Australian Economic History Review 

Abstract: Is foreign direct investment more resilient at the onset of an economic crisis and the subsequent economic collapse in a host country compared to other forms of foreign capital inflows? Are affiliates of multinational enterprises in a crisis-hit country better equipped to withstand a crisis and aid the recovery process by readjusting their investment, production and sales strategies compared to local firms? This article examines these issues in the context of the 1997–1998 economic crisis in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea and the Philippines. The findings suggest that foreign direct investment was a relatively stable source of foreign capital in the crisis context and that the affiliates of multinational enterprises were instrumental in ameliorating the severity of economic collapse and facilitating the recovery process.

Abstract: Australia has experienced frequent and large commodity export price shocks similar to commodity exporters in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, but this price volatility has had much more modest impact on economic performance. Why? This paper explores Australian terms of trade volatility since 1901. It identifies two major price shock episodes before the recent mining-led boom and bust. It assesses their relative magnitude, their impact on de-industrialisation and distribution during the booms, and the labour market and policy responses to the shocks. Australia has indeed responded differently to volatile commodity prices than have other commodity exporters.

Abstract: The paper provides an analytical comparison of the evolution of trade policy in Canada and Australia and of the two countries' roles in international trade diplomacy. Despite similarities in history and resource endowment, these roles have differed substantially, especially during the third quarter of the twentieth century. The focus is on the reasons why Canadian and Australian attitudes and policies differed so markedly. The importance of the USA as a trading partner, differing economic experiences during the decade of the 1920s, and the more concentrated composition of Australian exports all played a part. Once in train, the position that Australia was different and need not participate in GATT tariff cuts as long as agriculture was excluded became the inertial position, while Canada played an active role in GATT's early development. After 1973 Australia's position as an outlier among high-income countries' trade policies was reversed, and Australian and Canadian trade policies again became similar in the 1980s.

Abstract: Regulatory regimes of political economy have a high degree of stability. The old Australian regime of labourist–protectionism survived more or less unchanged since before the Great War. The key feature was the historic compromise between the classes and leaders of capital and labour, mediated via the state and the institutions created to implement it. In the 1980s the regime was radically and rapidly transformed into the neoliberal globalizing regime. Explaining such large–scale shifts in systems of political economy, the history of which follows a pattern of punctuated equilibrium, is a difficult task for historical enquiry. This paper seeks to articulate an appropriate theoretical framework, derived from the structurist (that is, historical and realist) tradition that emphasizes historicity, multidimensionality, a form of institutionalism, human agency, and neo–Darwinian evolutionary theory.