Stanford University

Economic Affairs

Facts and Myths in the Globalization Debate: How Our National Policies are often Misguided and How the United States Can Continue to Keep Its Global Edge

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Few topics provoke more heated debate than globalization. Globalization is considered essential for companies that want to survive in today's economy, but it is also blamed for job losses and the economic decline of the United States. Executives say they hire from abroad because of deficiencies in the U.S. workforce and skills shortages, while worker advocacy groups say it is all about cheap labor.

Wadhwa will discuss how the contentious public debates on globalization and outsourcing commonly use data that isn't grounded in reality. He will show why globalization and outsourcing are the new reality and how this trend will continue to build even more momentum. Finally, Wadhwa will provide concrete advice and ideas on how the United States can regain its edge in the global economy by understanding the new reality and focusing on its strengths such as entrepreneurship and innovation. By effectively harnessing its highly educated and skilled workforce, and balancing immigrant intellectual capital, the United States can continue to be the winner rather than the victim of globalization.

Vivek Wadhwa, currently a visiting scholar at UC-Berkeley, is a senior research associate with the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School and an executive in residence/adjunct professor at the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University. He helps students prepare for the real world, lectures in class and leads groundbreaking research projects. He advises several start-up companies, writes a column for BusinessWeek.com and contributes to several international publications. Since joining Duke in 2005, he has researched globalization, its impact on the engineering profession and the sources of the United States' competitive advantage. Mr. Wadhwa holds an MBA from New York University and a BA in Computing Studies from the Canberra University in Australia.

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Vivek Wadhwa Senior Research Associate Speaker Labor and Worklife Program, Harvard Law School
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The Need for Sectoral Reform of the South Korean Economy

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Although South Korea is recovering relatively quickly from the worldwide recession in the wake of the U.S. financial sector crisis, it must address major structural weaknesses if it is to sustain growth over the long term. The Korean manufacturing sector is one of the world’s strongest and most efficient, but the services and (much smaller) agriculture sectors remain weak. Former senior South Korean economic policy official Byongwon Bahk argues that only by benchmarking the near miraculous success of its manufacturing sector can Korea convert traditionally weak sectors into new sources of job creation and foreign currency earnings. He will explain the necessity of, and obstacles to, inducing capital, technologies, and marketing from advanced companies in advanced countries; supporting R&D activities and education and training in weak sectors; and opening weak sectors to domestic and foreign competition.

Byongwon Bahk, a former senior South Korean government official, is the Korean Studies Program’s 2009-2010 Koret Fellow. During the past decade, he was in charge of the management of Korean macro-economic policy at the Ministry of Finance and Economy, including as vice minister. Most recently, he served in the Blue House as the senior economic advisor to President Lee Myung-bak. He received a BA and an MA in Law from Seoul National University, an MA in Industrial Engineering from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Korea, and an MA in Economics from University of Washington.

This event is supported by a generous grant from the Koret Foundation.

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Byongwon Bahk

Shorenstein APARC
Stanford University
Encina Hall E301
Stanford, CA 94305-6055

(650) 723-9744
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2009-10 Koret Fellow
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Byongwon Bahk, former Senior Advisor to President Lee Myung-bak of Korea, joined the Korean Studies Program as the recipient of the Koret Fellowship for 2009-10 academic year.

Mr. Bahk served as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Finance and Economy in Korea and was a senior advisor to President Lee Myung-bak briefly.  While at the Center, he will lead a reach project on economic affairs of Korea in relations to the U.S.

The Koret Fellowship, generously funded by the by Koret Foundation of San Francisco, was established at the Center in 2008 to bring leading professionals in Asia and the United States to Stanford to conduct research on contemporary U.S.-Korean relations, with the broad aim of fostering greater understanding and closer ties between the two countries.

Byongwon Bahk 2009-2010 Koret Fellow, Asia-Pacific Research Center Speaker
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Korean Studies Colloquium Series

Energy, Environment, and Economic Growth in Asia

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The Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) convened the first Stanford Kyoto Trans-Asian Dialogue in Kyoto, Japan, on September 10 and 11, 2009. The Dialogue addressed the critical theme of “Energy, Environment, and Economic Growth in Asia,” and gathered participants from eight countries across the Asia-Pacific region: the United States, Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, and India.

Through the Stanford Kyoto Dialogue, Shorenstein APARC seeks to build a new set of relationships across the Pacific, a network that can benefit all parties through exchange of information, analysis, interpretation, and original thinking. To develop such relationships, Dialogue organizers at Shorenstein APARC identified individuals from both a large number of different countries and a wide range of backgrounds—business, academe, media, and government—along with experts on energy and environmental issues drawn from the greater Stanford community and from countries across Asia.

Asia and the United States share deep concerns about energy—its generation, its sustainability, and its impact on the environment and the global economy. In confronting these concerns, the Stanford Kyoto Dialogue sought to facilitate not only new discovery but also the transfer of accumulated wisdom among the distinguished participants. The discussion was off-the-record, so that participants could freely express their views and engage in lively debate, but we present here a brief synopsis of each session.

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Martin Kenney provides an "Historical Perspective" on the state of venture capital

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Where has the venture capital industry been, and where is it headed? Recently Dr. Martin Kenney (Professor, UC Davis) delivered a fascinating presentation for a SPRIE audience, tracing venture capital from its pre-WWII angel investor beginnings all the way up to the present, which he sees as the most difficult circumstances the industry has ever faced. Dr. Kenney's presentation is available on the SPRIE site and the audio from the event is forthcoming.

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Benchmarking the Global VC Industry -- Emerging vs. Mature Markets

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This presentation will compare the more mature venture capital markets of the United States, Europe, and Israel with the larger emerging venture capital markets of China and India.

Most analyses being presented are as recent as the second and third quarters of 2009 and will include:

  1. Venture capital investment by number of deals and dollar amounts by stage and industry
  2. Valuation benchmarks by industry and geography
  3. Exit benchmarks by industry sector and exchange 
  4. Comparing specific differences of startups through their life cycles
  5. Venture capital firms investing in other geographies
  6. Cleantech deals and their latest performances

The methodology used in the analysis differs from the traditional Western model (comparison by round), since the investment patterns in emerging markets are very different.

About the speaker:

Dr. Martin Haemmig's venture capital research covers 13 countries in Asia, Europe, Israel, and USA. He lectures and/or performs research at numerous universities across the U.S., Europe, China and India. He has authored books on the Globalization of Venture Capital. He is Senior Advisor on Venture Capital at SPRIE and advises on venture capital for China's Zhongguancun Science Park. Martin Haemmig earned his electronics degree in Switzerland and his MBA and doctorate in California, and worked for almost 20 years in global high-tech companies in Asia, Europe and the U.S. before returning to his academic career. He became Swiss national champion in marketing in 1994.

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Martin Haemmig Speaker
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A Historical Perspective on the Development of the VC Industry in Silicon Valley--Are We in a New Era?

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Formal venture capital investing in Silicon Valley has been underway for more than 50 years. It was in the Valley that the limited partnership format was first used for venture capital. Whereas, originally Silicon Valley VCs were mostly from a finance background, very early on individuals with operating experience formed or joined partnerships.

Perhaps most important was the tight linkages between the venture capitalists and the nearly continuous evolution of information technologies. The enormous returns from information technologies enabled Silicon Valley VCs to make very early investments in other technologies ranging from biotechnology to nanotechnology. These returns also encouraged high levels of risk-taking.

Through the use of a historical perspective, the concluding remarks will reflect upon the current dire straits for venture capital.

Martin Kenney is a Professor at the University of California, Davis, a Senior Project Director at the Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy, as well as a fellow at the Center for Entrepreneurship at UC Davis. He has authored or edited five books and over 120 scholarly articles on the globalization of services, the history of venture capital, university-industry relations, and the development of Silicon Valley. His two recent edited books Understanding Silicon Valley and Locating Global Advantage (with Richard Florida) were published by Stanford University Press where he is the editor of a book series in innovation and globalization. Currently, he is preparing a book on the history and globalization of the venture capital industry.

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Martin Kenney Professor Speaker University of California, Davis
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The Silicon Valley Project
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