• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.408-422
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• 2013

This paper builds on recent scholarly endeavours to establish a body of knowledge on Varieties of Asian Capitalism/Asian Business Systems. The forthcoming Oxford handbook of Asian business systems systematically compares institutional capitalist arrangements across Asia including Laos, yet there is no chapter on Cambodia. The objective of this paper is to compare the Lao and Cambodian varieties of Asian capitalism, with special reference to the role of the state and the economic geography of both countries. Accordingly, it seeks answers to the questions as to how territory has become a key arena for re-organising economic power and how the Lao and Cambodian state themselves are being transformed through state capitalism and the Beijing-Seoul-Tokyo Consensus. A comparative analysis reveals a difference between state-coordinated frontier capitalism in Laos versus patrimonial oligarchy in Cambodia. Interdependencies between the market and the state in Laos display the state as active and interventionist. In some provinces the central government leaves decision making to provincial elites contributing to the emergence of other distinctive regional varieties of capitalism. The rising spatially less selective oligarchs in Cambodia focus relatively more on markets, but are certainly not seeking free markets with equal entry opportunities. The findings offer interesting possibilities for further research on the spaces of Asian capitalism, both from an empirical and theoretical perspective. More work should be done to accommodate the role of small and medium enterprises and theories need to better integrate oligarchic, personal and familial capitalism. Finally, comparative corridor studies in Laos could lead to better insights into the nature of regional varieties of capitalism.

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.289-309
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• 2013

Social enterprise has moved from periphery to take center stage. Social enterprises are a truly global phenomenon and associated with solving social problems with business approaches. While the numbers of social enterprises have grown and their impact is likely to continue to do so, it would be dangerous to assume that the revolutionary momentum will automatically continue, because social enterprise faced sustainability challenges. This study collected the data from directory of Korean Social Enterprise to conduct a quantitative research on the growth of social enterprise in South Korea. This study conducted longitudinal analysis of 491 social enterprise certified between 2007 and 2010, of economic performance with financial index and social impact with employment structure. Though global financial crisis, Korean social enterprises show that there is a considerable increase in all of quantitative and qualitative aspects. Korean social enterprises have provided meaningful work to those normally excluded from the labour market and tried to raise their life of working. In the future, Korean social enterprises should find a way to balance social and financial performance and ensure the sustainability of the business.