Kiasunomics : stories of Singaporean economic behaviours

288 Pages·2018·6.47 MB·English

by  Agarwal

“Penned in an appealing, conversational style, Kiasunomics©
provides deep insights into how we can make better decisions in a
complex world, if we knew what research has found. It provokes
readers to reflect and pose questions of their own. I’m delighted
that research at National University of Singapore has created
practical impact for the nation and beyond.”
Professor Tan Eng Chye
Deputy President (Academic Affairs) and Provost, National University of Singapore
“I marvel at how the NUS professors can weave their research
findings into a storybook. It’s enlightening to see how much
Economics can affect us. People will find this book interesting to
read and benefit from their research.”
Dr William Fung
Group Managing Director, Li & Fung Group
“Everyone interested in the value of big data can benefit from this
book. The authors have been able to marry deep data analytics with
empirical observations to come up with extremely interesting
insights. In addition, the storytelling nature of the narrative makes
it easy to follow and relate to. For non-Singaporeans, this is a ready
primer of many behaviours that drive our country!”
Mr Piyush Gupta
Chief Executive Officer and Director, DBS Group
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“This book is a delight to read. Interestingly, it coincides with the
2017 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences awarded to one of the
founding fathers of behavioural economics — an area of Economics
adopted in this book. Kiasunomics© resonates with the broader
impact of Singaporean behavioural traits, kiasuism being one. The
authors cleverly tell a number of stories, drawing on the findings
of their rigorous academic work, to illustrate the economic
consequences of seemingly innocuous or irrational decisions made
by individuals. They have chosen a narrative style which allows
serious academic literature to appeal to a broader readership.”
Dr Seek Ngee Huat
Chairman, Institute of Real Estate Studies and Practice Professor, National University of Singapore;
Chairman, Global Logistic Properties Ltd
“Economics affects our daily lives profoundly. Yet, so few of us are
aware of this. This book is a great gift to Singaporeans as it cleverly
integrates research with storytelling to show the impact of
Economics on our lives. I highly commend this very readable book
to Singaporeans and others. You will have fun as you learn.”
Professor Kishore Mahbubani
Dean, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore,
and co-author of The ASEAN Miracle: A Catalyst for Peace
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K i a s u n o m i c s ©
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Sumit Agarwal
Ang Swee Hoon
Sing Tien Foo
National University of Singapore
World Scientific
NEW JERSEY • LONDON • SINGAPORE • BEIJING • SHANGHAI • HONG KONG • TAIPEI • CHENNAI • TOKYO
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Published by
World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224
USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601
UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE
National Library Board, Singapore Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Name(s): Agarwal, Sumit.
Title: Kiasunomics© : stories of Singaporean economic behaviours / Sumit Agarwal,
Ang Swee Hoon, Sing Tien Foo.
Description: Singapore : World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., [2017]
Identifier(s): OCN 1005840043 | ISBN 978-981-3234-53-6 (paperback) |
978-981-3233-36-2 (hardcover)
Subject(s): LCSH: Economics—Psychological aspects. | Consumer behavior—Singapore.
Classification: DDC 330.019—dc23
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Copyright © 2018 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval
system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the publisher.
For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance
Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to photocopy
is not required from the publisher.
For any available supplementary material, please visit
http://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/10799#t=suppl
Desk Editor: Jiang Yulin
Printed in Singapore
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Yulin - 10799 - Kiasunomics.indd 1 31-10-17 11:07:18 AM
Contents
Acknowledgements viii
Note from the Authors x
List of Acronyms xi
Glossary of Singlish Terms xiii
Introduction xvi
Chapter 1 Dragon Babies, There Are So Many of You 1
Chapter 2 Taxi Driver, Where Are You? 17
Chapter 3 New Wife, New Life 35
Chapter 4 To Johor, to Johor, to Buy That Nice Dress 49
Chapter 5 Gentlemen, Start Your Engines 61
Chapter 6 Ladies, Ready, Get Set, Shop 71
Chapter 7 Muthu, Don’t Be Reckless 79
Chapter 8 Mind Your 4s and 8s 89
Chapter 9 Circling Up 109
Chapter 10 Tolls and Trolls 115
Chapter 11 New House, New Friends 127
Chapter 12 Lady, Do You Want to Tee off? 139
Chapter 13 Papa, Don’t Forget to Switch off the Lights 149
Chapter 14 Mama, Don’t Forget to Switch on the Air-con 161
Chapter 15 Boy Boy, Go to a Good School 171
Chapter 16 Smoke Gets in Your Eyes 187
Chapter 17 Girl, Shower Faster, Save Water 207
Chapter 18 Auntie, We Paint Your Flat 223
Chapter 19 Vegetable Seller, Why So Expensive? 231
Chapter 20 Teng, Are You Grown Up? 253
About the Authors 265
vii
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Acknowledgements
O
ur thanks to our research collaborators as well as our National
University of Singapore colleagues whose interesting and
meaningful research help to make this book possible:
CHENG Shih Fen
CHOI Hyun Soo
CHOMSISENGPHET Souphala
CHONG Juin Kuan
DIAO Mi
GOETTE Lorenz
HE Jie
HO Teck Hua
HYUN Soo Choi
KEPPO Jussi
KOO Kang Mo
LIM Cheryl
LIU Haoming
PAN Jessica
PNG Ivan P.L.
QIAN Wenlan
QIN Yu
REEB David M
RENGARAJAN Satyanarain
TAN Poh Lin
TIEFENBECK Verena
VOLLMER Derek
viii
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Acknowledgements
WANG Davin Hong Yip
WONG Wei-Kang
YANG Yang
YI Fan
ZHANG Jian
Our heartfelt appreciation also extends to the organisations who
generously shared their data with us so that research can be conducted
to benefit the society.
The talented staff at World Scientific — Chua Hong Koon, Jiang Yulin
and Amanda Yun — deserve praise for their role in shaping this book.
We also thank Professor Bernard Yeung and Ms Joan Tay at National
University of Singapore Business School for their encouragement and
support.
Finally, our overriding debt continues to be to our families who
provided the time, support and inspiration to our research and
preparation of this book.
ix
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