60-72 > > hours per week, and 27 factories that exceeded 72 hours. Factories where > > workers put in overtime accounted for 20 percent of Nike's total in > > 2007, and increased to 24 percent in 2009. China has 136 Nike > > factories. In July 2009, China Labor Watch, a New York-based NGO, > > published a report on Wal-Mart's Chinese supply chain, saying some > > workers make only $0.51 per hour, 60 percent of the minimum wage. And > > during the busy season, the workday is 11 hours, or 77 hours per week, > > and overtime is mandatory.” > > > > > > > > And remember that in the Honda case, before the strike the formal sector > > workers earned 1200 yuan (US$175) a month on average, while the intern > > workers, 80% of the workforce, earned as little as 900 yuan (US$131) a > > month. This was not enough for workers to survive on and so they > > struck. And now let us turn to the new minimum wages that Michael > > noted. According to the article, the minimum wage in Beijing (a very > > expensive city) will be increased to 960 renminbi ($140) a month from > > 800 renminbi on July 1, the official Xinhua news agency said. That is > > far from a big deal for most workers. > > > > > > > > Key of course is the nature of the Chinese economic regime—for my take > see: > > > > http\3a// > legacy.lclark.edu/~marty/China-US\2520Economy\2520February\25202010\2520MR.pdf<http://legacy.lclark.edu/%7Emarty/China-US%5C2520Economy%5C2520February%5C25202010%5C2520MR.pdf> > > < > http://legacy.lclark.edu/~marty/China-US%20Economy%20February%202010%20MR.pdf<http://legacy.lclark.edu/%7Emarty/China-US%20Economy%20February%202010%20MR.pdf> > > > > > > > > > > -- > Michael Perelman > Economics Department > California State University > Chico, CA > 95929 > > 530 898 5321 > fax 530 898 5901 > http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > -- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Anthony P. D'Costa Professor of Indian Studies and Research Director Asia Research Centre Copenhagen Business School Porcelænshaven 22, 3 DK-2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark Ph: +45 3815 2572 Fax: +45 3815 2500 http://uk.cbs.dk/arc www.cbs.dk/india http://www.thisismodernindia.com/this_is_modern_india_about_us.html xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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