Yeung, Henry Wai-Chung 1968–

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Yeung, Henry Wai-Chung 1968–

PERSONAL:

Born October 15, 1968, in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China; son of Ching Kwong and Mui Sheung Li Yeung; married Valerie Weiyu Heng, July 16, 1972; children: Kay. Education: National University of Singapore, B.A., 1992; University of Manchester, Ph.D., 1995.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Singapore. Office—National University of Singapore, Department of Geography, 1 Arts Link, Singapore 117570. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Academic and geographer. National University of Singapore, assistant professor, 1996-99, associate professor, 2000-05, professor of economic geography, 2005—, East Asia Institute research associate, 2000. Fellow, Royal Geographic Society; adjunct professor, Henan University; adjunct professor, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Commonwealth fellow, University of Manchester, 2002; Fulbright foreign researcher, University of Washington, 2003; visiting researcher, Kitakyushu International Center for the Study of East Asian Economies, 2006; distinguished visitor, University of Auckland, 2006; visiting professor, University of Hong Kong, 2006; honorary professorial fellow, School of Environment and Development, University of Manchester, 2007-10.

MEMBER:

Academy of International Business, Regional Studies Association.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Outstanding university researcher award, National University of Singapore, 1998, 2008; best published paper award, British Geographers Economic Geography Research Group, 1998.

WRITINGS:

Transnational Corporations and Business Networks: Hong Kong Firms in the ASEAN Region, Routledge (New York, NY), 1998.

(Editor) The Globalization of Business Firms from Emerging Economies, two volumes, Edward Elgar (Northampton, MA), 1999.

Singapore's Global Reach: An Executive Report, National University of Singapore (Singapore), 1999.

Globalisation and the Asia-Pacific: Contested Territories, Routledge (London, England), 1999.

(Editor, with Kris Olds) Globalization of Chinese Business Firms, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2000.

Entrepreneurship and the Internationalisation of Asian Firms: An Institutional Perspective, Edward Elgar (Northampton, MA), 2002.

(Editor, with Jamie Peck) Remaking the Global Economy: Economic-Geographical Perspectives, Sage (Thousand Oaks, CA), 2003.

Chinese Capitalism in a Global Era: Towards Hybrid Capitalism, Routledge (New York, NY), 2004.

(Editor) Handbook of Research on Asian Business, E. Elgar (Northampton, MA), 2006.

(With Neil M. Coe and Philip F. Kelly) Economic Geography: A Contemporary Introduction, Blackwell (Malden, MA), 2007.

Contributor to academic journals. Editor of Economic Geography, Review of International Political Economy, and Environment and Planning A; Asia-Pacific editor of Global Networks: Journal of Transnational Affairs; business manager of Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography; editorial board member of European Urban and Regional Studies, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Journal of Economic Geography, Asia Pacific Viewpoint, East Asia: An International Quarterly, Eurasian Geography and Economics, 21st Century Society: The Journal of the Academy of the Social Science, Annals of the Japan Association of Economic Geographers, Journal of Business in Developing Nations, and Asia Pacific Journal of Management.

SIDELIGHTS:

Henry Wai-Chung Yeung is an academic and geographer who was born in Guangzhou, China, and now resides in Singapore. He published his first book, Transnational Corporations and Business Networks: Hong Kong Firms in the ASEAN Region, in 1999. The account looks into the realm of intracorporate, intercorporate, and extracorporate networks in Southeast Asia, focusing on the relationships between industries, firms, and regional economic communities. Yeung also examines interpersonal links among Chinese people in foreign countries, which form a significant component of these informal networks.

Gordon Boyce, reviewing the book in Business History, proposed that those "who like a blend of theory and empirical research will find [Transnational Corporations and Business Networks] to be a stimulating analysis of the scope, structure and internal dynamics of Hong Kong multinationals." Boyce concluded: "Overall, this is an important study that combines case studies, statistical evidence and rigorous analysis in an innovative manner. It will appeal to economists, managers, historians and sociologists interested in networks, multinational enterprise and Asian business. Transnational Corporations and Business Networks establishes Henry Yeung as a scholar of note across a number of disciplines." Prescott C. Ensign, writing in Economic Geography, commented favorably on the book's organization, noting that "while the order of material is logical—and both theory and evidence build progressively from one chapter to the next—the design of the book allows the reader to skip around or to read only sections of interest." Ensign mentioned that "Yeung's theorizing, data collection, and the implications he draws are novel and represent a significant contribution. Although this book may not circulate beyond the academic realm, [the] material contained within it would certainly be of interest to those in charge of policy within the firm as well as those responsible for social welfare. Yeung would do well to undertake a translation of his material to make it accessible to an audience of public and private policymakers." Ensign concluded that Transnational Corporations and Business Networks "is remarkable in both depth and coverage."

Yeung's 2002 book, Entrepreneurship and the Internationalisation of Asian Firms: An Institutional Perspective, looks into the concept of transnational entrepreneurship through an institutional perspective. Writing in the International Small Business Journal, Stephen Young observed that "the empirical material in the volume provides some useful insights and the minicases were very valuable, but overall readers may be disappointed in the information presented and in the findings." Citing some unavoidable shortcomings of the survey data used in the book, Young noted that "the author accepts that it is not possible to prove conclusively the validity of his conceptual framework from the data available." Nevertheless, according to the reviewer, "Yeung states that his objective was to stimulate further theoretical and empirical studies in entrepreneurship and international business studies. By this criterion, he has certainly succeeded."

In 2004 Yeung published Chinese Capitalism in a Global Era: Towards Hybrid Capitalism. The study examines the change and evolution among ethnic Chinese companies and family conglomerates around East Asia and Southeast Asia. With the objective of increasing competitiveness and adapting to challenges brought forth by globalization, the companies, as Yeung illustrates, are creating their own effects on global business as the Asia-Pacific region gains in prominence and influence in world trade.

Edmund Terence Gomez, writing in the Journal of Contemporary Asia, commented that "the mode of operation and evolution of firms owned by the Chinese—based on the case studies that speak for themselves—indicate that these companies are merely going through a stage of capitalism already undergone by established publicly listed and family controlled enterprises in the industrialized West. Yeung's research proves this lucidly enough to invalidate the concept of Chinese capitalism. Yeung should dispense with his ambivalence on this subject and help put to rest the ongoing debate on the importance of culture in the formation and evolution of Chinese enterprise." C. Cindy Fan, writing in Economic Geography, remarked that Chinese Capitalism in a Global Era "is not just about Chinese capitalism, but is a valuable contribution to the debates about the evolution and varieties of capitalism and about globalization in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Though the literature has given some attention to actors, seldom are their roles explained as articulately and convincingly as in this book." Fan concluded that the book "is of appeal to an interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary audience. The book should be on the shelves of all who are interested in globalization, the theory of and debates on capitalism, and the economic development of East and Southeast Asia."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

ASEAN Economic Bulletin, April 1, 1999, Kim OngGiger, review of Transnational Corporations and Business Networks: Hong Kong Firms in the ASEAN Region, p. 127.

Business History, October 1, 1999, Gordon Boyce, review of Transnational Corporations and Business Networks, p. 161.

Economic Geography, January 1, 2001, Prescott C. Ensign, review of Transnational Corporations and Business Networks, p. 84; January 1, 2001, "From the Editor"; April 1, 2001, review of The Globalization of Business Firms from Emerging Economies, p. 202; July 1, 2006, C. Cindy Fan, review of Chinese Capitalism in a Global Era: Towards Hybrid Capitalism, p. 351.

International Affairs, October 1, 2000, Alan M. Rugman, review of Globalisation and the Asia-Pacific: Contested Territories, p. 904.

International Small Business Journal, May 1, 2003, Stephen Young, review of Entrepreneurship and the Internationalisation of Asian Firms: An Institutional Perspective, p. 229.

Journal of Contemporary Asia, August 1, 2006, Edmund Terence Gomez, review of Chinese Capitalism in a Global Era, p. 415.

Journal of Economic Literature, September 1, 2000, review of Globalization of Chinese Business Firms, p. 725; September 1, 2000, review of The Globalization of Business Firms from Emerging Economies, two volumes, p. 725.

Reference & Research Book News, May 1, 2000, review of Globalization of Chinese Business Firms, p. 67; May 1, 2000, review of The Globalization of Business Firms from Emerging Economies, two volumes, p. 67; August 1, 2002, review of Entrepreneurship and the Internationalisation of Asian Firms, p. 72; May 1, 2007, review of Handbook of Research on Asian Business.