Articoli di riviste sul tema "Investments, Japanese Australia"

Australia has always relied heavily upon foreign sources of investment and financing and has in the past tended to draw mainly upon British, American and Japanese investment. In recent decades, Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have played an increasingly important role in the Australian economy with a rising level of investment taking place. Chinese SOEs have been more heavily involved in investments into larger Australian investment projects, such as in mining and infrastructure. Australia has seen an increase in the number of Chinese state-owned companies acquiring substantial domestic assets; this may continue following the ratification of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement in 2015. Although Chinese SOEs operating in foreign countries such as Australia are required to comply with local corporate governance laws and principles, they also retain their unique Chinese corporate governance values and culture which they have inherited through their parent companies and from China itself. In Australia, there has been an ongoing debate over Chinese investment, with the business community being particularly supportive of such investment. Driven largely by the business community, this debate has been relatively narrow and has not explored the likely impact of Chinese SOEs and their subsidiaries upon the shape of corporate governance in countries in which they invest. This article seeks to examine the legal contours of Chinese-controlled investment in Australia with a view to acquiring a more informed understanding of the impact of Chinese SOEs upon the Australian legal landscape.

The formation of the concept of responsible investment involves a change in the basic understanding of the investment process, which requires consideration of the possible consequences of such actions for the planet, society and economy. In this regard, it is important to provide a thorough methodological basis that will be the groundwork for the dissemination of this concept and its scientific foundation. The purpose of this work is to conduct a quantitative bibliometric analysis of research on responsible investing. The scientometric international databases Web of Science from Clarivate Analytics and Scopus from Elsevier and their built-in tools were used for this purpose. The time period of the study was 1990 – March 2021, the main search query – «responsible investment». Quantitative analysis of scientific publications in selected databases was conducted by time, geographical and subject search, analysis of organizations that fund research on this topic and the most cited works. The results show a growing trend of research on responsible investment in the world, with an increase in recent years, and a predominance of research by scientists from English-speaking countries (UK, United States, Australia, Canada) and European countries (Spain, France, Germany, etc.). Research is mainly funded by the European Commission and other Japanese and European organizations. The analysis of subject areas in the study of responsible investing revealed the presence of both managerial and economic, as well as social and environmental issues. The analysis of the most cited works in the scientometric databases Scopus and WoS revealed the popularity of socially responsible investments in the context of institutional, behavioral and functional aspects, as well as their connection with corporate social responsibility.

Despite the attention that has been given to the role of economic sanctions in Japan's decision to launch the Pacific war, Australia's decision to ban iron ore exports to Japan has been given little attention, even though this was one of the earliest economic sanctions imposed onimperial Japan in the 1930s. To a degree this neglect can be traced to a preoccupation with the actions and objectives of the great powers and a failure to consider the opportunities available to small nations to take significant initiatives. The following article traces the origins of the iron ore embargo back to 1934 when Essington Lewis, the Managing Director of the Broken Hill Proprietary Company Ltd (BHP), Australia's iron and steel monopoly, visited Japan and subsequently advocated the development of an Australian armaments industry to counter probable Japanese aggression in the Pacific. In Japan Lewis crossed paths with J. G. Latham, the Minister for External Affairs, who was leading the Australian government's Eastern Mission. Latham returned to Australia with conclusions that differed fundamentally from those of Lewis, who came up with a plan to take advantage of Japan's dependence on imports of iron ore and other iron products to finance investment in Australian armaments manufacturing. In explaining this outcome the article discusses interactions between a number of conflicts: between Latham and Lewis; between the British Treasury and the Foreign Office; and between the Japanese army and navy. In London the Treasury wanted to focus on the European theatre, while also holding down military spending in order to achieve balanced budgets. The Treasury believed that the way to best defend British commercial interests in Asia was to appease Japan. On the other hand, the Foreign Office was committed to the protection of British interests in the Far East by a more forceful diplomacy, although it was only willing to counten-ance behavior short of military action. Consistent with Latham's recommendations to his government, the emerging consensus in London was that while a settlement in China would help to safeguard British interests there, as long as the Japanese were bound up in their war in China they were less likely to attack British colonies in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. In 1936 this orientation was challenged by a shift in the balance of power in Tokyo away from the army and in favor of the navy. Although priority continued to be placed on winning the war in China and guarding against an attack from the Soviet Union, now the navy's plan for southward expansion was given more careful consideration and credibility.

Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Australia were analyzed from 1986 to 2011, based on data availability. The determinants considered FDI inflows according to aggregate FDI inflows and FDI inflows by the top three source countries (USA, UK and Japan). Empirical studies identified four results. (1) For the determinants of FDI in Australia, a larger market size will attract more FDI, whereas more openness and a higher corporate tax rate will discourage FDI inflows into Australia. Lower customs duty and lower interest and depreciation of exchange rates will attract more FDI. The relationship between FDI inflows into Australia and wages was not significant. (2) For the determinants of US inward FDI in Australia, a larger market size will attract more US inward FDI in Australia, whereas more openness and an appreciation of the exchange rate will discourage US inward FDI in Australia. A negative and significant relationship was obtained between customs duty and US inward FDI in Australia. There were positive and significant relationships between US inward FDI in Australia and both the interest and corporate tax rates. (3) For the determinants of UK inward FDI in Australia, greater research and development in Australia will attract more UK inward FDI in Australia, whereas a higher corporate tax rate will discourage UK inward FDI in Australia. The positive relationship between market size and UK inward FDI in Australia was not significant. Openness, customs duty and inflation did not have significant relationships with UK inward FDI in Australia. (4) For the determinants of Japanese inward FDI in Australia, higher wages and greater research and development will attract more Japanese inward FDI in Australia, whereas higher customs duty and a higher corporate tax rate will discourage Japanese inward FDI in Australia. There was no significant relationship between Japanese inward FDI in Australia and either the interest or exchange rates.

This article is part of a larger research project looking at the role of Australian media companies in sustaining fan and Australian investment in global popular culture. This article focuses on Madman Entertainment – one of the most successful DVD and merchandise distribution companies in Australia and the leading distributor of anime, with over 90 per cent of the market share. The article explores the ways in which Madman has become a part of the simultaneous globalisation and localisation of Japanese cultural products, and sets out to show how profiling such a company can also provide some insight into the changing role of fans in driving innovation and investment in popular culture.

Regions and countries compete for MNEs. Surprisingly, we know little about policy effectiveness and the relative importance of policy factors and non-policy factors in managerial location decisions. Drawing on internalisation-resource, trade and location theory, this paper develops a model of policy and non-policy location variables, testing the model against 137 Japanese managers??decisions to invest in Australia and the ASEAN5 (Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines). Japanese managers treated Australia and ASEAN5 as different regions, but treated the ASEAN5 as the same region. A range of non-policy variables were ranked higher than policy variables as factors attracting Japanese MNEs to Australia or the ASEAN5, while policy variables were most important in shifting investment between ASEAN5 countries. In a study of incentive effectiveness, managers ranked the same incentive variables for Australia lower than for the ASEAN5. We also discovered that the transfer of parent competencies to subsidiaries in Australia was ranked significantly lower in importance than competencies transferred to ASEAN5 countries. Implications for policy-makers and economic development are drawn.

Foreign real estate investment funds have recently been added to the practical investment opportunity sets of ordinary Japanese investors. This paper analyzes the additional diversification benefits of U.S. REITs and Australian listed property trusts (LPTs) for Japanese investors who already hold Japanese, U.S., and Australian financial assets while considering different risk definitions in a mean-lower partial moment (MLPM) framework. The study uses data from August 1994 to July 2004. The impacts of currency adjustment and risk definition on the diversification benefits are examined. Our results suggest that the additional diversification benefits of U.S. REITs and Australian LPTs can be obtained only in very limited cases by Japanese investors.

Although there are obvious American influences on Australian popular culture, the term “Americanization” is of limited help in explaining the elaborate form and content of Australian sport. The recent transformation from amateur to corporate sport in Australia has been determined by a complex array of internal and international social forces, including Australia’s polyethnic population, its semiperipheral status in the capitalist world system, its federal polity, and its membership in the Commonwealth of Nations. Americanization is only one manifestation of the integration of amateur and professional sport into the media industries, advertising agencies, and multinational corporations of the world market. Investment in sport by American, British, New Zealand, Japanese, and Australian multinational companies is part of their strategy of promoting “good corporate citizenship,” which also is evident in art, cinema, dance, music, education, and the recent bicentennial festivities. It is suggested that the political economy of Australian sport can best be analyzed by concepts such as “post-Fordism,” the globalization of consumerism, and the cultural logic of late capitalism, all of which transcend the confines of the United States.

China’s trade, tourism and limited foreign direct investment (FDI) to Australia have been regarded as playing an important part in Australia’s growth and prosperity in recent years. In spite of the fact that these activities are the three principal growth determinants in modern economic integration theory, growth studies based on this theory’s structural framework, while highly appropriate, have hardly been undertaken. This article proposes to fill the gap by formally developing an endogenous causal model of simultaneous growth and tourism for policy analysis. In this model, trade, FDI and tourism are specified as the main contributing factors to growth. Simultaneously, gravity theory (including growth) and the Ironmonger–Lancaster new consumer demand theory determine tourism, while ‘economic conditionality’ potentially affecting both growth and tourism in the sense of Johansen is recognized and incorporated. The model is then applied to Australian and Chinese data for the important post-Japanese tourist boom period 1992–2015, to provide substantive findings on three questions: the impact of Chinese tourism to Australia, Chinese tourism determination and the effects of Chinese trade and key macroeconomic indicators on Australian economic growth. Significant policy implications are then developed for use by government tourism planners and policymakers.

The US$34 billion Ichthys LNG Project is one of the most complex oil and gas developments attempted. It is effectively three mega-projects in one: an onshore project, an offshore project, and a pipeline project. The Ichthys Project represents: the largest semi-submersible platform in the world; the first semi-submersible production platform in Australia; the largest Japanese investment outside Japan; the largest single French investment in Australia; the biggest ever project financing; the longest subsea pipeline in the southern hemisphere; and, the second largest resource Project in Australia, by CAPEX. The onshore project is being developed in Darwin and involves two processing trains rated to produce a total of 8.4 million tonnes of LNG a year. Offshore, construction of the central processing facility (CPF) and floating, production storage, and off-take (FPSO) vessel is underway. Both facilities will be permanently moored and are designed to withstand the most extreme weather conditions for more than four decades. An 889-km pipeline will link the Ichthys Field, 200 km off the Western Australian coast, to the onshore facilities in Darwin. The project’s final investment decision was announced in January 2012. This triggered intense construction activity and created hundreds of new construction jobs in Darwin and more globally. Since the discovery of the gas-condensate field in 2000, the Ichthys journey has been one of identifying and overcoming geographical, political, technical, financial, and commercial challenges. The project is a global effort, drawing on worldwide expertise to overcome these challenges and work towards first gas in late 2016.

This study empirically tests the contagion effects in stock and real estate investment trust (REIT) markets during the subprime mortgage crisis by using daily stock- and REIT-markets data from the following countries and international bodies: the United States, the European Union, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, and the global REIT market. We found a significant and positive dynamic conditional correlation (DCC) coefficient between stock returns and REIT returns. The results revealed that the REIT markets responded early to market shocks and that the variances were higher in the post-crisis period than in the pre-crisis period. Evidence supporting the contagion effects includes increases in the means of the DCC coefficients during the post-crisis period. The Japanese and Australian REIT markets possess the lowest time-varying downside systematic risks. We also demonstrated that the “DCC E-beta” captures more significant downside linkages between market portfolios and expected REIT returns than does the standard CAPM beta.

The main objective of this research is to analyze the effect of depreciation and real exchange rate appreciation on Indonesia's tourism trade balance bilaterally against Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore. Such analysis on bilateral relations have never been studied for developing markets countries, namely Indonesia. This study uses a linear ARDL approach and a nonlinear ARDL approach with the dependent variable on the tourism trade balance and the real exchange rate as independent variables. Income, foreign direct investment (FDI), and natural disasters as control variables. The empirical results show that Chinese and Japanese tourists respond positively to the depreciation in the real currency rate of exchange, thereby increasing Indonesia's tourism trade balance. Nonlinear ARDL shows that the relation concerning the real rate of exchange plus the balance of trade is non-symmetrical with respect to China and Japan, while Australia, Malaysia, and Singapore are symmetrical. These results suggest that the government should formulate policies to increase tourist visits from China and Japan. Further empirical results also found a J-curve pattern in Indonesia-China and Indonesia-Japan.

Purpose Listed real estate securities have historically been used to achieve an exposure to the real estate asset class and to obtain a broad spectrum of other specific features such as return enhancement, but whether they must be associated to the direct property or to the broad stock market is deceptive on a merely theoretical basis. Moreover, the global financial crisis (GFC) has questioned their risk/return characteristics. The purpose of this paper is to asses if listed real estate securities are still enough dissimilar from the broad stock market to provide remarkable diversification benefits for a long term investor. Design/methodology/approach The analysis has been developed on the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Index and at country level (USA, UK, France, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia) from November 2001 to October 2013. The authors analysed the real estate index over a broad market index and adjusted for a possible bias related to heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation, using a least squared regression with Newey-West HAC Correction. A Recursive Least Squares (RLS) was also used to test the stability of the parameters with the CUSUM squared test and the Chow test. Finally the authors tested for cointegration with the Augmented Dickey Fuller and the Engle Granger tests. Findings The authors found that after the GFC the Beta-risk related to the stock market has witnessed a sharp increase, but with differences among country. While the USA, the UK and France have experienced a trend similar to the one described for the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Index, Asian Markets depict a quite stable Beta over the full sample (gradual increase for the Australian market). Evidence of a structural break in conjunction with 2008 crisis has been found only in USA, UK and France. Practical implications Listed real estate securities, even if characterised by time varying Beta-risk and partially reduced diversification benefits, are still worth to be included in long term horizon portfolios. However, more wary considerations should be drafted before investing in the Asian markets where evidence of cointegration was found only for the Japanese market. Originality/value Analysis of post GFC effect on direct property investment vs indirect listed investment worldwide.

AbstractThe advent of refrigerated transport made fresh beef a global commodity, linking South American and Australian producers to hungry consumers in Europe and North America. With vast supplies of cattle, and growing markets in Japan, Russia, and beyond, China was the last great frontier of this global transformation. Rather than a single export trade, China’s beef industry was a complex and multidirectional network of producers, processors, and consumers, its many production chains each facing distinct commercial, logistic, and political challenges. This article examines three such chains, the Qing-era caravan trade that drove live sheep and cattle to Beijing, the Harbin meat-packing industry that grew up around the Russian China Eastern Railway, and Japanese-dominated export of beef from Qingdao. A cross-section of these issues shows how the industry as a whole adapted to the new pressures and opportunities of globalization, as well as those presented by technology, foreign investment, imperialism, and war.

This special issue of the Alberta Law Review is devoted to the discussion of current topics within the field and discipline of international law, including matters of international trade and investment law, international development, peace and security, international criminal law, and the international protection of human rights. The publication of this issue represents the culmination of an extraordinary intellectual exchange between four societies dedicated to the development and promotion of international law, which together represent five countries and attract membership from lawyers within academia, government, and private practice. The “Four Societies” initiative stems from an initial partnership in the early 1990s between the American Society of International Law (ASIL), the Canadian Council on International Law (CCIL), and the Japanese Society of International Law (JSIL), which was later expanded upon during the current decade to include the Australian & New Zealand Society of International Law (ANZSIL). Without the support of these Four Societies, this special issue, and the two-day conference at which the articles were first presented, would not have taken place.

Purpose This study aims to investigate the international portfolio diversification opportunities provided by Turkish sustainable firms to international socially responsible investors. Design/methodology/approach The Borsa Istanbul Sustainability Index (XUSRD) and FTSE4Good index family daily data for the period of 11/04/2014-12/31/2017 is used and the DCC-GARCH model is applied to explore the dynamic correlation linkages. Findings The results indicate that co-movements between XUSRD and FTSE4Good indices are time-varying and generally display a low level. While the highest average conditional correlation value was observed between XUSRD and Developed 100 index, the lowest one was between XUSRD and FTSE4Good Japan index. Research limitations/implications Since XUSRD was launched on 11/04/2014, there is no available data before this date. Additionally, because the study includes indices from the USA to Japan, it is not possible to use high-frequency stock index data due to lack of overlapping time series. Practical implications This study contributes implications for investors of sustainability assets to improve their diversification. Especially, it is identified that the diversification opportunities provided by Turkish sustainable firms are largely possible for Japanese and Australian socially responsible investors. Additionally, this research has contributions for policymakers. Originality/value Although the conventional stock market indices are widely examined in terms of their time-variant relationship, there are only a few studies in the literature focusing on sustainability indices. Socially responsible investments (SRI) are emerging as a new trend, and these investments are also in need of international portfolio diversification. Therefore, this study is expected to fill a gap in the SRI literature.

Environmental, Social, and Governance investing has undergone a radical shift; companies and investors have focused on the impact of the disclosure of the practices and policies related to the environment, social responsibility, and governance in their operational strategies and investment. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the impact that the ESG policies have on public companies' stock returns in Australia and Japan. Accounting and market-based measures are used to determine the impact ESG practices have on stock market index returns. The annual data used is of companies from Australia's S&P/ASX Index and Japan's Nikkei 225 Index, covering the period from 2005 to 2019. Fixed effect model regression was used to test the significant relationship between companies' stock returns and ESG score, accounting, and market-based measures. Portfolios were created to analyze the risk/return relationship between companies with and without ESG across countries. The findings indicate mixed results. Australia´s non-ESG portfolios outperform the S&P500 and ESG portfolios. Japan´s portfolio has positive returns but underperforms the benchmark. Low market capitalization portfolios with and without ESG outperform the higher capitalization portfolios.

CyGenics Expands Into Europe. Increasing US Investment Support for Starpharma. Proteomics — An Australian-based Biotech Company. Resonance Health to Expand US Business Operations. Rockeby biomed Announces Four New Developments for Avian Influenza Test Kits. Ranbaxy Buys Companies in Belgium, Italy and Romania. Japan's Bioventures Today — HuBit Genomix Inc. Abbott to Invest US$280 Million in the Largest Nutritional Plant in Singapore. Covance Celebrates 10th Anniversary Milestone in Singapore. NanoMaterials Technology Opens New S$2.5 Million Facility. Waters Corporation Collaborates with Solectron. Zentek Engineering Becomes First Irish Company to Set Up Asia Pacific HQ in Singapore.

AbstractThis study examines the portfolio diversification benefits of alternative currency trading in Bitcoin and foreign exchange markets. The following methods are applied for the analysis: the spillover index method of Diebold and Yilmaz (Int J Forecast 28(1): 57–66, 2012. 10.1016/j.ijforecast.2011.02.006), the spillover asymmetry measures of Barunik et al. (J Int Money Finance 77: 39–56, 2017. 10.1016/j.jimonfin.2017.06.003), and the frequency connectedness method of Barunik and Křehlík (J Financ Econom 16(2): 271–296, 2018. 10.1093/jjfinec/nby001). The findings identify the presence of low-level integration and asymmetric volatility spillover as well as a dominant role of short horizon spillover among Bitcoin markets and foreign exchange pairs for six major trading currencies (US dollar, euro, Japanese yen, British pound sterling, Australian dollar, and Canadian dollar). Bitcoin is found to provide significant portfolio diversification benefits for alternative currency foreign exchange portfolios. Alternative currency Bitcoin trading in euro is found to provide the most significant portfolio diversification benefits for foreign exchange portfolios consisting of major trading currencies. The findings of the study regarding spillover dynamics and portfolio diversification capabilities of the Bitcoin market for foreign exchange markets of major trading currencies have significant implications for portfolio diversification and risk minimization.

Benitec MOU with Biomics Biotechnologies China. Arkema & Aussie Chemeq Sign Manufacturing Cooperation Agreement. AstraZeneca and Mental Health Research Institute in Australia Announce Collaboration to Improve Early Detection of Alzheimer's Disease. Avexa Gets CSIRO Investment. Living Cell Technologies' Encapsulated Choroid Plexus Cells May Be Used To Treat Hearing Loss. Sundia MediTech Acquires Protein Folding Technology. Beijing Cancer Hospital Introduces Fast and Precise RapidArc Radiotherapy Cancer Treatments. Zydus Cadila and Karo Bio's Research Collaboration has Generated Promising Lead Compounds. ICON Acquires Veeda Laboratories Limited. Novavax-Cadila to Conduct Swine Flu Clinical Trials. Axygen & Astellas form JV to Develop Protein Drugs. Rexahn, KRICT to Develop Anti-Cancer Drugs. Japan's Largest Pharmaceutical Firm Opens Regional HQ in Singapore.

US-based Dendrite Opens Shanghai Office. China's Northeast Pharmaceutical Produces AIDS Drug. France-based Servier Opens R&D Center in Beijing. US-based Cell Robotics to Provide 1000 Lasettes to Chinese Distributor. Matritech Selects Summit to Distribute Bladder Cancer Test Kit in China. Genaco to Develop Regent Kits for Chinese Diagnostic Market. HK's HealthCare Asia to Commercialize Novelos' Hepatitis Drug in China. Bio-Rad Grants License to Singapore's Genelabs to Continue Sales of HIV Tests. China Pharmaceutical Not Allowed to Sell Anthrax Drugs in US. Unilever to Expand Business in China. Taiwan's Yuen Foong Yu Invests in Herbal Farm in China. SurroMed Awarded Grant to Develop Nanobarcodes™ Particles Technology in Singapore. Malaysia's JCorp Finds Success in Healthcare Business. New Temperature Sensitive Packaging System from Saf-T-Pak. Malaysia's Supermax Sets Up Joint Venture with MSD Europe. Australia's Biota Rethinks Direction after Poor Acceptance of Influenza Drug. Austrialia-based Cellestis Clinches US Recommendation for TB Test Kit. Biotron of Australia Discovers Potential New Drugs for Treatment of HIV/AIDS. Chugai Signs Licensing Agreement on New Anti-cancer Agent with CTI Technologies. Japan's Olympus Develops Protein Analysis Device to Test New Drugs. Kyowa Hakko Opens Website to Provide Information on Biochemical and Fine Chemicals. Takeda Establishes Research Investment Company in the US. Takara Receives Exclusive Rights to Sell Microdissection System in Japan. Terumo of Japan Develops Wireless Communication System for Diabetics. Becton Dickinson Opens New Factory in Korea. Korea's Taeintech Finds Success in Bridging Biotechnology and Environmental Control. Eugene Science of Korea to Export Cholesterol-lowering Food Additive to Japan. India's Ranbaxy Gains Tentative US Approval for Lisinopril Tablets.

Swiss Approval of Unigene's Product Expedites Approvals in China. Kyowa Hakko Launches Clinical Trials of Anti-hypertensive Drug in China. GlaxoSmithKline Expands Investment in West China. Genetastix and Taiwan's Development Center for Biotechnology to Jointly Develop Human Antibody. Fuzhou Branch of Rocky Mountain Explores Retail Market in China. Calypte Receives First Substantial Order from China. Dragon Signs EPO Marketing and Licensing Agreement for Taiwan. Swissray Receives Two Substantial Orders from Taiwan for Its Digital Radiography. Tibetan Medicine Company Passes GMP Assessment. India's Top 3 Pharmaceutical Firms to Co-promote Ranbaxy's Once-daily Ciprofloxacin Formulation. Australia's Panbio Gears Up for Germ Warfare. Sumitomo Seiyaku Releases Influenza Detection Kit. India-based Dr. Reddy's Receives US Approval for Enalapril Maleate and HCTZ Tablets. Eisai Launches Gastrointestinal Medication Selbelle. Mayne Nickless Looks to Southeast Asia for Growth Options. Japan's Dragon Genomics Completes Sequencing of Symbiobacterium toebeii Genome. Singapore's Qugen Therapeutics and Biotech Research Ventures Collaborate on Business Development Services. Australia's Biotron Commences Clinical Trials of Cancer Diagnostic Product.

US-based Peregrine Collaborates with Shanghai Medipharm on Tumor Necrosis Therapy in China. China's 999 Pharmaceutical Company Under Investigation for False Information Disclosure. Roche Launches Anti-Obesity Drug in China. China's Largest Stem Cell Industry Base Set Up. Germany's Bayer Invests Heavily in China. Taiwan's Leading Academic Institute Teams Up with Compaq in Biotech. China's Largest Department Store Explores Market of Chain Drug Stores. Apex Healthcare of Malaysia on the Right Track of Growth. Malaysia's Pharmvision Taps into IBM e-Incubatee for e-procurement Solution. Labor Trouble Threatens Operations of GlaxoSmithKline Philippines. Korean Company Develops New DNA Typing Kit for Organ Transplantation. Australian Biotech Firm Produces World's First Internal Quality Control Product for Microbiological Testing. Varian Develops State-of-the-Art System for Studying DNA and Proteins. Taisho Pharmaceutical Makes Equity Investment in Quark Biotech. Takeda and Bayer to Withdraw Cerivastatin from Japanese Market. Ranbaxy's Ciprofloxacin to be Approved by the Indian Government Soon. Dr. Reddy's Files for Marketing Approval of Ondansetron in the US. Taiwan TaiGen Biotech Firm Secures Funding from MPM Asset Management. Taiwan's China Steel Corp to Invest Further in Biotechnology. NZ University Receives Large Funding from British Firm for Anti-Cancer Treatment. New Biotech Firm for Sheep Genome R & D Set Up in NZ.

IntroductionTasmania hangs from the map of Australia like a drop in freefall from the substance of the mainland. Often the whole state is mislaid from Australian maps and logos (Reddit). Tasmania has, at least since federation, been considered peripheral—a region seen as isolated, a ‘problem’ economically, politically, and culturally. However, Tasmania not only cleaves to the ‘north island’ of Australia but is also subject to the gravitational pull of an even greater land mass—Antarctica. In this article, we upturn the political conventions of map-making that place both Antarctica and Tasmania in obscure positions at the base of the globe. We show how a changing global climate re-frames Antarctica and the Southern Ocean as key drivers of worldwide environmental shifts. The liquid and solid water between Tasmania and Antarctica is revealed not as a homogenous barrier, but as a dynamic and relational medium linking the Tasmanian archipelago with Antarctica. When Antarctica becomes the focus, the script is flipped: Tasmania is no longer on the edge, but core to a network of gateways into the southern land. The state’s capital of Hobart can from this perspective be understood as an “Antarctic city”, central to the geopolitics, economy, and culture of the frozen continent (Salazar et al.). Viewed from the south, we argue, Tasmania is not a problem, but an opportunity for a form of ecological, cultural, economic, and political sustainability that opens up the southern continent to science, discovery, and imagination.A Centre at the End of the Earth? Tasmania as ParadoxThe islands of Tasmania owe their existence to climate change: a period of warming at the end of the last ice age melted the vast sheets of ice covering the polar regions, causing sea levels to rise by more than one hundred metres (Tasmanian Climate Change Office 8). Eleven thousand years ago, Aboriginal people would have witnessed the rise of what is now called Bass Strait, turning what had been a peninsula into an archipelago, with the large island of Tasmania at its heart. The heterogeneous practices and narratives of Tasmanian regional identity have been shaped by the geography of these islands, and their connection to the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. Regions, understood as “centres of collective consciousness and sociospatial identities” (Paasi 241) are constantly reproduced and reimagined through place-based social practices and communications over time. As we will show, diverse and contradictory narratives of Tasmanian regionality often co-exist, interacting in complex and sometimes complementary ways. Ecocritical literary scholar C.A. Cranston considers duality to be embedded in the textual construction of Tasmania, writing “it was hell, it was heaven, it was penal, it was paradise” (29). Tasmania is multiply polarised: it is both isolated and connected; close and far away; rich in resources and poor in capital; the socially conservative birthplace of radical green politics (Hay 60). The weather, as if sensing the fine balance of these paradoxes, blows hot and cold at a moment’s notice.Tasmania has wielded extraordinary political influence at times in its history—notably during the settlement of Melbourne in 1835 (Boyce), and during protests against damming the Franklin River in the early 1980s (Mercer). However, twentieth-century historical and political narratives of Tasmania portray the Bass Strait as a barrier, isolating Tasmanians from the mainland (Harwood 61). Sir Bede Callaghan, who headed one of a long line of federal government inquiries into “the Tasmanian problem” (Harwood 106), was clear that Tasmania was a victim of its own geography:the major disability facing the people of Tasmania (although some residents may consider it an advantage) is that Tasmania is an island. Separation from the mainland adversely affects the economy of the State and the general welfare of the people in many ways. (Callaghan 3)This perspective may stem from the fact that Tasmania has maintained the lowest Gross Domestic Product per capita of all states since federation (Bureau of Infrastructure Transport and Regional Economics 9). Socially, economically, and culturally, Tasmania consistently ranks among the worst regions of Australia. Statistical comparisons with other parts of Australia reveal the population’s high unemployment, low wages, poor educational outcomes, and bad health (West 31). The state’s remoteness and isolation from the mainland states and its reliance on federal income have contributed to the whole of Tasmania, including Hobart, being classified as ‘regional’ by the Australian government, in an attempt to promote immigration and economic growth (Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development 1). Tasmania is indeed both regional and remote. However, in this article we argue that, while regionality may be cast as a disadvantage, the island’s remote location is also an asset, particularly when viewed from a far southern perspective (Image 1).Image 1: Antarctica (Orthographic Projection). Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons, Modified Shading of Tasmania and Addition of Captions by H. Nielsen.Connecting Oceans/Collapsing DistanceTasmania and Antarctica have been closely linked in the past—the future archipelago formed a land bridge between Antarctica and northern land masses until the opening of the Tasman Seaway some 32 million years ago (Barker et al.). The far south was tangible to the Indigenous people of the island in the weather blowing in from the Southern Ocean, while the southern lights, or “nuyina”, formed a visible connection (Australia’s new icebreaker vessel is named RSV Nuyina in recognition of these links). In the contemporary Australian imagination, Tasmania tends to be defined by its marine boundaries, the sea around the islands represented as flat, empty space against which to highlight the topography of its landscape and the isolation of its position (Davies et al.). A more relational geographic perspective illuminates the “power of cross-currents and connections” (Stratford et al. 273) across these seascapes. The sea country of Tasmania is multiple and heterogeneous: the rough, shallow waters of the island-scattered Bass Strait flow into the Tasman Sea, where the continental shelf descends toward an abyssal plain studded with volcanic seamounts. To the south, the Southern Ocean provides nutrient-rich upwellings that attract fish and cetacean populations. Tasmania’s coast is a dynamic, liminal space, moving and changing in response to the global currents that are driven by the shifting, calving and melting ice shelves and sheets in Antarctica.Oceans have long been a medium of connection between Tasmania and Antarctica. In the early colonial period, when the seas were the major thoroughfares of the world and inland travel was treacherous and slow, Tasmania’s connection with the Southern Ocean made it a valuable hub for exploration and exploitation of the south. Between 1642 and 1900, early European explorers were followed by British penal colonists, convicts, sealers, and whalers (Kriwoken and Williamson 93). Tasmania was well known to polar explorers, with expeditions led by Jules Dumont d’Urville, James Clark Ross, Roald Amundsen, and Douglas Mawson all transiting through the port of Hobart. Now that the city is no longer a whaling hub, growing populations of cetaceans continue to migrate past the islands on their annual journeys from the tropics, across the Sub-Antarctic Front and Antarctic circumpolar current, and into the south polar region, while southern species such as leopard seals are occasionally seen around Tasmania (Tasmania Parks and Wildlife). Although the water surrounding Tasmania and Antarctica is at times homogenised as a ‘barrier’, rendering these places isolated, the bodies of water that surround both are in fact permeable, and regularly crossed by both humans and marine species. The waters are diverse in their physical characteristics, underlying topography, sea life, and relationships, and serve to connect many different ocean regions, ecosystems, and weather patterns.Views from the Far SouthWhen considered in terms of its relative proximity to Antarctic, rather than its distance from Australia’s political and economic centres, Tasmania’s identity undergoes a significant shift. A sign at Cockle Creek, in the state’s far south, reminds visitors that they are closer to Antarctica than to Cairns, invoking a discourse of connectedness that collapses the standard ten-day ship voyage to Australia’s closest Antarctic station into a unit comparable with the routinely scheduled 5.5 hour flight to North Queensland. Hobart is the logistical hub for the Australian Antarctic Division and the French Institut Polaire Francais (IPEV), and has hosted Antarctic vessels belonging to the USA, South Korea, and Japan in recent years. From a far southern perspective, Hobart is not a regional Australian capital but a global polar hub. This alters the city’s geographic imaginary not only in a latitudinal sense—from “top down” to “bottom up”—but also a longitudinal one. Via its southward connection to Antarctica, Hobart is also connected east and west to four other recognized gateways: Cape Town in South Africa, Christchurch in New Zealand; Punta Arenas in Chile; and Ushuaia in Argentina (Image 2). The latter cities are considered small by international standards, but play an outsized role in relation to Antarctica.Image 2: H. Nielsen with a Sign Announcing Distances between Antarctic ‘Gateway’ Cities and Antarctica, Ushuaia, Argentina, 2018. Image Credit: Nicki D'Souza.These five cities form what might be called—to adapt geographer Klaus Dodds’ term—a ‘Southern Rim’ around the South Polar region (Dodds Geopolitics). They exist in ambiguous relationship to each other. Although the five cities signed a Statement of Intent in 2009 committing them to collaboration, they continue to compete vigorously for northern hemisphere traffic and the brand identity of the most prominent global gateway. A state government brochure spruiks Hobart, for example, as the “perfect Antarctic Gateway” emphasising its uniqueness and “natural advantages” in this regard (Tasmanian Government, 2016). In practice, the cities are automatically differentiated by their geographic position with respect to Antarctica. Although the ‘ice continent’ is often conceived as one entity, it too has regions, in both scientific and geographical senses (Terauds and Lee; Antonello). Hobart provides access to parts of East Antarctica, where the Australian, French, Japanese, and Chinese programs (among others) have bases; Cape Town is a useful access point for Europeans going to Dronning Maud Land; Christchurch is closest to the Ross Sea region, site of the largest US base; and Punta Arenas and Ushuaia neighbour the Antarctic Peninsula, home to numerous bases as well as a thriving tourist industry.The Antarctic sector is important to the Tasmanian economy, contributing $186 million (AUD) in 2017/18 (Wells; Gutwein; Tasmanian Polar Network). Unsurprisingly, Tasmania’s gateway brand has been actively promoted, with the 2016 Australian Antarctic Strategy and 20 Year Action Plan foregrounding the need to “Build Tasmania’s status as the premier East Antarctic Gateway for science and operations” and the state government releasing a “Tasmanian Antarctic Gateway Strategy” in 2017. The Chinese Antarctic program has been a particular focus: a Memorandum of Understanding focussed on Australia and China’s Antarctic relations includes a “commitment to utilise Australia, including Tasmania, as an Antarctic ‘gateway’.” (Australian Antarctic Division). These efforts towards a closer relationship with China have more recently come under attack as part of a questioning of China’s interests in the region (without, it should be noted, a concomitant questioning of Australia’s own considerable interests) (Baker 9). In these exchanges, a global power and a state of Australia generally classed as regional and peripheral are brought into direct contact via the even more remote Antarctic region. This connection was particularly visible when Chinese President Xi Jinping travelled to Hobart in 2014, in a visit described as both “strategic” and “incongruous” (Burden). There can be differences in how this relationship is narrated to domestic and international audiences, with issues of sovereignty and international cooperation variously foregrounded, laying the ground for what Dodds terms “awkward Antarctic nationalism” (1).Territory and ConnectionsThe awkwardness comes to a head in Tasmania, where domestic and international views of connections with the far south collide. Australia claims sovereignty over almost 6 million km2 of the Antarctic continent—a claim that in area is “roughly the size of mainland Australia minus Queensland” (Bergin). This geopolitical context elevates the importance of a regional part of Australia: the claims to Antarctic territory (which are recognised only by four other claimant nations) are performed not only in Antarctic localities, where they are made visible “with paraphernalia such as maps, flags, and plaques” (Salazar 55), but also in Tasmania, particularly in Hobart and surrounds. A replica of Mawson’s Huts in central Hobart makes Australia’s historic territorial interests in Antarctica visible an urban setting, foregrounding the figure of Douglas Mawson, the well-known Australian scientist and explorer who led the expeditions that proclaimed Australia’s sovereignty in the region of the continent roughly to its south (Leane et al.). Tasmania is caught in a balancing act, as it fosters international Antarctic connections (such hosting vessels from other national programs), while also playing a key role in administering what is domestically referred to as the Australian Antarctic Territory. The rhetoric of protection can offer common ground: island studies scholar Godfrey Baldacchino notes that as island narratives have moved “away from the perspective of the ‘explorer-discoverer-colonist’” they have been replaced by “the perspective of the ‘custodian-steward-environmentalist’” (49), but reminds readers that a colonising disposition still lurks beneath the surface. It must be remembered that terms such as “stewardship” and “leadership” can undertake sovereignty labour (Dodds “Awkward”), and that Tasmania’s Antarctic connections can be mobilised for a range of purposes. When Environment Minister Greg Hunt proclaimed at a press conference that: “Hobart is the gateway to the Antarctic for the future” (26 Apr. 2016), the remark had meaning within discourses of both sovereignty and economics. Tasmania’s capital was leveraged as a way to position Australia as a leader in the Antarctic arena.From ‘Gateway’ to ‘Antarctic City’While discussion of Antarctic ‘Gateway’ Cities often focuses on the economic and logistical benefit of their Antarctic connections, Hobart’s “gateway” identity, like those of its counterparts, stretches well beyond this, encompassing geological, climatic, historical, political, cultural and scientific links. Even the southerly wind, according to cartoonist Jon Kudelka, “has penguins in it” (Image 3). Hobart residents feel a high level of connection to Antarctica. In 2018, a survey of 300 randomly selected residents of Greater Hobart was conducted under the umbrella of the “Antarctic Cities” Australian Research Council Linkage Project led by Assoc. Prof. Juan Francisco Salazar (and involving all three present authors). Fourteen percent of respondents reported having been involved in an economic activity related to Antarctica, and 36% had attended a cultural event about Antarctica. Connections between the southern continent and Hobart were recognised as important: 71.9% agreed that “people in my city can influence the cultural meanings that shape our relationship to Antarctica”, while 90% agreed or strongly agreed that Hobart should play a significant role as a custodian of Antarctica’s future, and 88.4% agreed or strongly agreed that: “How we treat Antarctica is a test of our approach to ecological sustainability.” Image 3: “The Southerly” Demonstrates How Weather Connects Hobart and Antarctica. Image Credit: Jon Kudelka, Reproduced with Permission.Hobart, like the other gateways, activates these connections in its conscious place-branding. The city is particularly strong as a centre of Antarctic research: signs at the cruise-ship terminal on the waterfront claim that “There are more Antarctic scientists based in Hobart […] than at any other one place on earth, making Hobart a globally significant contributor to our understanding of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.” Researchers are based at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), and the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), with several working between institutions. Many Antarctic researchers located elsewhere in the world also have a connection with the place through affiliations and collaborations, leading journalist Jo Chandler to assert that “the breadth and depth of Hobart’s knowledge of ice, water, and the life forms they nurture […] is arguably unrivalled anywhere in the world” (86).Hobart also plays a significant role in Antarctica’s governance, as the site of the secretariats for the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP), and as host of the Antarctic Consultative Treaty Meetings on more than one occasion (1986, 2012). The cultural domain is active, with Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) featuring a permanent exhibit, “Islands to Ice”, emphasising the ocean as connecting the two places; the Mawson’s Huts Replica Museum aiming (among other things) to “highlight Hobart as the gateway to the Antarctic continent for the Asia Pacific region”; and a biennial Australian Antarctic Festival drawing over twenty thousand visitors, about a sixth of them from interstate or overseas (Hingley). Antarctic links are evident in the city’s natural and built environment: the dolerite columns of Mt Wellington, the statue of the Tasmanian Antarctic explorer Louis Bernacchi on the waterfront, and the wharfs that regularly accommodate icebreakers such as the Aurora Australis and the Astrolabe. Antarctica is figured as a southern neighbour; as historian Tom Griffiths puts it, Tasmanians “grow up with Antarctica breathing down their necks” (5). As an Antarctic City, Hobart mediates access to Antarctica both physically and in the cultural imaginary.Perhaps in recognition of the diverse ways in which a region or a city might be connected to Antarctica, researchers have recently been suggesting critical approaches to the ‘gateway’ label. C. Michael Hall points to a fuzziness in the way the term is applied, noting that it has drifted from its initial definition (drawn from economic geography) as denoting an access and supply point to a hinterland that produces a certain level of economic benefits. While Hall looks to keep the term robustly defined to avoid empty “local boosterism” (272–73), Gabriela Roldan aims to move the concept “beyond its function as an entry and exit door”, arguing that, among other things, the local community should be actively engaged in the Antarctic region (57). Leane, examining the representation of Hobart as a gateway in historical travel texts, concurs that “ingress and egress” are insufficient descriptors of Tasmania’s relationship with Antarctica, suggesting that at least discursively the island is positioned as “part of an Antarctic rim, itself sharing qualities of the polar region” (45). The ARC Linkage Project described above, supported by the Hobart City Council, the State Government and the University of Tasmania, as well as other national and international partners, aims to foster the idea of the Hobart and its counterparts as ‘Antarctic cities’ whose citizens act as custodians for the South Polar region, with a genuine concern for and investment in its future.Near and Far: Local Perspectives A changing climate may once again herald a shift in the identity of the Tasmanian islands. Recognition of the central role of Antarctica in regulating the global climate has generated scientific and political re-evaluation of the region. Antarctica is not only the planet’s largest heat sink but is the engine of global water currents and wind patterns that drive weather patterns and biodiversity across the world (Convey et al. 543). For example, Tas van Ommen’s research into Antarctic glaciology shows the tangible connection between increased snowfall in coastal East Antarctica and patterns of drought southwest Western Australia (van Ommen and Morgan). Hobart has become a global centre of marine and Antarctic science, bringing investment and development to the city. As the global climate heats up, Tasmania—thanks to its low latitude and southerly weather patterns—is one of the few regions in Australia likely to remain temperate. This is already leading to migration from the mainland that is impacting house prices and rental availability (Johnston; Landers 1). The region’s future is therefore closely entangled with its proximity to the far south. Salazar writes that “we cannot continue to think of Antarctica as the end of the Earth” (67). Shifting Antarctica into focus also brings Tasmania in from the margins. As an Antarctic city, Hobart assumes a privileged positioned on the global stage. This allows the city to present itself as central to international research efforts—in contrast to domestic views of the place as a small regional capital. The city inhabits dual identities; it is both on the periphery of Australian concerns and at the centre of Antarctic activity. Tasmania, then, is not in freefall, but rather at the forefront of a push to recognise Antarctica as entangled with its neighbours to the north.AcknowledgementsThis work was supported by the Australian Research Council under LP160100210.ReferencesAntonello, Alessandro. “Finding Place in Antarctica.” Antarctica and the Humanities. Eds. Peder Roberts, Lize-Marie van der Watt, and Adrian Howkins. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. 181–204.Australian Government. 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Floriculture industry is one of the largest industries in India where India has an immense potentiality concerning to expansion of the product range and various commercial activities. These activities consist of flower trading, supplying saplings, greens and ornamental plants, landscaping in real estate market, floral designing and custom made products in weddings and festivities, extracting essential oils, natural dye from flowers and preparing ingredients in pharmaceutical industry. In India, mainly fresh flowers are exported from Karnataka, Maharashtra and dried flowers from Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Although Indian floriculture exports have largely captured European, Japanese and Australian markets but International market is highly competitive due to the presence of African countries, and Asian neighbours in this segment. Except the international demand, domestic demand is also very high with growing rate of around 40% per annum. In the present scenario, Indian Export Oriented Units in this sector are mainly dependent on technological support which comes from various foreign countries like France, USA, Holland, etc. The other significant issues are related with the unorganized market structure, unscientific packaging and transportation of flowers, low level of product diversification and differentiation, high import tariff in African countries, non-availability of perishable carriers, insufficient infrastructural support, lack of quality control and certification, deficiencies in cold chain management, etc. Recently, private investments in floriculture industry have been initiated by reputed corporate houses like TATA group, Birla, ESSAR group, etc. Several initiatives for marketing and growth of floriculture sector have been already taken by the Government. However, more dynamic strategies are to be adopted by the Government along with the private organizations and research institutions in order to fulfill domestic as well as international demands of this sector. In our present study, a deliberate attempt will be made to frame a conceptual model on retail consumer behaviour of rural Floriculture Industry in Eastern India. The findings of this paper will depict the retail consumer behaviour which will help us to identify the critical factors in retail floriculture business. This study will also prescribe deliberate strategies for the overall improvement of this sector in the days to come.

This issue of M/C Journal is devoted to all things cute – Internet animals and stuffed toys, cartoon characters and branded bears. In what follows our nine contributors scrutinise a diverse range of media objects, discussing everything from the economics of Grumpy Cat and the aesthetics of Furbys to Reddit’s intellectual property dramas and the ethics of kitten memes. The articles range across diverse sites, from China to Canada, and equally diverse disciplines, including cultural studies, evolutionary economics, media anthropology, film studies and socio-legal studies. But they share a common aim of tracing out the connections between degraded media forms and wider questions of culture, identity, economy and power. Our contributors tell riveting stories about these connections, inviting us to see the most familiar visual culture in a new way. We are not the first to take cute media seriously as a site of cultural politics, and as an industry in its own right. Cultural theory has a long, antagonistic relationship with the kitsch and the disposable. From the Frankfurt School’s withering critique of cultural commodification to revisionist feminist accounts that emphasise the importance of the everyday, critics have been conducting sporadic incursions into this space for the better part of a century. The rise of cultural studies, a discipline committed to analysing “the scrap of ordinary or banal existence” (Morris and Frow xviii), has naturally provided a convincing intellectual rationale for such research, and has inspired an impressive array of studies on such things as Victorian-era postcards (Milne), Disney films (Forgacs), Hallmark cards (West, Jaffe) and stock photography (Frosh). A parallel strand of literary theory considers the diverse registers of aesthetic experience that characterize cute content (Brown, Harris). Sianne Ngai has written elegantly on this topic, noting that “while the avant-garde is conventionally imagined as sharp and pointy, as hard- or cutting-edge, cute objects have no edge to speak of, usually being soft, round, and deeply associated with the infantile and the feminine” (814). Other scholars trace the historical evolution of cute aesthetics and commodities. Cultural historians have documented the emergence of consumer markets for children and how these have shaped what we think of as cute (Cross). Others have considered the history of domestic animal imagery and its symptomatic relationship with social anxieties around Darwinism, animal rights, and pet keeping (Morse and Danahay, Ritvo). And of course, Japanese popular culture – with its distinctive mobilization of cute aesthetics – has attracted its own rich literature in anthropology and area studies (Allison, Kinsella). The current issue of M/C Journal extends these lines of research while also pushing the conversation in some new directions. Specifically, we are interested in the collision between cute aesthetics, understood as a persistent strand of mass culture, and contemporary digital media. What might the existing tradition of “cute theory” mean in an Internet economy where user-generated content sites and social media have massively expanded the semiotic space of “cute” – and the commercial possibilities this entails? As the heir to a specific mode of degraded populism, the Internet cat video may be to the present what the sitcom, the paperback novel, or the Madonna video was to an earlier moment of cultural analysis. Millions of people worldwide start their days with kittens on Roombas. Global animal brands, such as Maru and Grumpy Cat, are appearing, along with new talent agencies for celebrity pets. Online portal I Can Haz Cheezburger has received millions of dollars in venture capital funding, becoming a diversified media business (and then a dotcom bubble). YouTube channels, Twitter hashtags and blog rolls form an infrastructure across which a vast amount of cute-themed user-generated content, as well as an increasing amount of commercially produced and branded material, now circulates. All this reminds us of the oft-quoted truism that the Internet is “made of kittens”, and that it’s “kittens all the way down”. Digitization of cute culture leads to some unusual tweaks in the taste hierarchies explored in the aforementioned scholarship. Cute content now functions variously as an affective transaction, a form of fandom, and as a subcultural discourse. In some corners of the Internet it is also being re-imagined as something contemporary, self-reflexive and flecked with irony. The example of 4Chan and LOLcats, a jocular, masculinist remix of the feminized genre of pet photography, is particularly striking here. How might the topic of cute look if we moving away from the old dialectics of mass culture critique vs. defense and instead foreground some of these more counter-intuitive aspects, taking seriously the enormous scale and vibrancy of the various “cute” content production systems – from children’s television to greeting cards to CuteOverload.com – and their structural integration into current media, marketing and lifestyle industries? Several articles in this issue adopt this approach, investigating the undergirding economic and regulatory structures of cute culture. Jason Potts provides a novel economic explanation for why there are so many animals on the Internet, using a little-known economic theory (the Alchian-Allen theorem) to explain the abundance of cat videos on YouTube. James Meese explores the complex copyright politics of pet images on Reddit, showing how this online community – which is the original source of much of the Internet’s animal gifs, jpegs and videos – has developed its own procedures for regulating animal image “piracy”. These articles imaginatively connect the soft stuff of cute content with the hard stuff of intellectual property and supply-and-demand dynamics. Another line of questioning investigates the political and bio-political work involved in everyday investments in cute culture. Seen from this perspective, cute is an affect that connects ground-level consumer subjectivity with various economic and political projects. Carolyn Stevens’ essay offers an absorbing analysis of the Japanese cute character Rilakkuma (“Relaxed Bear”), a wildly popular cartoon bear that is typically depicted lying on the couch and eating sweets. She explores what this representation means in the context of a stagnant Japanese economy, when the idea of idleness is taking on a new shade of meaning due to rising under-employment and precarity. Sharalyn Sanders considers a fascinating recent case of cute-powered activism in Canada, when animal rights activists used a multimedia stunt – a cat, Tuxedo Stan, running for mayor of Halifax, Canada – to highlight the unfortunate situation of stray and feral felines in the municipality. Sanders offers a rich analysis of this unusual political campaign and the moral questions it provokes. Elaine Laforteza considers another fascinating collision of the cute and the political: the case of Lil’ Bub, an American cat with a rare genetic condition that results in a perpetually kitten-like facial expression. During 2011 Lil’ Bub became an online phenomenon of the first order. Laforteza uses this event, and the controversies that brewed around it, as an entry point for a fascinating discussion of the “cute-ification” of disability. These case studies remind us once more of the political stakes of representation and viral communication, topics taken up by other contributors in their articles. Radha O’Meara’s “Do Cats Know They Rule YouTube? How Cat Videos Disguise Surveillance as Unselfconscious Play” provides a wide-ranging textual analysis of pet videos, focusing on the subtle narrative structures and viewer positioning that are so central to the pleasures of this genre. O’Meara explains how the “cute” experience is linked to the frisson of surveillance, and escape from surveillance. She also explains the aesthetic differences that distinguish online dog videos from cat videos, showing how particular ideas about animals are hardwired into the apparently spontaneous form of amateur content production. Gabriele de Seta investigates the linguistics of cute in his nuanced examination of how a new word – meng – entered popular discourse amongst Mandarin Chinese Internet users. de Seta draws our attention to the specificities of cute as a concept, and how the very notion of cuteness undergoes a series of translations and reconfigurations as it travels across cultures and contexts. As the term meng supplants existing Mandarin terms for cute such as ke’ai, debates around how the new word should be used are common. De Seta shows us how deploying these specific linguistic terms for cuteness involve a range of linguistic and aesthetic judgments. In short, what exactly is cute and in what context? Other contributors offer much-needed cultural analyses of the relationship between cute aesthetics, celebrity and user-generated culture. Catherine Caudwell looks at the once-popular Furby toy brand its treatment in online fan fiction. She notes that these forms of online creative practice offer a range of “imaginative and speculative” critiques of cuteness. Caudwell – like de Seta – reminds us that “cuteness is an unstable aesthetic that is culturally contingent and very much tied to behaviour”, an affect that can encompass friendliness, helplessness, monstrosity and strangeness. Jonathon Hutchinson’s article explores “petworking”, the phenomenon of social media-enabled celebrity pets (and pet owners). Using the famous example of Boo, a “highly networked” celebrity Pomeranian, Hutchinson offers a careful account of how cute is constructed, with intermediaries (owners and, in some cases, agents) negotiating a series of careful interactions between pet fans and the pet itself. Hutchinson argues if we wish to understand the popularity of cute content, the “strategic efforts” of these intermediaries must be taken into account. Each of our contributors has a unique story to tell about the aesthetics of commodity culture. The objects they analyse may be cute and furry, but the critical arguments offered here have very sharp teeth. We hope you enjoy the issue.Acknowledgments Thanks to Axel Bruns at M/C Journal for his support, to our hard-working peer reviewers for their insightful and valuable comments, and to the Swinburne Institute for Social Research for the small grant that made this issue possible. ReferencesAllison, Anne. “Cuteness as Japan’s Millenial Product.” Pikachu’s Global Adventure: The Rise and Fall of Pokemon. Ed. Joseph Tobin. Durham: Duke University Press, 2004. 34-48. Brown, Laura. Homeless Dogs and Melancholy Apes: Humans and Other Animals in the Modern Literary Imagination. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2010. Cross, Gary. The Cute and the Cool: Wondrous Innocence and Modern American Children's Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Forgacs, David. 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