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April,
2014 Current Topics |
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Taking Wing: Time to Decide on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter,
March 2014. The Australian Government is about to make a
decision on whether to spend between $8 and 10 billion of
taxpayer’s money on the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. It’s also
an important call because it will cement the F-35 as the main
instrument of Australian air-power for decades into the
future... |
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ASPI |
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Manufacturing Partners: Japan - South Korea Security Cooperation
and Australia's Potential Role, March 2014. In Asia,
Australia has no closer strategic and ideological partners than
Japan and South Korea. Our similar strategic outlooks, economic
ties, alliances with the US and liberal democratic values make
us highly compatible partners. But while Australia’s bilateral
relations are trending upwards, the Japan–ROK relationship has
been spiralling downwards... |
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ASPI |
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Next-gen Jihad in the Middle East, March 2014.
In this Analysis Lowy
Institute Research Director, Anthony Bubalo, argues that the current
turmoil in the Middle East is incubating a new generation of jihadists.
In many respects the current conditions in the region are worse than
those that saw the emergence of al-Qaeda. He argues that Australia will
need to sustain its counter terrorism efforts in the years to come, but
also keep a weather eye on developments in the broader Middle East... |
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Lowy |
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German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ) Working Papers
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DIJ |
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Use of National Currencies for Trade Settlement in East Asia: A
Proposal, April 2014. This paper develops
a multilateral currency system where national currencies are
used for trade settlement in East Asia, comprising the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries,
the People's Republic of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea
(ASEAN+3). The currency scheme is expected to mitigate the risks
associated with independent attempts at internationalization in
non-convertible currency countries... |
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ADB |
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The Rise of the Redback and the People's Republic of China's
Capital Account Liberalization: An Empirical Analysis of the
Determinants of Invoicing Currencies, April 2014.
This study investigates the determinants of currency choice for
trade invoicing in a cross-country context while focusing on the
link between capital account liberalization and its impact on
the use of the renminbi (RMB). The authors find that while
countries with more developed financial markets tend to invoice
less in the US dollar, countries with more open capital accounts
tend to invoice in either the euro or their home currency... |
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ADB |
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The Role of Offshore Financial Centers in the Process of
Renminbi Internationalization, April 2014.
The People's Republic of China (PRC) has been quite aggressive
recently in promoting the international use of its currency, the
renminbi. Historical experience suggests that an active offshore
market is essential for a global currency. Indeed, anecdotal
evidence affirms the role of offshore markets in pushing the
renminbi currency to the world... |
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ADB |
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A Short-Run Analysis of Exchange Rates and International Trade
with an Application to Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, April
2014. The information and communication
technology (ICT) revolution of the past 3 decades has
transformed the world into an integrated marketplace. Today,
producers and consumers alike are able to compare the prices of
local businesses and worldwide sellers. For an increasing number
of tradable goods, they can take advantage of arbitrage
opportunities between online and offline transactions... |
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ADB |
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Flexible
Implementation: A Key to Asia's Transformation, Published 2014.
This study focuses on how real-world policymakers might
operationalize the capability to be flexible in the agencies
they lead or create. It does so through detailed examinations of
three types of organizations--venture capital, defense research,
and industrial policy--chosen for their ability to flexibly
deliver on a portfolio of investments or programs. It concludes
by offering a tentative set of techniques and strategies to
enable flexible implementation. |
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EWC |
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Hong
Kong: High Frequency Macroeconomic Forecasts Current
Quarter Model: 2014Q2, April 2014. According to its
High Frequency Macroeconomic Forecast, real GDP in 14Q1
is estimated to increase by 3.3% when compared with the
same period last year. This is a slightly downward
revision of our previous forecast of 3.5% growth
released in January 9, 2014. This adjustment reflects a
mild delay in the recovery of external demand due to the
harsh winter in North America as well as the statistical
revision by Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department.
In 14Q2, real GDP growth is forecast to rise by 3.7%
when compared with the same period last year... |
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HKU |
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Asian Development Outlook 2014: Fiscal Policy for Inclusive
Growth
(Highlights,
Full
Report) reports that Developing Asia’s gross domestic
product (GDP) expanded steadily by 6.1% in 2013, the same pace
as in the previous year. The major industrial economies—the US,
euro area members, and Japan—grew by a collective 1.0% in 2013.
The momentum is expected to quicken to 1.9% in 2014 and 2.2% in
2015. Output in the PRC grew by 7.7% in 2013, matching the
performance of the previous year. However, growth is set to slow
somewhat in the years ahead as policy promotes growth that is
more equitable, sustainable, and balanced...
-
Part 1:
Charting a Course for Steady Growth
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Part 2:
Fiscal Policy for Inclusive Growth
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Part 3: Economic
Trends and Prospects in Developing
Asia:
Afghanistan,
Armenia,
Azerbaijan,
Bangladesh,
Bhutan,
Brunei Darussalam,
Cambodia,
China,
Fiji,
Georgia,
Hong
Kong, India,
Indonesia,
Kazakhstan,
Republic
of Korea,
Kyrgyz Republic,
Lao,
Malaysia,
Maldives,
Mongolia,
Myanmar,
Nepal,
North
Pacific Economies,
Pakistan,
Papua New Guinea,
Philippines,
Singapore,
Small
Island Economies,
Solomon Islands,
South
Pacific Economies,
Sri Lanka,
Taipei,China,
Tajikistan,
Thailand,
Timor-Leste,
Turkmenistan,
Uzbekistan,
and
Viet Nam.
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ADB |
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Asia Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Finance Monitor
2013, Published 2014 highlighting
- SMEs are
the backbone of Asia’s economies. Further development can
support inclusive growth; employment, and the effort to
overcome middle-income traps
- Poor
access to finance limits the ability of SMEs to survive and
grow. Further bank efficiency is needed
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Limitations of bank lending require diversified SME
financing models
- Access to
finance is a critical part of SME policies
- SME
finance policies focus on bankability; more work is needed
on nonbank financing
- SME
finance policies should be addressed in a holistic manner
that goes beyond already established ways.
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ADB |
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ADB - OECD Study on Enhancing Financial Accessibility for SMEs:
Lessons from Recent Crises, Published 2014 suggesting
- demand creation focusing on
target segments such as social enterprises and SMEs led by
women, with design of a low-cost structure for SME access to
capital markets
- establishment of an investor
base to provide initial risk capital for potential
growth-oriented SMEs, especially through fostering the
venture capital industry
- strengthening market
literacy for potential SME issuers and investors
- investor protection
mechanisms backed by proper laws and regulations
- facilitation measures for
access to an SME market backed by a comprehensive policy
support framework with well-organized policy coordination
among regulators and line ministries responsible for SME
sector development and access to finance.
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ADB |
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e-Quarterly Research Bulletin Volume 5 Number 1, January-March
2014 covering
- ADB’s
Distinguished Speakers Program: Measuring the Connectedness
of the Financial System: Implications for Risk Management
- Yen’s
Trade Spillover
- Invisible
Trade Barriers: Trade Effects of US Antidumping Actions
against the People’s Republic of China
- Why Do
Asian Firms Hold Cash?
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ADB |
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China's
Dilemma in the Ukraine Crisis, March 2014.
Sheng Ding, Associate Professor of Political Science at
Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, explains that "What is
currently unfolding in Ukraine is a multifaceted political
disaster for the communist government in China." |
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EWC |
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Mongolian
Foreign Relations Surge Indicates New Activist Agenda for 2014,
March 2014.
Alicia Campi, President of the US-Mongolia Advisory Group,
explains that "It is quite evident that in 2014 Mongolian
President Elbegdorj, who labels himself the 'President to Bridge
Mongolia to the World,' will continue his diplomatic offensive
and overseas travels." |
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EWC |
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The New
Vietnamese Vocabulary for Foreign and Defense Relations, March
2014.
Lewis M. Stern, former Director for Southeast Asia in the Office
of the Secretary of Defense 2002-2008, explains that
"Decision-makers in Hanoi and Washington now need to determine
what it will take to move the relationship from the status of a
'comprehensive partnership' conferred during President Truong
Tan Sang's 2013 visit to a new 'strategic partnership.'" |
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EWC |
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Global
Trends of Multi-Factor Productivity, March 2014.
This paper offers the balanced panel of the estimated growth
rates of MFP for 24 OECD countries over 1986-2011. Based on the
estimates of MFP growth, a number of notable trends in
productivity growth are identified for the entire OECD area as
well as three major economies--the United States, the Eurozone
and Japan--within the OECD... |
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EWC |
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Is the
Information Technology Agreement Facilitating Latecomer
Manufacturing and Innovation? India's Experience, November 2013.
The paper examines India's experience with ITA. Initially, the
main concern was to attract inward FDI and to facilitate the
growth of its then still nascent IT services industry. For
electronics manufacturing however, the analysis shows that gains
from trade liberalization were overshadowed by substantial costs
- with rising electronics imports inflating the country's
current account deficit to unsustainable record highs, while
eroding domestic electronic manufacturing and innovation... |
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EWC |
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Collective
Self-Defense and US-Japan Security Cooperation, October 2013.
If Japan decides to exercise its right of collective
self-defense (CSD), it would have complex effects on US-Japan
security cooperation. The tangible short-term outcomes would
likely be rather modest, and mid-term outcomes are dependent on
changes in complementary policies, laws, and attitudes. American
observers who expect that a revised interpretation of Japan's
Constitution will provide an immediate boost to the alliance are
likely to be disappointed... |
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EWC |
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Standards,
Innovation, and Latecomer Economic Development - A Conceptual
Framework, September 2013.
The paper develops a conceptual framework to study how standards
are created and used in Asian countries that seek to catch up
with the productivity and income levels of the US, the EU and
Japan. A stylized model of latecomer standardization tasks,
capabilities and strategies is used to demonstrate that the
costs of developing and implementing effective standards can be
substantial. The paper examines the critical role that patents
play for standardization and argues that "strategic patenting"
to generate rents from de facto industry standards can stifle
latecomer economic development. Policy implications conclude the
paper... |
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EWC |
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Industrial
Upgrading through Low-Cost and Fast Innovation - Taiwan's
Experience, September 2013.
This paper examines the forces that drive Taiwan's new strategy
of "Upgrading through Low-Cost and Fast Innovation." The first
section highlights characteristics of Taiwan's traditional
"Global Factory" innovation model and examines the role of
innovation policy in that model. Section 2 reviews fundamental
weaknesses that define the requirements of Taiwan's new
innovation strategy. Section 3 explores Taiwan's new strategy of
"low-cost and fast innovation through domestic and global
innovation networks." Finally, section 4 examines the role of
government and key policies and initiatives in the IT
industry... |
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EWC |
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Asia Bond Monitor, March 2014.
Emerging East Asian bond markets remained relatively stable in
the fourth quarter of 2013 amid the financial turmoil swirling
in emerging markets. However, global liquidity is likely to
tighten as the US Federal Reserve is expected to continue
tapering its monthly asset purchases. Bond yields in the region
have risen since the tapering began in December 2013, and could
rise further in the months ahead... |
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ADB |
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Global Implications of the Renminbi's Ascendance, March 2014.
This paper evaluates the prospects for the Renminbi's role as an
international currency and the implications for global financial
markets. Although the People's Republic of China (PRC) does not
have either an open capital account or a flexible exchange rate,
the renminbi has attained considerable traction as an
international currency on account of the PRC's rising shares of
global trade and gross domestic product. Through bilateral swaps
that the People's Bank of China has established with other
central banks, the renminbi is also becoming more prominent in
international finance... |
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ADB |
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Does Finance Really Matter for the Participation of SMEs in
International Trade? Evidence from 8,080 East Asian Firms, March
2014. This paper studies factors associated with firm
participation in export markets, focusing primarily on firm size
and access to credit, based on a survey sample comprising
observations of 8,080 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) (with
fewer than 100 employees) and non-SME firms in developing East
Asian countries across sectors. The main findings suggest the
interdependent relationships between export participation, firm
size, and access to credit... |
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ADB |
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Asymmetric Price Transmission in Indonesia's Wheat Flour Market,
March 2014. Data indicate that its domestic price in
Indonesia has been increasing regardless of movements in the
international price of wheat. A test for asymmetric price
transmission from international wheat to domestic wheat flour
markets is conducted using an error correction model and finds
the presence of asymmetric price transmission. The upward
adjustment in the domestic price of wheat flour is much faster
than its adjustment downward when it deviates from long-run
equilibrium. Results are robust to use of disaggregated data as
well as to inclusion of additional of control variables such as
prices of other inputs... |
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ADB |
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Reserve Bank of India's Policy Dilemmas: Reconciling Policy
Goals in Times of Turbulence, March 2014.
This paper reviews some of the more critical policy dilemmas
facing the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its pursuit of
inflation stabilization and balanced growth objectives. The
challenge in meeting these objectives further increased in the
mid-2000s with the advent of large capital flows into the
country and with RBI’s role in preserving financial stability... |
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ADB |
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Growth Horizons for a Changing Asian Regional Economy, March
2014. After two generations of
economic growth, the next phase of structural transformation for
Asia will have several salient features. The authors’ results
suggest that no single policy orientation, pathway, or even
destination will apply to all economies. The main driver for
each economy’s structural change will be demand, both domestic
and external. These demand sources can have very different
sector emphasis, however, and drive domestic resource allocation
in different directions... |
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ADB |
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Public Service Delivery: Role of Information and Communication
Technology in Improving Governance and Development Impact, March
2014. The focus of this paper is on improving
governance through the use of information and communication
technology (ICT) in the delivery of services to the poor, i.e.,
improving efficiency, accountability, and transparency, and
reducing bribery. A number of papers recognize the potential
benefits but they also point out that it has not been easy to
harness this potential. This paper presents an analysis of
effective case studies from developing countries where the
benefits have reached a large number of poor citizens. It also
identifies the critical success factors for wide-scale
deployment... |
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ADB |
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Improving Service Delivery through Decentralization: A Challenge
for Asia, March 2014. This paper assesses how
decentralization can contribute, if proper political and fiscal
institutions are present, to improving service delivery in Asia.
In other words, decentralization is an opportunity and a
challenge at the same time. The paper presents the salient
characteristics of decentralized government in Asia and then
focuses on the analysis of critical issues leading to “partial
decentralization” that is common to most models. Consideration
is also given to the emerging challenges common to most Asian
systems... |
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ADB |
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Governance and Developing Asia: Concepts, Measurements,
Determinants, and Paradoxes, March 2014.
Recent years have seen the emergence of a considerable volume of
literature on governance and its role in economic and social
development of a country. This paper provides a critical review
of the literature. This review brings into the open a number of
serious conceptual, measurement, and data issues as well as the
existence of an Asian governance paradox—i.e., a general
disjunction between growth and governance in most Asian
economies... |
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ADB |
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Final Report: APEC Workshop on Information Sharing on Logistics
Services, March 2014. This report aims to analyse the
current situation of the logistics services, new trends in the
APEC region, trade liberalization and facilitation of logistics
services among APEC economies, future policy options and
recommendations on logistics services. |
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APEC |
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March,
2014 |
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Income Distributions, Inequality, and Poverty in Asia, 1992 -
2010, March 2014. In this paper, income distributions for
developing countries in Asia are modeled using beta-2
distributions, which are estimated by a method of moments
procedure applied to grouped data. Estimated parameters of these
distributions are used to calculate measures of inequality,
poverty, and pro-poor growth in four time periods over
1992–2010. Changes in these measures are examined for 11
countries, with a major focus on the People's Republic of China
(PRC), India, and Indonesia, which are separated into rural and
urban regions... |
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ADB |
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The Challenges of Doing Business in Papua New Guinea, Published
2014. The business environment has improved since 2002, but
doing business in PNG remains extremely challenging. Efforts to
improve the business environment will help create a foundation
for sustained, inclusive, and diversified economic growth, which
builds on that generated by the resource boom... |
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ADB |
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Office of Anticorruption and Integrity: Annual Report 2013,
Published 2014. In 2013, ADB's Office of Anticorruption and
Integrity (OAI) received 250 complaints, surpassing the previous
record of 240 received in 2012. It converted 92 complaints into
investigations and processed sanctions imposed on 30 individuals
and 31 firms. Almost half of the complaints came from ADB staff,
highlighting their crucial role in combating threats to the
integrity and effectiveness of ADB’s development work... |
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ADB |
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China's
Media Crackdown Is a Growing Concern, March 2014.
Mark C. Eades, a freelance writer based in Shanghai, China,
explains that "While state-run Chinese media enjoy unrestricted
access to the United States, foreign media, including US media
organizations, face increasing restrictions in China."... |
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EWC |
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Russia and
Japan: Can Two-Plus-Two Equal More Than Four? March 2014.
Stephen Blank, Senior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy
Council, explains that "Whether or not there will actually be
increased Russia-Japan economic engagement, it is clear that the
rapprochement is partly being driven forward by a growing mutual
apprehension regarding China's increasingly aggressive stance in
the region."... |
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EWC |
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Democratic
Change and Forest Governance in the Asia Pacific: Implications
for Myanmar, February 2014. While signs
of democratization in a country may raise hopes of better
natural resource governance, especially of forests, evidence
from the Asia Pacific region in countries such as Indonesia and
Cambodia demonstrates no significant relationship between a
country's transition toward democracy and better forestry
governance. Myanmar's transition to democracy is unlikely to
counter this trend... |
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EWC |
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Feasibility of Accelerating the Deployment of Carbon Capture,
Utilization and Storage in Developing APEC Economies, March 2014.
The objective of this study is to produce a feasibility
assessment for accelerating CCUSEOR in selected developing APEC
economies. |
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APEC |
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Sustainable Development of Tourism Destinations, March 2014.
The report aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the
main sustainable tourism concepts, guidelines, indicators and
certifications. |
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APEC |
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Summary Report - APEC Workshop on Promoting the Development of
Wind Energy, December 2013. This Summary Report covers the
good practices discussed during the Workshop, targeted at
promoting wind energy in the APEC region. |
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APEC |
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APEC Seminar Workshop on Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation
and Mitigation Initiative in Agriculture (AMIA), Published 2014.
The APEC Seminar Workshop on Mainstreaming Climate Change
Adaptation and Mitigation Initiative in Agriculture (AMIA) is a
follow up of the APEC Symposium on Climate Change conducted by
the Philippines in February 2012. The seminar workshop aims to
create an appropriate framework for cooperation to
operationalize the recommendations of the APEC Climate Change
Symposium. |
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APEC |
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Productive Employment and Empowering Education: An Agenda for
India's Youth, 2014. Until very recently and despite human
capital’s pre-eminent and empirically established contribution
to economic growth, Indian policymakers planning for economic
development concentrated largely on issues of capital, labour
and, to a lesser extent, technology. This paper argues that
India’s demographic dividend with 65 per cent of the population
in aged 15-24 in 2012 is ideally suited to embark on a path of
sustained high rate of economic growth for the foreseeable
future if India can reap the benefits of rapid human capital
accumulation. It finds, however, that both in the area of
education and in labour markets considerable effort is needed to
facilitate such rapid and sustained growth. |
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ASARC |
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Export
of Environmental Goods: India's Potential and Constraints, 2013.
Using data between 1996 and 2010, this paper identifies the
constraints that make India, which is one of the emerging EGS
exporters, not able to realize its export potential of
environmental goods (EG). The empirical results show that the
growth of India’s exports of EG was negatively affected by its
‘behind the border’ constraints, such as weak infrastructure and
institutions, while the effect of ‘explicit beyond the border’
constraints, such as partner-countries’ tariff and exchange rate
on the exports of EG was relatively small... |
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ASARC |
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Highlights of Journal of Global Buddhism, Volume
15, 2014
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JGB |
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Highlights of Journal of Global Buddhism, Volume
14, 2013
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JGB |
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Is There Really a Renminbi Bloc in Asia? February 2014. This
paper examines whether the renminbi (RMB) has supplanted the US
dollar as the major anchor currency in the currency baskets of
East Asian economies. It systematically demonstrates that
existing techniques to address the problem of severe
multicollinearity in estimations of the Frankel—Wei regression
model, with the movements in both the RMB and the US dollar
included on the right-hand side of the equation, remain limited
in providing stable and robust results... |
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ADB |
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Dynamic Poverty Decomposition Analysis: An Application to the
Philippines, February 2014. This paper proposes a new method
of poverty decomposition. The method remedies the shortcomings
of existing methods and has some desirable properties such as
time-reversion consistency and subperiod additivity. It
integrates the existing methods of growth-redistribution
decomposition and sector-based decomposition, because it allows
poverty change to be decomposed into growth and redistribution
components for each group (e.g., regions or sectors) in the
economy... |
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ADB |
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Assessing the Experience of South Asia - East Asia Integration
and India's Role, February 2014. This paper examines the
gains for South Asian economies from integrating with East Asia
and India's role in this process. Evidence of increased
pan-Asian integration exists but the process is uneven.
Bilateral trade has grown. As have bilateral foreign direct
investment flows and free trade agreements (FTAs), albeit at a
slower pace than trade... |
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ADB |
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Vertical Specialization, Tariff Shirking, and Trade, February
2014. Using export data from the People's
Republic of China, the paper demonstrates that vertical
specialization allows firms to more easily circumvent
antidumping measures by relocating their manufacturing to
another country... |
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ADB |
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Public-Private Service Delivery Arrangements and Incentive
Schemes in Developing Asia, February 2014.
This paper explains the rationale for and the factors that
account for the successes or failures of public-private service
delivery arrangements, focusing on the role of monetary and
nonmonetary incentives used in selected case studies in
developing Asian countries... |
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ADB |
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Asian Development Outlook Forecast Skill, February 2014.
This paper assesses the accuracy of Asian Development Outlook
forecasts against actual outcomes for the years from 2008 to
2011 and against the benchmark of International Monetary Fund's
World Economic Outlook forecasts... |
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ADB |
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The Role of Mineral Fertilizers in Transforming
Philippine Agriculture, February 2014. Fertilizer
policy in the country has evolved from pervasive
interventionism in the 1970s to today`s market-oriented
regime. Government has abandoned price policies and
subsidies, focusing rather on standard setting, quality
regulation, and training... |
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PIDS |
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Toward Relaxing the Cabotage Restrictions in Maritime
Transport, February 2014. The present cabotage law
is considered one of the serious bottlenecks to
Philippine economic growth. The perennial inefficiencies
in the maritime industry are linked to lack of
competition due to barriers to entry, arising from the
law’s provision that allows only domestic shipping lines
to serve domestic routes... |
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PIDS |
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More Talk than Walk: Indonesia as a Foreign Policy Actor, February 2014.
Indonesia’s population size, geographic location and economic potential
all suggest that it will play a bigger role in international affairs in
the future than it currently does. The truth is, however, that Indonesia
is unlikely to emerge as a significantly more influential actor over the
next five years in ways that set it apart from other middle powers. If
Indonesia is to achieve great power status, as some observers have
suggested, it will only do so in the much longer term... |
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Lowy |
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Northeast Asia's Turbulent Triangle: Korea-China-Japan Relations,
January 2014.
The modern histories of China, Japan and South Korea were forged by
Japan’s colonisation of China and Korea and the Korean War that divided
the peninsula and saw China on the side of North Korea and Japan on the
side of South Korea. This recent history has left the bilateral
relations on each side of this turbulent triangle strained by a lack of
trust, popular antipathy and unresolved territorial disputes. As noted
in the project’s Beijing workshop, the stalled trilateral free trade
agreement negotiations between the three Northeast Asian neighbours,
launched with great hope in 1997, have been the victim of this
turbulence and strain.... |
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Lowy |
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Cybersecurity by Executive Order, February 2014. On 12
February 2014 the United States National Institute of Standards
& Technology (NIST) released the Framework for Improving
Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, the flagship
accomplishment of the Obama Administration’s 2013 cybersecurity
Executive Order. Just weeks before the White House announced its
executive order, the then Australian Prime Minister Julia
Gillard made an equally exciting declaration introducing the
Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC). One year on, the
contrast between the two efforts is stark.... |
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ASPI |
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Can China and
India Coexist in Myanmar? February 2014.
Daniel Wagner, Chief Executive Officer, and Giorgio Cafiero,
Research Analyst, both with Country Risk Solutions, explain that
"Even if Myanmar's relationship with China does not
fundamentally shift (and we do not expect that it will),
India--and other countries such as the United States and
Japan--offer Naypyidaw greater leverage against Beijing by
emphasizing that Myanmar has other options."... |
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EWC |
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China, India
and Indonesia - Building Trust Amidst Hostility, February 2014.
Vibhanshu Shekhar, Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Peace and
Conflict Studies, New Delhi, explains that “The predominant
culture of strategic autonomy in India and Indonesia seems to be
dictating their economically beneficial and tension-reducing
exercises of cooperation with China.”... |
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EWC |
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Globalization, Infrastructure, and Inclusive Growth, February
2014.
This paper covers threes issues: first, defining and measuring
inclusive growth; second, the relationship between international
trade and inequality; and third, the links between
infrastructure and inequality. Both international trade and
infrastructure make it easier for people to exchange goods and
services and to increase income by allowing specialization,
economies of scale, variety, etc... |
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ADB |
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Rising Inequality in Asia and Policy Implications, February 2014.
This paper looks at the recent trends of rising inequality in
developing Asia, asks why inequality matters, examines the
driving forces of rising inequality, and proposes policy options
for tackling high and rising inequality. Technological change,
globalization, and market-oriented reform have driven Asia's
rapid growth, but have also had significant distributional
consequences... |
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ADB |
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Lessons for Asia from Europe's History with Banking Integration,
February 2014.
As Asia considers greater harmonization and integration of its
financial systems, it would be well-advised to consider the
experience of Europe, particularly the eurozone. There are many
lessons to be drawn from Europe about how to implement such
integration, mostly negative. It is particularly evident that
moving to a currency union had major unanticipated consequences
for the ability to manage integration of financial systems
within the eurozone... |
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ADB |
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How Far Can Renminbi Internationalization Go? February 2014.
The question of how far renminbi internationalization can go has
become a common concern in the international financial
community. This paper argues that the sheer size of the People's
Republic of China's (PRC) trade and the convenience of using the
renminbi for transaction settlements is one contributing factor,
but that exchange rate arbitrage and interest rate arbitrage
matter also... |
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ADB |
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Regional Financial Regulation in Asia, February 2014.
The paper considers experiences of the European Union (EU) and
Asia in regional financial cooperation and regulation and draws
lessons for Asia. The EU represents the most advanced stage of
regional financial integration and regulation in the world
today, and can provide valuable lessons for Asia... |
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ADB |
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Emerging Economies' Supply Shocks and Japan's Price Deflation:
International Transmissions in a Three-Country DSGE Model,
February 2014.
This paper examines the international transmission effects that
a positive supply shock in emerging economies may have on
inflation in developed economies. A three-country dynamic
stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model is constructed to
analyze the impact of a supply shock in an emerging economy, the
People's Republic of China (PRC), on inflation rates in two
developed economies, Japan and the United States (US)... |
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ADB |
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The India–Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement and the Proposed
Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement: A Closer Look,
February 2014.
The paper shows that the FTA has worked in favor of Sri Lanka
but its full potential has not yet been realized due to market
access problems in India, and the lack of supply capacity for
some products in Sri Lanka... |
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ADB |
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Regional Settlement Infrastructure and Currency
Internationalization: The Case of Asia and the Renminbi,
February 2014.
The squeeze in United States dollar liquidity that emerged with
the global financial crisis highlighted the risks inherent in
the current global financial system. Asia was adversely affected
by the crisis not only because of its dependence on trade, but
also because of its heavy reliance on the US dollar for regional
and international transactions... |
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ADB |
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Three Decades of Development Partnership: Royal Government of
Bhutan and Asian Development Bank, Published 2014.
The partnership has promoted power sector development, enhanced
transport networks and rural connectivity, supported rapid
urbanization, strengthened financial systems, laid the
foundation of technical and vocational education and training,
pushed environmental conservation, and encouraged regional
cooperation and trade. |
|
ADB |
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Results-Based Management Framework in the Philippines, Published
2013.
This guidebook focuses on the results-based management framework
that is currently being institutionalized in the Philippines. It
begins with an outline of its business model characterizing the
concepts that have been implemented in the Philippines... |
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ADB |
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Pacific Transport Update 2013.
This document provides a summary of the existing portfolio of
transport projects and technical assistance approved and under
implementation in 2013. |
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ADB |
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Pacific Health
Dialog (2010-2011)
now available |
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PHD |
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February,
2014 |
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South Caucasian - People's Republic of China Bilateral Free
Trade Agreement: Why It Matters, January 2014.
H. Hovhanesian and H. Manasyan assess the PRC's FTA strategy,
the potential for regional integration in the South Caucasus,
and the likely impacts of an FTA on the economies of Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Georgia, and the PRC... |
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ADB |
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Explaining Foreign Holdings of Asia's Debt Securities, January
2014.
C. Y. Horioka, T. Nomoto, and A. Terada-Hagiwara find that the
overall increase in foreign holdings of Asian debt securities
since 2000 appears to be driven by relatively stable exchange
rates and the higher risk-adjusted returns on the debt... |
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ADB |
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Can Low Interest Rates be Harmful: An Assessment of the Bank
Risk-Taking Channel in Asia, January 2014.
A. Ramayandi, U. Rawat, and H. C. Tang find the presence of the
risk-taking channel based on a panel of publicly listed bank
data in Asia and concludes that “too low” interest rates lead to
an increase in bank risk-taking... |
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ADB |
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Terms of Trade, Foreigh Direct Investment, and Development: A
Case of Intra-Asian "Kicking Away the Ladder"? December 2013.
K. M. Wacker, P. Großkurth, and T. Lakemann show that FDI has
generally beneficial effects on developing countries’ export
prices, but has negative effects in the case of South Asia... |
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ADB |
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Food Security and Nutrition: The Role of Forests, 2013. With
a growing global population, much of the current discourse on
food security is focussed on increasing and expanding
agricultural production. Much of this expansion is speculated to
be at the expense of natural systems. However, some suggest that
we already grow enough food and food scarcity is primarily
caused by inadequate distribution, a lack of purchasing power
and other non-productive causes. Thus the emphasis on production
alone is not sufficient to guarantee future food security... |
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CIFOR |
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Chinese
Trade and Investment in the Mozambican Timber Industry, 2013.
China’s demand for timber has increased dramatically over the
past 20 years; today more than 90% of Mozambican timber exports
are destined for China. Demand for forest products present both
opportunities and challenges for Mozambique. As the country’s
sixth largest export, timber represents one of the most
important industries and sources of income, yet the intensified
search for resources puts pressure on the sustainable management
of the forests... |
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CIFOR |
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Analysis
of China's Overseas Investment Policies, 2011. In recent
years, in line with China’s Going Out strategy announced in
2000, China’s overseas investment activities have increased
greatly and at increasing rates. By the end of 2009, the total
value of China’s outward foreign direct investment had reached
US$5.6 billion. Policies have played strong supporting roles in
bringing about this trend by facilitating and encouraging
Chinese companies to make overseas investments... |
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CIFOR |
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Socio-Economic Considerations for Land Use Planning: The Case of
Kapuas Hulu, West Kalimantan, 2013. Understanding the
socio-economic conditions, the drivers for land use change and
economic development, along with cultural and social
characteristics, is essential to ensure that land use decisions
are made that ensure positive economic and social outcomes are
optimised... |
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CIFOR |
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APEC
Outcomes & Outlook 2013/2014, February 2014. Looking ahead
to 2014 and recognizing that traditional growth patterns are
changing, China will host APEC under the theme of “Shaping the
Future through Asia-Pacific Partnership.” APEC will pursue its
agenda through three key priorities during 2014: Advancing
Regional Cooperation, Promoting Innovative Development, Economic
Reform and Growth, and Strengthening Comprehensive Connectivity
and Infrastructure Development. |
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APEC |
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Progress Report on 2011 Baseline Study on Good Regulatory
Practices, February 2014. This 2013 survey of the use of
selected GRPs and comparison with APEC’s 2011 GRP Baseline
Report confirm that APEC economies continue to invest
substantial political and financial resources in improving the
quality of their domestic regulatory regimes. The rate of change
in the use of GRPs has not slowed from 2011 to 2013; rather, it
is accelerating, and there is more attention currently to
improving the application of GRPs to get meaningful results on
the ground. |
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APEC |
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Research
Outcomes: Summary of Research Projects 2013, February 2014.
This report provides the summaries of all research projects that
were undertaken during 2013. |
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APEC |
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APEC, Services, and Supply Chains - Taking Stock of
Services-Related Activities in APEC, January 2014. |
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APEC |
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Start-Up Guide, Building Information Modeling, December 2013.
This Start-Up Guide was developed in collaboration with the
bimSCORE team in support of work on green building by the APEC
Subcommittee on Standards and Conformance (SCSC), through the
multi-year project on the Role of Standards and Conformity
Assessment Measures in Enhancing the Performance and Energy
Efficiency of the Commercial Building Sector. |
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APEC |
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An Emergent US
Security Strategy in Southeast Asia, February 2014.
Marvin Ott, Senior Scholar, and Kenneth Ngo, Research Assistant,
both at the Woodrow Wilson Center, explain that "Game theory
predicts that in a competitive arena with multiple actors,
coalitions will form. In Southeast Asia, we are seeing the
emergence of an incipient coalition in support of US security
strategy."... |
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EWC |
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Afghanistan - Transition to Transformation: A Role for Australia
in Helping Shape Afghanistan's Future, February 2014. The
transformation decade will seek to consolidate and build on the
outcomes of transition to ensure Afghanistan’s future as a
functional, stable and durable state. The Afghanistan National
Security Forces (ANSF) will have the lead responsibility for
national security during transformation. Although transition
still has nearly a year to go, the end-of-2014 scorecard is
expected to be a mix of positives and negatives... |
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ASPI |
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Institute of Southeast Asian
Studies - Trends in Southeast Asia 2013
#01:
China's Economic Engagement with Southeast Asia: Thailand
#02:
Political Islam and Islamist Politics in Malaysia
#03:
China's Economic Engagement with Southeast Asia: Indonesia
#04:
More Change Awaits Vietnam's Political Economy |
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ISEAS |
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International Journal of Korean Studies,
Volume XVII, Number 2, 2013
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IJKS |
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International Journal of Korean Studies,
Volume XVII, Number 1, 2013
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IJKS |
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The People's Republic of China's Growth, Stability, and Use of
International Reserves, January 2014.
In the run-up to the financial crisis, the world economy was
characterized by large and growing current account imbalances.
Since the onset of the crisis, the People's Republic of China
and the United States have rebalanced. As a share of gross
domestic product, their current account imbalances are now less
than half their pre-crisis levels... |
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ADB |
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Determinants of the Trilemma Policy Combination, January 2014.
This paper presents a theoretical framework for policy making
based on the "impossible trinity" or the "trilemma" hypothesis.
A simple optimization model shows that placing more weight in
terms of preference for each of the three open macroeconomic
policies—exchange rate stability, financial market openness, and
monetary policy independence—contributes to a higher level of
achievement in that particular policy... |
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ADB |
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Capital
Market Financing for SMEs: A Growing Need in Emerging Asia,
January 2014.
This paper explores the potential of capital market financing
for SMEs in emerging Asia, reviewing the challenges of existing
SME capital markets and assessing demands on SMEs, regulators,
policy makers, market organizes, securities firms, and investors
for developing an SME market, based on the findings from
intensive surveys... |
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ADB |
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Japan in
East Asia: Challenges and Opportunities for 2014, January 2014.
Kei Koga, Assistant Professor at Nanyang Technical University,
Singapore, explains that "Japan's diplomacy in 2014 requires
strategic patience, and there are three diplomatic steps that
could help achieve it."... |
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EWC |
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Former
Iwakuni Mayor Ihara Reflects on the Problem of US Bases
in Japan, January 2013.
After 9.11, the United States increased its demand for
burden-sharing on the part of allies such as Japan and
South Korea. In East Asia, the importance of the US
presence in both of those countries as a deterrence
mechanism was reinforced as political and military
tensions grew due to factors including the
intensification of China-Japan rivalry and associated
nationalisms, territorial disputes and unsettled
historical issues... |
|
APJ |
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Bitter
Soup For Okinawans - The Governor's Year-End Betrayal,
January 2013.
In and around Okinawa, events of unparalleled importance
continue to unfold, with implications for Japan, the
US-Japan and US-Japan-China relationships, and for peace
and democracy generally. As former Governor Ota Masahide
foresaw earlier in the year, 2013 turned out to be “the
worst ever (obviously excluding the utter catastrophe of
1945) for Okinawa.”... |
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APJ |
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"Why on
earth is something as important as this not in the
textbooks?"–Teaching Supplements, Student Essays, and
History Education in Japan, January 2013.
The economic setbacks suffered by Japan in the early
1990s brought with them a sense of social malaise that
has lingered to the present. In recent years, only a
small minority of Japanese believe that their country is
on the right track and while “Abenomics” has public
confidence on a slight upswing, it is far too early to
tell if this will hold... |
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APJ |
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Lavish
Are The Dead: Re-envisioning Japan's Korean War,
December 2013.
In 1957, a young Japanese writer published a collection
of short stories which quickly attracted nationwide
attention. The title of the collection - Shisha no Ogori
- is particularly difficult to render into English, but
has been translated by John Nathan as Lavish Are The
Dead. The writer was Ōë Kenzaburō, and the success of
this, his first published book, was the start of a
career that would ultimately bring him international
fame and a Nobel Prize for literature... |
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APJ |
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Systems
of Irresponsibility and Japan's Internal Colony,
December 2013.
In the wake of the March 11, 2011 earthquake, tsunami,
and nuclear disaster, much has been said about the
character of Japan, and especially about Tōhoku and its
people. In the early weeks and months, the exceptionally
good behavior of an overwhelming majority of Japanese in
the face of a disaster of almost unthinkable magnitude
was the object of much admiration... |
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APJ |
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The
Uncertain Future of a "New Type" of US-China
Relationship, December 2013.
President Xi Jinping’s call for a “new type of
great-power relationship” in meetings in 2013 with
President Obama raises important questions about the
future of US-China relations. On the surface, it
appeared that the two leaders were on the same page. At
the June summit, Obama agreed with Xi that “working
together cooperatively” and bringing US-China relations
“to a new level” were sound ideas... |
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APJ |
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Japan's
Designated Secrets Protection Law Would Foreclose
Criticisms of the Government, December 2013.
On December 6, 2013, Japan’s Diet (national assembly)
passed a controversial Designated Secrets Protection
bill, having rushed it through both chambers in barely a
month... |
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APJ |
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Just
Gas? Smart Power and Koizumi's Anti-Nuclear Challenge,
December 2013.
Japan’s former Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro has
repeatedly called for current Prime Minister Abe Shinzo
to make an explicit decision to get out of nuclear
power. Koizumi’s full-scale press conference on this
matter, held on November 12 in front of 350 journalists,
shook up the Abe cabinet... |
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APJ |
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Back to
the Future: Shinto, Ise and Japan's New Moral Educatio,
December 2013.
Immaculate and ramrod straight in a crisp black suit,
Japan’s education minister, Shimomura Hakubun, speaks
slowly and deliberately, like a schoolteacher. His brow
creases with concern when he talks about Japan’s
diminished place in the world, its years of anemic
economic growth and poorly competing universities.
Mostly, though, he appears worried about the moral and
spiritual decline of the nation’s youth... |
|
APJ |
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The Rage
of Exile: In the Wake of Fukushima, December 2013.
Present government policy is to maintain the status of
Nagadoro as a no-go zone for at least another four
years. Among the 250 inhabitants is Shoji Masahiko, who
until the nuclear disaster supported his wife and four
children as a part-time farmer and part-time carpenter.
In March of this year, Masahiko handed me the document
which, after an inexcusable delay, I have now translated
below. The Japanese original follows... |
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APJ |
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Marines,
Missiles, and the Iron Lady: The Military Leg in Japan's
Ocean Strategy, December 2013.
The complex situation in East Asia and the wider
Pacific-Indian Ocean Region is prompting governments to
deploy a full range of tools, from economic diplomacy to
humanitarian relief operations to declarations of
exclusive air space, in their search for a balance
between what they consider to be their key national
interests and their shared wish to avert open conflict... |
|
APJ |
|
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The
Asia-Pacific in the Eye of Super-storms, December 2013.
Super-storm Haiyan made a devastating landfall in the
east-central Philippines on November 8, leaving behind a
trail of death and destruction that has draped the whole
country in a pall of grief. The Philippines has since
been reeling from this disaster. The typhoon buffeted
the most vulnerable of Filipinos, 40% of whom live below
the poverty line (i.e., $1.25 a day)... |
|
APJ |
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Distorting Democracy: Politics by Public Security in
Contemporary South Korea, December 2013.
Although a full year has not elapsed since the election
of South Korea's President Park Geun-hye, there are
already troubling signs that her term as President is
going to be a difficult period for both the health of
Korean democracy and for liberal and progressive
political forces... |
|
APJ |
|
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The
Formation and Principles of Count Dürckheim's Nazi
Worldview and his interpretation of Japanese Spirit and
Zen, December 2013.
Japan, the “yellow fist”, as he called the nation
in “Mein Kampf”, caused Adolf Hitler a considerable
headache. In his racist foreign policy he distrusted the
Asians in general and would have preferred to increase
European world supremacy by collaborating with the
English Nordic race... |
|
APJ |
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The
Harbin An Jung-Geun Statue: A Korea/China-Japan
Historical Memory Controversy, December 2013.
The Chinese and South Korean governments have recently
announced the building of a new monument to An Jung-Geun
in Harbin. An is most famous for his 1909 assassination
of Itō Hirobumi, a high Japanese official who framed the
Meiji constitution, served as prime minister, and is
credited with being one of the great modernizers of the
Meiji period... |
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APJ |
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Environmental Restoration of Former US Military Bases in
Okinawa, November 2013.
US military bases south of Kadena are slated to be
returned to Okinawa, although that is only to happen at
various times up to “2028 or later,” and their
environmental restoration is an important local issue... |
|
APJ |
|
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Introduction: The Continued Saga of the Henoko Base and
Japan-US-Okinawa Relations, November 2013.
Okinawa may have temporarily receded from the headlines,
but the contradictions and conflicts that have roiled it
for most of the post-War era, in acute form now for 17
years, have not been resolved... |
|
APJ |
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Workshop to Support the Development of National Lighting Design
Centers in APEC Region, December 2013. This report presents
the outcome from presentations and discussions, and is organized
in three themes 1) The opportunities of lighting design research
for sustainable development 2) Research focus areas in APEC
region 3) Recommendations on a model for effective lighting
design center as well as a framework on next steps for the
development of national lighting design centers in interested
APEC economies... |
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APEC |
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Funds Flow and Financial Control Analysis of the Student
Financial Assistance Programs (StuFAP), February 2014 |
|
PIDS |
|
|
Millennium Development Goals Scenarios to 2015 and
Beyond: An Integrated Micro-Macro Modelling Approach,
February 2014 |
|
PIDS |
|
|
Schooling Outcomes in the Philippines, 1988-2008:
Impacts of Changes in Household Income and the
Implementation of the Free Public Secondary Education
Act (RA 6655), February 2014 |
|
PIDS |
|
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Industry-Academe Collaboration for Research and
Development, January 2014 |
|
PIDS |
|
|
Assessment of Student Financial Assistance Programs
(StuFAP) Policies, Procedures, and Control Mechanisms,
January 2014 |
|
PIDS |
|
|
Environmental Aspects of a Potential
Philippines-European Union Free Trade Agreement, January
2014 |
|
PIDS |
|
|
Enhancing Supply Chain Connectivity and Competitiveness
of ASEAN Agricultural Products: Identifying Choke Points
and Opportunities for Improvement, January 2014 |
|
PIDS |
|
|
Disasters, Poverty, and Coping Strategies: The Framework
and Empirical Evidence from Micro/Household Data -
Philippine Case, January 2014 |
|
PIDS |
|
|
Prospects for a Philippines-European Union Free Trade
Agreement: Implications for Agriculture, January 2014 |
|
PIDS |
|
|
An Analysis of the Philippine Offensive and Defensive
Interests in the Non-agricultural Sector: Inputs to the
Philippines-European Union Free Trade Agreement, January
2014 |
|
PIDS |
|
|
The Potential Impacts of a Free Trade Agreement with the
European Union on the Philippine Fisheries Sector,
January 2014 |
|
PIDS |
|
|
Growth and Redistribution: Is there 'Trickle Down'
Effect in the Philippines? January 2014 |
|
PIDS |
|
|
Financing Infrastructure in the Philippines: Fiscal
Landscape and Resources Mobilization, January 2014 |
|
PIDS |
|
|
Using the Social Rate of Discount in Evaluating Public
Investments in the Philippines, January 2014 |
|
PIDS |
|
|
How Should We Move Forward in Customs Brokerage and
Trade Facilitation? January 2014 |
|
PIDS |
|
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Economic Growth Must Translate to Better Health
Outcomes, October-December 2013 |
|
PIDS |
|
|
Social Protection Policies on Spotlight as Manila Hosts
14th GDN Meet, July-September 2013 |
|
PIDS |
|
|
Journal of Bhutan
Studies, Volume 27, Winter 2012 |
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Bhutan |
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