Here is an upcoming conference at UC Berkeley Law School that relates to a number of the discussion threads that have developed on this blog …. 

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN EAST ASIA:  CULTURE, PSYCHOLOGY, ECONOMICS AND LAW

May 4-5, 2006, Boalt Hall, University of California, Berkeley

Is there something “different” about East Asian culture and psychology that means that any attempt to reform corporate governance through the adoption of Western norms is destined to fail? Or is the notion of “difference” simply an excuse for corruption and lack of transparency? And then again, do East Asian culture and psychology hold strengths for corporate governance that wait to be discovered?  In a unique but essential dialogue, psychologists, economists, legal scholars and practitioners from the West, China and Korea will debate these questions and propose solutions at “Corporate Governance in East Asia: Culture, Psychology, Economics and Law”. Keynote speakers will include the founder of the World Bank’s Global Corporate Governance Forum, Stijn Claessens, and psychologist Richard Nisbett, author of “The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners think Differently … and Why”. For anyone trying to conduct business or simply understand East Asian cultures, this conference will provide unparalleled depth and breadth of insights.