Philip Nichols - Faculty Research in Knowledge@Wharton

The Hu-Obama Summit: Big on Symbolism, Less So on Substance

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 15:51:26 EST

Chinese President Hu Jintao's state visit to the U.S. last month ended with a spurt of export agreements that his country has recently become known for. But after 2010's escalating trade tensions, summit-weary observers are not celebrating just yet. They note that thorny issues, like China's currency policy, were stubbornly sidestepped, and they wonder whether the summit achieved what business leaders in both countries now need -- a mutual trust and assurance that their companies will be allowed to prosper.

Uprising in Egypt: Rebirth in an Ancient Land?

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 15:51:26 EST

The protests in Egypt are likely to lead to long-term benefits for frustrated citizens accustomed to living under the thumb of a corrupt system that has left millions of young adults jobless and instilled a sense of hopelessness for the future, say Wharton faculty and other observers. Yet much-needed reforms will take many years to unfold, they add, and their success will depend in part on how military leaders want events to play out.

Man the Barricades: Is a Trade War on the Horizon?

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 15:42:34 EST

A sputtering economic recovery, chronically high unemployment and an escalating trade deficit -- that's enough to put some politicians in Washington on the war path. If they have their way, the U.S. will soon be making it harder for imports to enter the country. Whether their rumblings are the beginning of a new all-out trade war remains to be seen, but experts say there are a number of measures the U.S. as well as Germany and China -- the world's biggest exporters -- need to start taking now to ease growing trade frictions.

Bouncing Back: How South Korea Is Taking the World by Surprise

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 15:59:24 EST

For many South Koreans, the country's brushes with economic disasters in recent times have been a journey "that carries deep emotions," the country's prime minister, Chung Un-Chan, acknowledged in his keynote address at Wharton's recent Global Alumni Forum in Seoul. The event served as a poignant reminder of the host country's remarkable resiliency: The last time Wharton held a gathering in Seoul was 1999, as the country reeled from the Asian currency meltdown. Back then as today, Chung said, Korea "surprised the world" and recovered far faster than expected. Now, the country needs to prove that its economy is more shock-resistant than ever.

Ailing Tiger: Why Ireland Isn't Out of the Woods Yet

Wed, 12 May 2010 15:14:35 EST

Once dubbed the "Celtic Tiger" for its transformation from an economic laggard to a growth powerhouse, Ireland is now suffering from a stunning reversal of fortune. What once helped drive its economic surge -- a booming real estate market -- has now become the country's bane. Wharton faculty and other experts weigh in on whether it's fair to lump Ireland with Europe's other sick economies, such as Greece, and what needs to happen for the country to regain its former glory as a magnet for international investment.

Taking the 'R' out of BRIC: How the Economic Downturn Exposed Russia's Weaknesses

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:36:07 EST

The severity of Russia's recent economic decline has left many observers wondering why it has done so poorly compared with Brazil, India and China -- its BRIC counterparts -- as well as other oil-rich economies. There's a lot more to the answer than just the bursting of the oil bubble and the global economic crisis. Since the fall of communism two decades ago, Russia's business landscape has gone through a turbulent transition that is still nowhere near complete. Corruption and bureaucratic morass have taken their toll. But without strong prospects for economic and political liberalization, where does Russia go from here?

European Conundrum: Increasing Regulation without Stifling Growth

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:21:35 EST

Wall Street may have been the epicenter of the financial crash that shook the world, but Europe -- along with other global markets -- experienced the aftershock in the form of a deep recession in 2009. Wharton faculty and other experts predict that in addition to an anemic recovery, Europe will face a number of key challenges that will shape the business and economic environment in 2010 -- including concerns about economic integration, sovereign debt default, regulatory change and the European Union's place in the global economy.

The iPhone in China: Will Apple Connect with the World's Biggest Mobile Market?

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:45:37 EST

Global launches can be rocky, as Apple knows well. Last year, the company introduced its iPhone in India, but instead of the throngs of consumers seen at launch events in the U.S., the journalists assigned to cover the rollout reportedly outnumbered the customers. According to experts, the problems included a lack of marketing and a price tag set too high for Indian consumers. Now, as Apple prepares for an October launch of the iPhone in China in cooperation with service provider China Unicom, many are wondering if it will face similar hang-ups in the world's largest cell phone market.

Attached at the Wallet: The Delicate Financial Relationship between the U.S. and China

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:19:24 EST

The financial relationship between China and the U.S. is beginning to look like an unhealthy co-dependency. China holds so much of its foreign reserves in dollar-based assets that it is now vulnerable to shifts in the U.S. economy. And the U.S. has allowed China to purchase so much of its debt that it is now beholden to Chinese interests. Experts disagree, however, about the real motives for China's continuing investments, and whether it would ever sell them off.

Worry in the West as Eastern and Central European Economies Head South

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:25:43 EST

The world financial crisis is unraveling the gains made by many Central and Eastern European economies during their post-Cold War resurgence. With the region no longer isolated, an economic collapse could reverberate in the West, as Central and Eastern European borrowers default on an enormous volume of loans that Western banks were all too eager to grant just a few years ago.

The Other Banking Drama: Those Secret Swiss Accounts

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:25:43 EST

Tax authorities in the United States have challenged long-standing Swiss banking secrecy laws, demanding that UBS AG release the names of 52,000 Americans suspected of opening secret accounts to evade taxes. The bank agreed to release client information on 250 U.S. citizens and pay a $780 million fine as part of a settlement, but that decision has put the entire Swiss banking system in jeopardy, according to Wharton faculty.

Dear President-elect Obama: Here's How to Get the Economy out of the Ditch

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:57:28 EST

President-elect Barack Obama must lead a nation mired in a worsening recession and burdened by the costs, both financial and human, of two wars and rising debt. Wharton faculty offer some counterintuitive advice: Now may be the time for the government to spend a lot of money.

Political Tensions Are Creating New Rules for International Business

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:32:59 EST

Emerging economies still promise opportunity but also political risk for international businesses. Growing income disparity in rapidly developing economies, geopolitical tensions and anti-U.S. attitudes are among the broader political trends that could shape global business in the future, according to Wharton faculty. "Increasingly, politics will intervene and political management skills will be valuable for multinationals," says Wharton management professor Witold Henisz.

Linking Commerce to Geopolitics: The Candidates' Views on Global Trade

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:25:57 EST

With global financial markets in turmoil, trade will most likely be an urgent concern for the next president. As part of Knowledge@Wharton's ongoing coverage of the upcoming November election, we examine the candidates' views on trade issues. So far, both Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama have tended to follow predictable party lines: McCain is a supporter of free trade and would back additional multilateral trade pacts, while Obama urges a reexamination of trade agreements and their effect on the environment and U.S. workers.

When Are Emerging Markets No Longer 'Emerging'?

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 15:48:59 EST

The term "emerging markets" is now more than 25 years old and has come to define wide swaths of the world undergoing rapid economic change. Dozens of countries fall under the label even though they are evolving at their own pace and with their own twists on economic development. Now, as many emerging markets show signs of a strong and growing middle-class population, observers wonder whether the term has lost some of its meaning. What qualifies a country as "emerging"? While some say measures based on income or other statistics are critical factors, others place an increasing emphasis on the way business is conducted, with rules that are transparent and apply equally to all participants.

No Going Back: Russia Today Suggests Stability Instead of Chaos

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 15:36:52 EST

Twenty years ago, few would have predicted that Russia would soon experience an economic boom. The country's economy had been shackled for decades by Soviet rule. It managed to produce oil, nuclear warheads, Kalashnikov rifles and very little else of interest to the market economies in the West. Then came the reforms of former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, perestroika, the revolution of former President Boris Yeltsin, free markets, and billion-dollar fortunes for at least a few. But how are average Russians faring under these changes, and what challenges lie ahead in areas like health care, education and employment?

The Long and Winding Road to Privatization in China

Wed, 10 May 2006 17:29:08 EST

China's sweeping economic reforms, which have lifted the country to a starring role in the global economy in only a quarter-century, are marked by a more gradual transition from state control to private ownership of firms than in other countries that have also made the transition, according to Wharton faculty. Indeed, privatization in China has come slowly as government officials weighed the prospect of massive layoffs necessary to restructure bloated state-owned enterprises, known as SOEs. Privatization was also met with resistance from influential company managers, many of them Communist party officials. Despite these obstacles, however, a vibrant, entrepreneurial private sector has managed to survive alongside state-controlled firms.

In the Current Round of Global Trade Talks, Brazil Aims for Center Stage

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 17:08:24 EST

As trade ministers from the world's leading industrial nations scurried to get ready for crucial meetings in Hong Kong that could decide the fate of the World Trade Organization's Doha Round, they made sure to establish contact with a handful of the largest, most influential developing countries, including Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa. To no one's surprise, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is leading the Latin American trade delegations in their attempts to push the U.S., Europe and other industrialized nations to make deep cuts in their agricultural tariffs and subsidies. The existence of such protective measures makes it hard for developing countries like Brazil, where economic development is more urgent than ever, to sell their agricultural products to rich countries.

When Will the Apparel Quota System Finally Go Out of Style?

Wed, 29 Jun 2005 16:12:24 EST

When import quotas on textile products coming into the United States ended January 1, 2005, under World Trade Organization agreements signed 10 years earlier, a flood of clothing poured in from China. Within months, the U.S. responded with restrictions on Chinese apparel imports. Yet according to Wharton faculty and industry executives, these restrictions will only delay, not end, the global move toward quota-free garment trade.

An End to Global Textile Quotas: Watch China Sew Up the Market

Wed, 09 Feb 2005 16:50:03 EST

On Jan. 1, the Multifiber Agreement -- which for 30 years let nations place quotas on the amount of textile and clothing imports allowed into their countries -- expired for members of the World Trade Organization, the multilateral global trade body. The elimination of global textile quotas is expected to drive garment production to China, benefiting consumers in North America and Europe at the expense of developing nations where apparel manufacturing has become a bridge to an industrial economy, according to Wharton faculty and other analysts.

Yukos and the Wild, Wild East: Can Putin Win the Showdown?

Wed, 03 Dec 2003 14:56:54 EST

The arrest of Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky on tax-evasion and fraud charges – with the apparent approval of President Vladimir Putin, if not by his direct order – continues to raise concerns both inside and outside

Russia

over what this development means politically and economically. Wharton professors and others offer different interpretations of the reasons for Khodorkovsky’s jailing and the potential fallout for Russian businesses and foreign investors.

Collapse in Cancun: The World Trade Agenda Gets Sidetracked

Wed, 24 Sep 2003 00:00:00 EST

If you took delegates from 146 countries � ranging from the poorest agricultural regions in Africa to the most affluent nations of Europe � and asked them to negotiate a trade agreement that would satisfy everyone, what are the chances they would succeed? Very slim, as the collapse of the world trade talks in Cancun earlier this month proved. Huge fault lines appeared between two general camps: The developing countries, who contended that the richer nations� agricultural subsidies are an unfair trading advantage, and the more advanced nations who sought new global rules that would help protect their economic interests. So what happened and where do we go from here?

Globalization: More Producers, Not Enough Consumers

Tue, 29 Jul 2003 00:00:00 EST

Whether they were talking about hamburgers, protectionism or cheap labor, speakers at a panel discussion on the promise and perils of globalization in Latin America noted that most efforts at globalization are underpinned by the need for change. While the panelists agreed overall that globalization has improved the lives of people throughout the world, they also noted ways in which it has failed to live up to many of its original promises in such areas as free trade, greater competition and increased purchasing power.

Russia�s Struggle for Competitiveness

Wed, 15 Jan 2003 00:00:00 EST

Is it safe to go back in the water for would-be investors in Russia? How far has Russia come? How far does it have to go? And what models will it follow? Linked by video from the World Bank office in Moscow, the Wharton School in Philadelphia, and World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C., two dozen educators and researchers attempted to answer those questions last month during a conference on �Corporate Responsibility and Sustainable Competitiveness in Russia.� The conference was sponsored by Wharton�s Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research and the World Bank Institute.

How Bribery and Other Types of Corruption Threaten the Global Marketplace

Wed, 23 Oct 2002 00:00:00 EST

In Turkey, the apartment buildings that collapse during earthquakes are known as “bribe buildings.” In Africa, bridges dot the landscape with no roads to connect them. There’s no doubt that corruption, endemic in emerging economies around the world, throws economic development into chaos. It affects decisions made by bureaucrats, degrades the quality of those in power, and discourages foreign investment. Wharton legal studies professor Phil Nichols has spent the last few years researching the effects of corruption and some strategies to combat it.

Surfing Time for Wharton�s Summertime-Savvy Professors

Wed, 04 Jul 2001 00:00:00 EST

The summer holidays are here, and Wharton professors have identified their favorite surfing spots. Some of these locations will interest those who just want to get their toes wet; others are for more experienced surfers. Check them out.