Asia Pacific

Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore

HBS established the first of the School's international research centers in Hong Kong in 1999, the Asia-Pacific Research Center (APRC). In 2010, the Harvard Center Shanghai (HSC) opened, home to a 90-seat HBS classroom, and more recent expansion has added an office in Singapore to more broadly support HBS faculty in this region. In 2023 the Shanghai-based classroom was closed down, however much of the programming continued on remotely or in other venues. The three locations work in strong partnership with one another not only to support faculty research, but a full range of MBA and Executive Education student programming. Through their ongoing work they have developed important links with governments, academic institutions, and corporations within a region that is assuming an increasingly vital role in the world economy. Enabled by its local presence, the School has been able to enhance the breadth and depth of faculty research and case studies in the Asia-Pacific region.

Locations

Harvard Center Shanghai
5/F, Shanghai IFC-HSBC Building
No. 8 Century Avenue
Pudong, Shanghai
Tel: +86 21 3852 3800
Fax: +86 21 3852 3820
http://shanghaicenter.harvard.edu/

Asia-Pacific Research Center - Singapore Office
Level 57, Republic Plaza
9 Raffles Place
Singapore 048619
Tel: +65 6823 1306
Fax: +65 6823 1377

Asia-Pacific Research Center
10 Pottinger Street, 24th Floor
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2289 9988
Fax: +852 2521 1427

News & Highlights

MAY 2023
EVENT

Professor Ashley V. Whillans on “Time Smart: How to Reclaim Your Time and Live a Happier Life”

On May 11, the HBS Asia-Pacific Research Center hosted a Happiness Talk Series featuring HBS Professor Ashley V. Whillans’ book Time Smart: How to Reclaim Your Time and Live a Happier Life. Yi Cai, Committee Member, HBS Club of Shanghai and Patient Digital Health Business Lead at Viatris China, discussed the strategies that will help people make the shift to time-smart living and, in the process, build a happier, more fulfilling life with Professor Ashley V. Whillans. Approximately 120 Harvard alumni and friends joined the event.

APRIL 2023
EVENT

6th Annual HBS Women's Leadership Forum: “Facing the Glass Cliff: Women's Leadership in Crisis”

On April 21, 2023, the Harvard Center Shanghai and Harvard Business Review China successfully organized the 6th Annual HBS Women’s Leadership Forum. With the theme “Facing the Glass Cliff: Women's Leadership in Crisis,” we aimed to explore the advantages and responsibilities of female leaders in the time of crises, as well as the role of women in shaping breakthroughs and innovations for the future. More than 100 people were in attendance.

MARCH 2023
EVENT

ChatGPT Conversation between Professor Feng Zhu and Kunlun Tech CEO Han Fang

In March, Harvard Center Shanghai, in collaboration with HBS Club of Shanghai, hosted a ChatGPT discussion featuring Professor Feng Zhu and Kunlun Tech CEO, Han Fan. The event shed light on the opportunities and challenges brought by ChatGPT, the new business models, and the future development of AI in China. The event was attended by over 70 Harvard alumni and friends.

FEBRUARY 2023
EVENT

Alumni Events in Seoul, Singapore, Jakarta, and Manila with Professor Paul Gompers on his New Book

In February, the Asia-Pacific Research Center collaborated with the Harvard Business School Clubs of Korea and Singapore, and the Harvard Clubs of Indonesia and the Philippines to host alumni events in Seoul, Singapore, Jakarta, and Manila. Professor Paul Gompers presented his book, Advanced Introduction to Private Equity, to HBS alumni and supporters. Co-written with the University of Chicago Professor Steven A. Kaplan, the book provides valuable insights on private equity for academics, students, young professionals, and industry veterans. The event was attended by a significant number of Harvard alumni and friends.

New Research on the Region

October 2023
Case

Taiwan After Globalization: Twilight of the Developmental State?

By: Debora L. Spar and Julia Comeau

In the last 70 years, the small island of Taiwan has achieved what many believe to be a “miracle”: its economy has grown at a record-setting pace, driven and guided by one of the world's most successful set of industrial policies, and it has become one of the richest and most open nations in the global trading system, with particular sway in the vital semiconductor sector. In more recent decades, however, the authoritarian government that originally led Taiwan’s miracle has given way to a more open and pluralistic democracy and the growth of the island’s semiconductor industry has slowed. Meanwhile, Taiwan finds itself in 2023 caught in the middle of a trade war between the United States and China, heightened by the threat of invasion from the PRC. Can Taiwan’s newly pluralistic political system and plateauing technology sector maintain its miracle in such a vastly different environment?

October 2023
Article
Review of Financial Studies

Stock Market Stimulus

By: Robin Greenwood, Toomas Laarits and Jeffrey Wurgler

We study the stock market effects of the arrival of the three rounds of “stimulus checks” to U.S. taxpayers and the single round of direct payments to Hong Kong citizens. The first two rounds of U.S. checks appear to have increased retail buying and share prices of retail-dominated portfolios. The Hong Kong payments increased overall turnover and share prices on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. We cannot rule out that these price effects were permanent. The findings raise novel questions about the role of fiscal stimulus in the stock market.

September 2023
Teaching Material

Esquel Group

By: William C. Kirby and Noah B. Truwit

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 307-076 and 322-058. These cases focus on the experience of China's largest shirt manufacturer, Esquel Group, and how it manages various aspects of government relations in China and abroad. The A case identifies a wide variety of social initiatives Esquel has undertaken. The B case dives into the challenges facing the company. Deteriorating U.S-China relations and the trade war have damaged Esquel's business. Worse, the U.S. government launched a campaign dissuading firms from doing business in Xinjiang. Ultimately, one of Esquel Group's Xinjiang plants was placed on the Entity List, banning the company from accessing U.S.-produced goods and services and largely shutting its products out of U.S. markets. How could Esquel reinvent itself? Would it deepen its ties to the Chinese market or close down its Xinjiang operation to appease the Americans? How might it be removed from the Entity List and restore its reputation?

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