September, 2017 Current Topics

Source

MAS Survey of Professional Forecasters, September 2017. The September 2017 Survey was sent out on 11 August 2017 to a total of 26 economists and analysts who closely monitor the Singapore economy. This report reflects the views received from 21 respondents (a response rate of 80.8%) and does not represent MAS’ views or forecasts. GDP growth in Q2 2017 was higher than expected
The Singapore economy expanded by 2.9% in Q2 2017, which was above the median forecast of 2.7% reported in the June 2017 Survey...

MAS

MAS' Approach to Resolution of Financial Institutions in Singapore, August 2017. This Monograph sets out MAS' approach for operationalising the enhanced resolution framework in the Monetary Authority of Singapore (Amendment) Act 2017. The Amendment Act has been passed in Parliament on 4 July 2017. Regulations to operationalise the provisions of the Amendment Act will be promulgated in due course. A commencement notice will be published in the Gazette when the amendments are brought into force.

MAS

Iran’s Azerbaijan Question in Evolution: Identity, Society, and Regional Security, September 2017. Iranian Azerbaijanis have historically been considered the country’s most loyal ethno-linguistic minority. Predominantly Shiite, with religion being the most important source of collective identity, Turkophone Azerbaijanis had until the 1920s provided numerous dynasties to the Persian thrones. From Seljuks to Qajars, they stayed at the avant-garde of the Persian empires and shielded them from the major Sunni rival, the Ottoman Empire...

ISDP

The Strategic Risks of East Asia’s Slowing Economies, August 2017. Global economic growth has slowed substantially since the heady days before the financial crisis of 2008. The advanced Western economies have barely recovered, and, after decades of average growth of 10% in China, Beijing says the Chinese economy is now expanding at 6.7%— a figure many external analysts believe is optimistic. There’s little sign of a return to pre-financial-crisis growth rates any time soon. The potential dangers of a prolonged economic trough are global, but in East Asia many governments depend on their ability to deliver economic growth either to fulfil election promises, in the case of the democracies, or to justify their continued monopoly on power, in the case of the autocracies.

ASPI

The Puzzles and Contradictions of the Indian Labour Market: What Will the Future of Work Look Like? Published 2017. Analysing the Indian labour market poses inherent challenges given the country’s size and diversity. Rather than a case of “jobless growth”, India has experienced concentrated employment growth, mainly in urban areas and for men. Women’s participation in the labour force has declined. Some outcomes partly reflect India’s overall level of economic development...

ASARC

From Poor Peasants to Entrepreneurial Farmers: The Transformation of Rural Life in Northeast Thailand, August 2017. Over the past 30 years, a transformation has occurred in the lives of the people of Northeast Thailand (Isan), and of many rural areas in East and Southeast Asia. Historically regarded (and even derided) as "simple peasants," concerned only with growing enough food to feed themselves, they have embraced the marketplace and thrived, setting off a cascade of changes, including increased education, and feeding aspirations...

EWC

Misunderstanding North Korea, August 2017. As North Korea gets closer to deploying working nuclear missiles, it is more important than ever to dispense with four common misunderstandings. First, characterizations of the regime as irrational are wrong. Fundamentally weak and deeply insecure, North Korea tries to compensate by cultivating an image of eagerness to go to war in the hope of intimidating its adversaries. Second, paranoid about subversion, Pyongyang is extremely unlikely to exchange its nuclear weapons for greater trade opportunities with democratic countries...

EWC

APEC as a Tool to Engage North Korea, August 2017. Robert L. Curry, Jr., Professor Emeritus of Economics at CSU Sacramento, explains that “Under certain conditions, the regime might be ready for multilateral engagement.”

EWC

India's Strategic Convergence with Japan in the Changing Indo-Pacific Geopolitical Landscape, August 2017. Madhuchanda Ghosh, Assistant Professor at Presidency University, Kolkata, explains that “In the changing regional security architecture, the converging and competing interests of the three major Asian powers — China, India, and Japan — have driven them to articulate different strategic frameworks as indicated in Japan’s “Confluence of the Two Seas” idea, China’s “Maritime Silk Road” initiative, and India’s “Act East” Policy.”

EWC

US-China Cooperation on Wildlife Smuggling: An Opportunity, August 2017. Kathleen Devlin, graduate of the Yale Jackson Institute master's program in Global Affairs, explains that “The United States would do well to recognize anti-wildlife smuggling as an opportunity for mutual cooperation in an otherwise contentious bilateral relationship."

EWC

Regional Order Reconfigured: China, Japan, and the United States in the Evolving Asia Pacific, August 2017. Alex Yu-Ting Lin and Saori N. Katada, PhD Candidate and Associate Professor, respectively, at the University of Southern California, explain that “As we begin to see greater US and Japanese participation in Chinese-led initiatives over the next few years, the final piece of the puzzle is whether China will be ready to join initiatives led by Japan or the United States."

EWC

A Global Compact on Refugees: The Role of Australia, August 2017. The UN Global Compact on Refugees provides a unique opportunity to make far-reaching improvements to the international response to refugees. Australia has a vested interest to improve the refugee regime in particular to institute a more effective and equitable regional response to asylum seekers and refugees in Southeast Asia and reduce pressure on its own asylum system...

Lowy

The TPP: Truths about Power Politics, August 2017. Preferential trade agreements are negotiated by states. By definition, they are political in nature. The more powerful the state involved, the more it can shape the trajectory of trade negotiations. The three stages of the TPP – before the US joined, while the US was a TPP member, and the US withdrawal from TPP – reaffirm this political-economic truth. Political interests often trump economic ones when it comes to trade agreements. This paper analyses the three stages of the TPP using the tools of International Relations. It highlights key political truths that are reaffirmed by each TPP stage...

ISEAS

2016 Final Report on Good Regulatory Practices in APEC Economies, August 2017. In 2011, APEC developed the “Good Regulatory Practices in APEC Member Economies - Baseline Study” which reviewed the application of selected GRPs across the 21 APEC members. This report focuses on those GRPs that promote regulatory quality standards that are particularly important to trade and investment, such as regulatory accountability, reform capacity, consultation, efficiency, and transparency...

APEC

IPv6 Deployment Strategies in APEC Economies, August 2017. In this report, APEC economies share their Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) deployment strategies noting the various stages of preparatory work before actual deployment. Each APEC economy is unique in its geopolitical conditions, but common in its goal to be IPv6 capable. This paper seeks to note trends in their deployment strategies in order to serve as learning points for interested economies who are in the midst of their own IPv6 deployment planning.

APEC

Research on Energy Storage Technologies to Build Sustainable Energy Systems in the APEC Region, June 2017. This report presents information and analysis on the potential of implementing energy storage technology in the APEC region. By reviewing current technology developments, case studies of active storage projects and related policies across APEC economies, the report provides utilities, industry players and government officials with information to assist in efforts to build more sustainable energy systems.

APEC

Workshop Report: Strategies to Address Non-communicable Diseases through Science, Technology and Innovation - Nutrigenomics Approach, January 2017. This report contains the proceedings of the APEC Nutrigenomics 2016. The workshop provided a venue to appreciate and understand nutrigenomics through sharing of knowledge, discussion of research results, and sharing of best practices in conducting nutrigenomics research. It also created frameworks for research collaboration among APEC economies through identification of research and knowledge gaps and discussion of opportunities for collaboration. The workshop was also an instrument in the identification of economically sound opportunities on how nutrigenomics can support the APEC economies.

APEC

APEC Privacy Framework (2015), Published 2017. The Framework, which aims at promoting electronic commerce throughout the Asia Pacific region, is consistent with the core values of the OECD’s Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Trans-Border Flows of Personal Data (OECD Guidelines), and reaffirms the value of privacy to individuals and to the information society...

APEC

The Internet of Things in the Power Sector—Opportunities in Asia and the Pacific, August 2017. n Asia’s power sector, grids are plagued with unreliable service and are struggling to upgrade power systems to keep up with high demand growth rates. The Internet of Things (IoT), billed as the next industrial revolution or Industry 4.0, has the potential to significantly transform the power sector by optimizing operations, managing asset performance, and engaging customers to lower energy cost. The power sector is already reaping benefits from early consumer-oriented IoT applications: smart meters and smart thermostats...

ADB

Geographic Information System-Based Decision Support System for Renewable Energy Development - An Indonesian Case Study, August 2017. The Asia and Pacific region is blessed with abundant renewable energy resources. Ironically, 420 million of its people still have no access to electricity, which makes tapping renewable energy an urgent necessity. The GIS-based decision support system (DSS) is a tool designed to help quantify renewable energy sources in a geographical area. Using Bali, Indonesia as case study, the tool estimates the technical potential and creates the right mix of renewable energy (solar, wind, biomass, hydropower, and geothermal) to meet Bali’s specific energy needs. Find out more about this GIS-based system and its potential as a practical tool to support the region’s rapid deployment of renewable energy technologies.

ADB

Introducing the Tax-Kicker Bond: Budget-neutral Financing of Private Infrastructure by Backend Participation in Future Tax Revenue Growth, August 2017. Everybody is trying to think of ways to attract long-term private and institutional investors to pay for new highways, railways, bridges, or dams. Promising ideas have been tried; but they have not convinced pension funds or affluent individuals to invest, especially in emerging economies with untested issuers. Yet higher returns from infrastructure projects are an ideal match for institutional investors—if projects are similar to those financed by benchmark United States (US) tax-free municipal bonds, an allowable asset class for decades...

ADB

ASEAN+3 Bond Market Guide 2017 Indonesia, Published 2017. The Indonesian bond market has seen significant changes in recent years, such as the reorganization of the regulatory framework of the capital and financial market with the creation of the Financial Services Authority (OJK). All regulatory and supervisory functions for Capital Market Participants and financial institutions converged into OJK. The total outstanding balance of tradable government bonds stood at USD132.0 billion while outstanding corporate bonds were valued at USD23.2 billion as of 30 December 2016.

ADB

Financial Regulations: Intermediation, Stability, and Productivity, Published 2017. Co-organized by the Asian Development Bank, Asian Development Bank Institute, European Central Bank, Monetary Authority of Singapore, and National University of Singapore, the Asian Bureau of Finance and Economic Research Specialty Conference gathered leading academics, central bankers, financial regulators, and experts from international financial organizations and discussed theory, practices, and policy implications of financial regulations: intermediation, stability, and productivity.

ADB

Financial Inclusion, Regulation, and Education: Asian Perspectives, Published 2017. Financial inclusion is receiving increasing attention as having the potential to contribute to economic and financial development, while at the same time fostering more inclusive growth and greater income equality. However, although substantial progress has been made, there is still much to achieve. East Asia, the Pacific, and South Asia combined account for 55% of the world’s unbanked adults, mainly in India and the People’s Republic of China. This book surveys the experience of some developed and Asian emerging economies to assess factors affecting the ability of low-income households and small firms to access financial services, including financial literacy, financial education programs, and financial regulatory frameworks...

ADB

Gender Equality and the Labor Market: Women, Work, and Migration in the People's Republic of China, Published 2017. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has made advances in narrowing gender gaps in its labor market. It has one of the highest female labor force participation rates in Asia and the Pacific at around 64% in 2013, and one of the narrowest earnings gender gaps. This study investigates how women are faring in the transition to the PRC’s new growth model, and what can be done to promote women’s participation. It shows how the PRC is undergoing multiple transitions that have implications for gender equality and work. For example, during the market transition, gender wage gaps and gender wage discrimination increased, reaching 33% in urban areas and 44% in rural areas. Find out how evidenced-based gender analysis can foster gender responsive policy approaches to promote women’s equality in the labor market.

ADB

Public ICT Center for Rural Development: Inclusiveness, Sustainability, and Impact, Published 2017. This report discusses why ICT centers remain popular with governments and rural people, and why it is difficult to serve rural areas. Effective public support practices are identified, based on a review of the record of experience, with special reference to two case studies: a government-run initiative in the Philippines and a public–private partnership in Sri Lanka.

ADB

Climate Change Profile of Pakistan, Published 2017. atastrophic floods, droughts, and cyclones have plagued Pakistan in recent years. The 2010 flood killed 1,600 people and caused around $10 billion in damage. The 2015 Karachi heat wave led to the death of more than 1,200 people. Climate change-related natural hazards may increase in frequency and severity in the coming decades. Climatic changes are expected to have wide-ranging impacts on Pakistan, affecting agricultural productivity, water availability, and increased frequency of extreme climatic events. Addressing these risks requires climate change to be mainstreamed into national strategy and policy. The profile covers (i) historical and future expected trends of climate change at provincial level, (ii) expected climate impacts on priority sectors, (iii) the institutional and policy frameworks to address climate change, (iv) climate finance sources, and (v) opportunities for adaptation

ADB

Latest ADBI Working Papers:

• Foreign Direct Investment Spillovers and Pharmaceutical Innovation: The Role of Intellectual Property Rights, August 2017
• Globalization, Structural Change, and Interregional Productivity Growth in the Emerging Countries, August 2017
• Growth Pro-Poorness from an Intertemporal Perspective with an Application to Indonesia, 1997–2007, August 2017
• Public Equity Markets and Innovation, August 2017
• Evaluating Impacts of Cross-border Transport Infrastructure in the Greater Mekong Subregion: Three Approaches, August 2017
• The Impact of Trade and Technology on Skills in Viet Nam, August 2017
• How can environmental regulations spur international trade? The case of the EU Performance of Buildings Directive and Lessons for Asia, August 2017
• Solutions for SMEs’ difficulties in accessing finance: Asian experiences, August 2017

ADB

Latest ADB Economic Working Papers:

• The Lansdcape of Economic Growth: Do Middle-Income Countries Differ? August 2017
• A Contagion through Exposure to Foreign Banks during the Global Financial Crisis, July 2017
• Intellectual Property Rights and Foreign Technology Licensing in Developing Countries, July 2017
• How Women Have Fared with the Rise of the People's Republic of China in Global Supply Chain Trade, July 2017

ADB

SERAS

August, 2017

Parents' Perceptions of the Singapore Primary School System, July 2017. In 2016, the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) conducted a Survey on Parental Perceptions of Education with 1,500 citizen and PR parents to obtain a quantitative picture of sentiments towards Singapore’s primary school system. The respondents’ demographics mirrored the general population except for the gender ratio; we asked the parent predominantly responsible for making decisions relating to primary school education to complete the survey, and more women were represented. Broadly, the results indicate that the vast majority of Singaporean parents are generally pleased with the local education system’s structure, processes and outcomes. Parents appeared to be largely positive and satisfied about the facilities, support network and other features of the school their child was attending...

IPS

Trends in Southeast Asia 2017 #9: Parti Amanah Negara in Johor: Birth, Challenges and Prospects. In 2015, a new party called Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) was formed following the departure of progressive Islamists from the Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), leaving the latter to be a party dominated by conservative Islamists. Much of the groundwork for the formation of Amanah took place in Malaysia's southern state of Johor. A prominent Johor PAS activist, Mazlan Aliman, was among the first to propagate the idea that a new, progressive platform needed to be formed. This eventually led to the Bakri Declaration which forms the basis for the establishment of Amanah...

ISEAS

Out of the “Slipstream” of Power? Australian Grand Strategy and the South China Sea Disputes, June 2017. The changing regional security dynamics necessitate that Canberra re-evaluate and rebalance its relations in the region. Until this is achieved, a muddle-through “hedge and engage strategy” with China will continue; though this strategy is unlikely to support greater confidence in China-Australia relations or U.S.-China relations, and only prompt other countries in the region to conduct similar policy, thereby provoking an entrenchment of the Thucydides trap. The development of a grand strategy would enable greater coherence of Australia’s position and reduce the risk of miscalculation...

ISDP

Coordination of Federal, State and Local Disaster Management Arrangements in Australia: Lessons from the UK and the US, August 2017. This document discusses the gaps in Australia’s emergency management legislation and the coordination of federal, state and local disaster management arrangements in Australia. It analyses key legislation from the UK and US jurisdictions and reveals important lessons that could be adopted in Australia.

ASPI

ASPI is releasing two research publications on the uses and limitations of big data in national security.

• The first report, Big Data in National Security, August 2017, provides a high-level analysis of how big data capabilities can be used and managed by Australia’s national security community.

• The second product, Big Data in National Security: Online Resource, August 201, is a background paper which provides policy makers and the public with a detailed analysis of the key concepts, trends, and challenges of big data in national security.

ASPI

Trends in Southeast Asia 2017 #8: Rowing Against the Tide? Batam’s Economic Fortunes in Today’s Indonesia. Despite its good infrastructure and proximity to Singapore, Batam's economic performance has taken a turn for the worse, with declining levels of foreign direct investment (FDI) and exports. Well-known firms in the electronics sector have closed shop, the shipping industry is in the doldrums, and unemployment rates have begun to climb. The environment for business is not as conducive as it used to be, with bureaucratic overlaps, persistent red tape, and shortages of land for investors. And, rather than seeking to attract large-scale investments in manufacturing or services, government campaigns have focussed on traditional economic activities such as fishing and farming...

ISEAS

The Role of India and China in South Asia, July 2017. Christian Wagner, Senior Fellow at the German Institute for International Security Affairs (SWP), Berlin, explains that “In South Asia, India seems to be a regional power by default. But a closer look reveals that China is gaining an upper hand in the region.”

EWC

Promises and Pitfalls of the Belt and Road Initiative, July 2017. Bipul Chatterjee and Saurabh Kumar, Executive Director and Policy Analyst, respectively, at CUTS International, explain that “China may accrue significant benefits if it reduces tariffs through free trade zones, particularly on products from BRI countries.”

EWC

Vietnam is a Promising Partner for the Trump Administration, July 2017. Huong Le Thu, visiting fellow at Strategic and Defence Studies Center, Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, Australian National University, explains that “[Vietnamese Prime Minister] Phuc aimed to lay out benefits for Washington to induce it to keep ties with Hanoi strong. The prime minister tailored his economic agenda for Trump’s business mindset.”

EWC

The Emerging Geopolitics of the Indian Ocean Region, June 2017. Jonathan Ward, Founder of the Atlas Organization, explains that “The Chinese economy depends on access to this region. Energy imports from the Middle East, resources from Africa, and trade with Europe must transit the Indian Ocean in order to reach China.”

EWC

Setting Standards for Industry: Comparing the Emerging Chinese Standardization System and the Current US System, Published 2017. This paper compares Chinese and American systems for setting industrial standards. Specifically, the paper compares the US system of voluntary standards, which relies on consensus among parties and market-driven initiatives, with current efforts to reform China's government-directed standardization system. The paper focuses on five aspects: the degree of development of these nonprofit associations, the abilities of the associations, government attitudes, market demand, and overseas experience. The paper culminates in a discussion of policy implications for China's reform efforts. An important argument is that the government should introduce pragmatic, feasible policy measures that address the needs and capabilities of standard-setting organizations. These policies can draw important lessons from the achievements of America's voluntary standard system. This would require a deep understanding of the advantages, disadvantages, and applicability of the US approach to voluntary standards.

EWC

Guidance on Insurers' Own Risk and Solvency Assessments (ORSA), July 2017. MAS 126 on Enterprise Risk Management (“ERM”) for Insurers was introduced on 2 April 2013 and took effect on 1 January 2014. The Notice requires insurers to perform an Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (“ORSA”) at least annually to assess
the adequacy of their risk management and their current and projected future solvency positions. An insurer’s ORSA is central to its ERM framework as it links its business strategy, risk tolerance, risk management and capital management with each other. Specifically, it allows the insurer to better anticipate how potential business risks could crystallise into capital needs, and to make early plans to meet those needs. It also allows an insurer to analyse how its business strategy could be adjusted in line with its risk tolerance. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”) takes into account an insurer’s ORSA and its related processes as part of MAS’ assessment of the insurer...

MAS

Asian Development Outlook Supplement: Cautious Optimism for Asia's Outlook, July 2017. Developing Asia is now expected to grow by 5.9% in 2017, or 0.2 percentage points higher than the rate previously envisaged. The smaller upgrade in the 2018 growth forecast—5.7% in ADO 2017 to 5.8%—reflects a cautious view on the pace of the turnaround in external demand. Excluding the newly industrialized economies of the Republic of Korea (ROK), Singapore, Taipei,China, and Hong Kong, China, growth projections for the region are revised up to 6.4% for 2017 and to 6.3% for 2018. Projections are upgraded for Central and East Asia but unchanged for the other three subregions...

ADB

Pacific Economic Monitor, July 2017. Stronger global demand in the second half of 2016 off set sluggish growth in the first half, causing a marginal slowdown of annual growth to 3.1% in 2016 from 3.4% in 2015. The upswing in the second half of 2016 led to advances in manufacturing and trade as well as strengthening of commodity prices. World output is projected to grow by 3.5% in 2017 and 3.6% in 2018. However, the shift to more inward-looking policies among some major economies—which may disrupt global trade—and uncertainties in United States (US) policy can pose serious risks to short- and medium-term global prospects...

ADB

Latest ADBI Working Papers:

• Infrastructure, Urbanization, and Demand for Bank and Non-Bank Loans of Households in the People’s Republic of China, July 2017
• The Correlations of the Equity Markets in Asia and the Impact of Capital Flow Management Measures, July 2017
• Optimal Dynamic Path during the Transition of Exchange Rate Regime: Analysis of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Malaysia, and Singapore, July 2017
• Aging and Inequality: The Perspective of Labor Income Share, July 2017
• Structural Change, Trade, and Inequality: Some Cross-Country Evidence, July 2017
• Industrial Transfer and the Remaking of the People’s Republic of China’s Competitive Advantage, July 2017
• Alternatives to Bank Finance: Role of Carbon Tax and Hometown Investment Trust Funds in Developing Green Energy Projects in Asia, July 2017
• Middle-Income Trap (MIT): Review of the Conceptual Framework, July 2017
• International Remittances and Poverty Reduction: Evidence from Asian Developing Countries, July 2017
• Tokyo as a Leading Global Financial Center: The Vision Under the Spotlight Again, July 2017
• Fair Premium Rate of the Deposit Insurance System based on Banks’ Creditworthiness, July 2017
• Does Corruption Affect Access to Bank Credit for Micro and Small Businesses? Evidence from European MSMEs, July 2017
• Economic Impact of Obesity in the Republic of Korea, July 2017
• Determinants and Impacts of Financial Literacy in Cambodia and Viet Nam, June 2017
• Middle-Class Composition and Growth in Middle-Income Countries, June 2017
• The Middle-Income Trap and Manufacturing Transformation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC): Asian Experience and the PRC’s Industrial Policy Orientation, June 2017

ADB

Travel Demand Management Options in Beijing, May 2017. Rapid urbanization and motorization combined with high population density have led to serious congestion and air quality problems in the People’s Republic of China capital of Beijing. While Beijing accounts for less than 2% of the population, more than 10% of the country’s vehicles ply the city’s roads. This study is part of the Asian Development Bank’s initiative to support greener and more sustainable transport systems that are convenient and lessen carbon dioxide emissions. Read how congestion charging, vehicle ownership quotas, and progressive parking reforms can improve Beijing’s approach to travel demand

ADB

Transforming toward a High-Income People's Republic of China, Published 2017. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has experienced stellar economic performance over the last 3 decades. Gross domestic product growth has averaged 10% per year. Per capita income has increased by a factor of 13. Life expectancy at birth increased from 67 to 73 years. Rapid growth, however, has posed eight challenges for the PRC: industrial transformation, balanced rural–urban development, human resource transformation, environmental protection, climate change mitigation, water security, subnational debt management, and further integration with the international economic system. In 2013, ADB was invited to provide inputs to support the preparation of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016–2020). This report summarizes key issues and recommends practical policy options to address the PRC’s challenges.

ADB

A Region at Risk: The Human Dimensions of Climate Change in Asia and the Pacific, Published 2017. Asia and the Pacific continues to be exposed to climate change impacts. Home to the majority of the world’s poor, the population of the region is particularly vulnerable to those impacts. Unabated warming could largely diminish previous achievements of economic development and improvements, putting the future of the region at risk. The report discusses the most recent projections pertaining to climate change and climate change impacts in Asia and the Pacific, and the consequences of these changes to human systems, particularly for developing countries. It also highlights gaps in the existing knowledge and identifies avenues for continued research...

ADB

Banking on the Future of Asia and the Pacific: 50 Years of the Asian Development Bank (second edition), Published 2017. Focusing on the region’s economic development, the evolution of the international development agenda, and the story of ADB itself, Banking on the Future of Asia and the Pacific raises several key questions: What are the outstanding features of regional development to which ADB had to respond? How has the bank grown and evolved in changing circumstances? How did ADB’s successive leaders promote reforms while preserving continuity with the efforts of their predecessors? ADB has played an important role in the transformation of Asia and the Pacific over the past 50 years. As ADB continues to evolve and adapt to the region’s changing development landscape, the experiences highlighted in this book can provide valuable insight on how best to serve Asia and the Pacific in the future.

ADB

Latest APEC publications:

• Long-Term Reliability Study of Photovoltaic (PV) System Installation on Islands, July 2017
• Workshop Report: Long-Term Reliability Study of Photovoltaic (PV) System Installation on Islands, July 2017
• Natural Gas Security in APEC, June 2017
• Impact of Low Oil Price on Energy Security, June 2017
• Regulatory Provisions and Technological Applications to Protect the Rights of Telecommunication Service Users - Workshop Report, April 2017
• Overview of the 2017 ESCI Best Practices Awards Program, April 2017
• APEC Energy Workforce Resilience Workshop - Summary Report, April 2017
• APEC Energy Efficiency Policy Workshop Summary Report: Policy and Program Evaluation II, March 2017
• Peer Review on Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reforms in Chinese Taipei, March 2017

APEC

• The Triple Burden of Disease, July 2017
• The Rise of Collaborative Economy in the Philippines, June 2017

PIDS

• Understanding the Principles Underlying the Philippine Competition Law, July 2017
• Estimating Filipinos' Vulnerability to Poverty, June 2017
• Analyzing Housework Through Family and Gender Perspectives, June 2017
• Have We Institutionalized DRRM in the Philippines? May 2017
• Assessment of the Targeting and Financing Aspects of the RSBSA-AIP, May 2017
• Examining Energy Use and Weather Variability Through the Gender Lens, April 2017
• Do Men and Women in the Philippines Have Equal Economic Opportunities? April 2017

PIDS

• The Impacts of Roll-On/Roll-Off Transport System in the Philippines, June 2017
• A Review of Philippine Government Disaster Financing for Recovery and Reconstruction, June 2017
• National Accounts and Household Survey Estimates of Household Expenditures: Why Do They Differ and Why Should We Be Concerned? June 2017

PIDS

July, 2017

Thailand's Triple Threat, July 2017. King Vajiralongkorn’s elevation to the Chakri throne comes after decades of whispers that he is an unsuitable king for Thailand. Despite these concerns, the military leadership has swung behind their new monarch. But the potential for future turbulence under the government led by General Prayuth Chan-ocha is high. The fluid situation in Bangkok is complicated by the potential escalation and expansion of separatist violence in southern Thailand. The question is how will Thailand respond to the triple threat of King Vajiralongkorn’s ascension, the entrenchment of military rule, and the potential escalation of separatist violence emanating from the southern provinces...

Lowy

Should Thailand Join the TPP? July 2017. This paper reviews the potential gains and losses for Thailand if the country joins the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Had the United States remained a member of TPP, the preferential market access to the country would be a major source of gains. However, the intellectual property right (IPRs) provisions in the TPP may have adverse impact on pharmaceutical expenditure in Thailand. While there are other issues covered in TPP, these are likely to be either non-binding constraints (e.g. investment agreement) or having effects that are difficult to be quantified across time and space (e.g. government procurement, environmental agreement). While there is belief that the TPP and cumulative ROO in particular could alter supply chain of production network, this is unlikely to occur due to a number of exceptions in the TPP itself.

ISEAS

Impact of TPP-11 on Japanese Manufacturing Affiliates in ASEAN, July 2017. This paper discusses how tariff reductions through TPP may affect Japanese manufacturing affiliates in ASEAN countries. Without the U.S., there is some uncertainty in the impact of TPP on the investment and expansion plans of Japanese affiliates in Malaysia and Vietnam’s textile and footwear industries. Similarly, it is also uncertain that Japanese affiliates in ASEAN non-TPP member countries will shrink their business in these industries. In the case of other industries, the TPP-11 will not affect Japanese affiliates because market access will not be different between TPP and non-TPP member countries.

ISEAS

Dynamics of Ride Sharing Competition, July 2017. This paper studies the dynamics of ride-sharing competition. Ride-sharing is modelled as a spatial two-sided market with heterogeneous passengers and drivers, both located on a Salop (1979) circle. The model is simulated to study four aspects of ride-sharing competition:(i) price distribution and dynamics, (ii) strategic pricing, (iii) fixed pricing vs. surge pricing, and (iv) information-sharing. Dynamic platform competition in a spatial setting can generate distinct and persistent bands of fluctuating prices. Space and stochastic luck can mitigate winner-take-all effects in price competition...

ISEAS

Trends in Southeast Asia 2017 #7: The Traditionalist Response to Wahhabi-Salafism in Batam. The rise of Wahhabi-Salafi ideology in neighbouring Batamis causing concern in Singapore. There are worries that some Singapore Muslims are being radicalized by Batam’s Islamic radio station Hang FM, which openly promotes Wahhabi-Salafi teachings. The uncovering by Batam police of a plan by five Indonesians to launch a missile from the island, targeting Singapore’s Marina Bay, and the arrest of some individuals linked to ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) in Batam in August 2016 strengthen these fears...

ISEAS

Trends in Southeast Asia 2017 #6: Old Stereotypes, New Convictions: Pribumi Perceptions of Ethnic Chinese in Indonesia Today. Despite improvements in the position of ethnic Chinese in the reformasi era, critical and negative perceptions of them persist among prominent pribumi personalities, particularly in recent years. These include leaders of several Islamic organizations, nationalists who harbour suspicions about foreign powers, and some who were in mid-career and/or were well placed in the last years of the Suharto era. This latter group consists of retired senior military officers, senior scholars, as well as current and former senior government officials. The ethnic Chinese are often portrayed as outsiders who are already dominant economically, and who are trying to be politically dominant as well. Furthermore, it is often claimed that ethnic Chinese tend to be loyal towards China...

ISEAS

Trends in Southeast Asia 2017 #5: The Natunas: Territorial Integrity in the Forefront of Indonesia–China Relations. In May 2017 the Indonesian military conducted a large-scale exercise in the Natuna Islands. This was in the wake of three incidents in 2016 that involved Chinese fishing boats. Jakarta accused the vessels of stealing fish within the Indonesian EEZ but Beijing considered these boats to be carrying out regular activities in Chinese traditional fishing grounds. Both Beijing and Jakarta acknowledge that the Natuna Islands belong to Indonesia. But while the Chinese avoid mentioning the issue of the islands having an EEZ, Jakarta openly claims that the islands definitely do have an EEZ...

ISEAS

Hong Kong: High Frequency Macroeconomic Forecasts Current Quarter Model: 2017Q3, July 2017. According to its High Frequency Macroeconomic Forecast, real GDP is estimated to grow by 3.6% in 17Q2, when compared with the same period in 2016, moderate from the 4.3% growth in 17Q1. In 17Q3, real GDP growth is expected to moderate to 3.2% when compared with the same period last year. Comparing to the 2.0% growth in 2016, we expect Hong Kong GDP will pick up and grow between 2.8% to 3.6% in 2017, upward revised by 0.7 percentage point comparing to our previous forecast reflecting strong domestic demand.

HKU

Australia and Germany: A New Strategic Energy Partnership, July 2017. his STRATEGY paper evaluates the prospects for the development of a strategic energy partnership between Australia and Germany based on the potential for Australia to emerge as Europe’s major supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG). At first glance, Australia’s growing export capacity, backed by its reputation as a safe, reliable and secure supplier, seems to be a perfect fit in Europe’s quest for new suppliers and in Germany’s search for new sources of electricity. Despite these potential synergies, this paper argues that Australia is unlikely to emerge as an LNG supplier to Germany in the foreseeable future. However, there’s much value for Australia and Germany in strengthening the broader energy relationship.

ASPI

• South Korea's Role in the UN Human Rights Council
• North Korean Agriculture: Recent Changes and Prospects after Unification
• Theater-level Command and Alliance Decision-Making Architecture in Korea
• Romanian Perspectives on Korean Unification: Regime Change and the Romanian Precedent
• China's Uneven Response to THAAD and its Coercive Strategy Aimed at the ROK: Implications for the U.S.-ROK Alliance
• North Korea's Nuclear and Ballistic Missile Threats and the Tailored Deterrence Strategy

IJKS

Low Fertility in Japan - No End in Sight, June 2017.  After more than 40 years of very low birth rates, Japan now has one of the oldest populations in the world. Sustained low birth rates mean that there are few children in the population and eventually few working-age adults to drive economic growth and support the relatively large proportion of elderly, who were born in a previous era when fertility was higher. But why are young Japanese having so few children? One reason appears to be the uncertain employment prospects for young men, which make them poor candidates for marriage...

EWC

Japanese Investments Are Instrumental to India's Act East Policy, June 2017. Monika Chansoria, Resident Visiting Fellow at The Japan Institute of International Affairs, explains that “Japan’s role in developing infrastructure in India’s northeastern region will be one of the key yardsticks to measure the “confluence” of India’s Act East initiative with Japan’s Indo-Pacific strategy.”

EWC

India, Japan, and the Indo-Pacific: Breaking Out of the Middle Power Status, June 2017 . Nidhi Prasad, Researcher at Aoyama Gakuin University in Japan, explains that “India and Japan refuse to be caught in binary choices and are gradually creating room within which other Asian countries can maneuver.”

EWC

The Background to the First Ever Visit to Israel by an Indian Prime Minister, June 2017. Efraim Inbar, Founding Director of Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, explains that “The two nations share a common threat: the radical offshoots of Islam in the greater Middle East.”

EWC

Japan-India Development and Security Cooperation Should be Steady, not Rushed, May 2017. Shutaro Sano, Professor and Deputy Director at the Center for International Exchange, National Defense Academy of Japan, explains that “Tokyo’s position is consistent with Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative and ‘Neighborhood First’ policy, which aim to establish reliable, sustainable, and resilient infrastructure within India and between India and its neighboring countries. ”

EWC

Asia Bond Monitor, June 2017. Continued improvement in global economic prospects helped drive yields lower in most markets in emerging East Asia amid positive investor sentiment. Between 1 March and 15 May, yields for both 2-year and 10-year government bonds declined in most emerging East Asian markets. Among all bond markets in emerging East Asia, Indonesia experienced the largest decline in yields during the review period, driven by positive investor sentiment and an expected credit rating upgrade from Standard and Poor’s (S&P) Global Ratings. Financial stability has improved as evidenced by declines in emerging East Asia’s credit spreads...

ADB

The Asian Bond Markets Initiative: Policy Maker Achievements and Challenges, Published 2017. The Asian Bond Markets Initiative (ABMI) was launched in December 2002 by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the People’s Republic of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea—collectively known as ASEAN+3 to strengthen financial stability and reduce the region’s vulnerability to the sudden reversal of capital flows. This paper also provides recommendations for addressing new sources of market volatility and other challenges within and outside the framework of the Asian Bond Markets Initiative.

ADB

2017 Pacific Energy Update. ADB is supporting access to energy, renewable energy generation, efficient use of resources, and strengthening public and private sector institutions in the Pacific. ADB works across the Asia and Pacific region to strengthen communities and improve lives by supporting governments, businesses, and infrastructure to operate more effectively. Clean energy is an essential resource for driving low-carbon economic growth and for enhancing the quality of life for people in the region. The Pacific Energy Update 2017 describes ADB’s work in the energy sector; it highlights how technical assistance and energy sector projects are helping to build resilient, low-carbon economies, while increasing access to clean, reliable power in the Pacific...

ADB

Modeling Eldercare by Children and Children-in-Law: The Role of Marriage Institutions, June 2017. Children and potential children-in-law make individual decisions regarding the provision of eldercare. They respond to incentives: the more they can get paid for taking care of a needy parent-in-law the more they are likely to assist. Informal eldercare is often supplied by family members, more so in Asia than in the West...

ADB

The People’s Republic of China in the Middle-Income Trap? June 2017. In 2011, the People’s Republic of China's economy started to decline, raising concerns that the country could suffer severe growth slowdown or fall into the middle-income trap. Over the last decade, a growing body of literature dealing with the phenomenon of the “middle-income trap” (MIT) has emerged. The term MIT usually refers to countries that have experienced rapid growth and thus reached the status of a middle-income country in a very short period, but have not been able to further catch up with the group of high-income economies...

ADB

Costs and Potential Funding of Expanded Public Pension Coverage in Asia, June 2017. Many Asian economies are facing rapidly aging populations, which will dramatically raise pension and other old-age-related spending. Public pension burdens in most emerging Asian economies are still relatively small. However, there are a number of reasons to believe that they will increase markedly in the coming years...

ADB

Digital Trade Facilitation: Paperless Trade in Regional Trade Agreements, June 2017. Most regional trade agreements now feature one or more measures for electronically exchanging trade-related data and information. Digital trade facilitation refers to the application of modern information and communication technologies to simplify and automate international trade procedures. It is becoming essential to maintaining trade competitiveness and enabling effective participation in cross-border e-commerce...

ADB

Trans-Pacific Partnership Rules for Digital Trade in Asia, June 2017. Trans-Pacific Partnership members have successfully created a trade agreement with digital trade provisions that go beyond existing arrangements. Digital trade is upending the way consumers and companies do business. Digital trade and e-commerce have become major drivers of economic development by enhancing productivity and lowering costs of trade in goods...

ADB

The Impact of the TPP on Trade Between Member Countries—A Text-As-Data Approach, June 2017. With World Trade Organization negotiations in deadlock, countries are increasingly turning to preferential trade agreements to integrate their economies into the global trading system. We propose a new method to predict the impact of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) on trade and welfare, taking the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement as a case study...

ADB

International Single Window Environment: Prospects and Challenges, June 2017. An international single window environment will allow information sharing for both public and private sector stakeholders in global supply chains. Various international institutions have supported the implementation of national/regional single windows. The next logical step would be to internationalize and make them interoperable to allow for greater collaborative information sharing...

ADB

The Imminent Obesity Crisis in Asia and the Pacific: First Cost Estimates, June 2017. Overweight and obesity cost Asia and the Pacific 0.78% of their GDP or US$166 billion annually. Over the past two decades, Asia and the Pacific have not only experienced rapid growth, but in parallel saw a rapid increase in overweight and obese people. The latest available data indicated that over 40.9% of adults in the region are overweight compared to 34.6% in 1990. It is well documented that obesity and overweight are one of the main risk factors of non-communicable diseases...

ADB

Can Online Markets Make Trade More Inclusive? May 2017. Technology-driven online trade reduces income inequality and makes trade more inclusive. To fully realize these new gains from trade, governments and export promotion agencies need to address remaining barriers to e-commerce...

ADB

Latest APEC publications:

• Impact of Trade Liberalisation in APEC’s Development Products on APEC Economies and Rural Development and Poverty Alleviation in Indonesia, April 2017
• Superiority of LPG: A Disaster-Resistant Energy Source, May 2017
• Policy Review for APEC Low-Carbon Model Town Phase 6: Mandaue City, Cebu Province, Philippines, May 2017
• Supporting Industry Promotion Policies in APEC - Synthesis Report, May 2017
• Supporting Industry Promotion Policies in APEC - Case Study on Australia, May 2017
• Supporting Industry Promotion Policies in APEC - Case Study on Mexico, May 2017
• Supporting Industry Promotion Policies in APEC - Case Study on Viet Nam, May 2017
• APEC Low Carbon Model Town (LCMT) Project Phase 6: Feasibility Study for Mandaue City, November 2016
• Structural Reform and Services, May 2017
• China: Structural Reform in the Retail Services Sector, May 2017
• Indonesia: Structural Reform in Air Transport Service, May 2017
• Japan: Financial Services Sector Reform, May 2017
• New Zealand: Electricity Retail Services Market Reform, May 2017
• Chinese Taipei: Telecommunications Testing and Certification Services Reform, May 2017
• Partnerships for the Sustainable Development of Cities in the APEC Region, April 2017

APEC

Virginia Review of Asian Studies 2017.

VRAS

June, 2017

MAS Survey of Professional Forecasters, June 2017. GDP growth in Q1 2017 was higher than expected. The Singapore economy expanded by 2.7% in Q1 2017, which was higher than the median forecast of 2.6% reported in the March 2017 Survey. The economy is forecast to expand by 2.5% in 2017. For 2017 as a whole, the respondents expect the economy to grow by 2.5%, above the 2.3% in the previous survey...

MAS

Trends in Southeast Asia 2017 #4: The Emergence of Pork-Barrel Politics in Parliamentary Myanmar. In 2014 Myanmar introduced a constituency development fund (CDF) to sponsor small public works and development projects in each of the country's 330 electoral constituencies. As a form of "pork-barrel" spending, CDF programmes have long remained controversial among international donors, anti-corruption agencies and civil society watchdogs for their potential for corruption, embezzlement, waste of public money, vote-buying and other clientelistic behaviours. The CDF has however emerged in as an extremely popular instrument for lawmakers, in offering new opportunities for meeting the basic infrastructure and development needs of local communities...

ISEAS

Decoding the Committee on the Future Economy (CFE), May 2017. Singapore is witnessing structural shifts in the global economic environment, characterised by rapid technological change, subdued and uneven global growth, and a rise of anti-globalisation sentiments. To prepare the Singaporean workforce and to make our businesses resilient to a future that is increasingly volatile and uncertain, seven mutually reinforcing strategies were recommended by the Committee on the Future Economy (CFE). The purpose of this research is to elucidate and analyse the underlying thinking behind the CFE strategies in order to determine potential gaps that could arise as the strategies are implemented in policies and operationalised in various government initiatives...

IPS

Can Russia Afford to Be a Great Power? June 2017. Russia wants to be recognised as a great power, and has sufficient economic power and potential to encourage it to behave accordingly. However, under its current leadership it recognises that there are economic limits to its behaviour. There is a consistent commitment to budget discipline and a measured allocation of resources among key claimants — the social and development sectors, as well as defence and security. That limits the allocation of resources to power projection, particularly of the hard variety, even if such allocation is at a level high enough to cause considerable discomfort in the West...

Lowy

China and the United States as Aid Donors: Past Trends and Future Trajectories, May 2017. Patrick Kilby, Visiting Fellow at the East-West Center in Washington, explains that “Zhou Enlai enunciated his eight principles of Chinese Economic and Technical Assistance. These emphasized mutual benefit rather than 'unilateral alms', non-interference in the recipient government's policy and politics, and self-reliance.”

EWC

US Opportunities for Positive Engagement with Thailand and the Philippines, May 2017. David Lee, Researcher at the East-West Center in Washington, explains that “The central strategic task for policymakers is to maintain strong relationships with our partners in light of domestic challenges.”

EWC

Policy Response to Low Fertility in China: Too Little, Too Late? April 2017. In 1970, Chinese women were having an average of nearly six children each. Only nine years later, this figure had dropped to an average of 2.7 children per woman. This steep fertility decline was achieved before the Chinese government introduced the infamous one-child policy. Today, at 1.5 children per woman, the fertility rate in China is one of the lowest in the world. Such a low fertility level leads to extreme population aging--expansion of the proportion of the elderly in a population, with relatively few children to grow up and care for their aging parents and few workers to pay for social services or drive economic growth. China’s birth-control policies are now largely relaxed, but new programs are needed to provide healthcare and support for the growing elderly population and to encourage young people to have children. It will be increasingly difficult to fund such programs, however, as China's unprecedented pace of economic growth inevitably slows down...

EWC

Border Security Lessons for Australia from Europe’s Schengen Experience, May 2017. This Strategic Insights report explores Calum Jeffray’s key observations in his report Fractured Europe: the Schengen Area and European border security and analyses them through an Australian and then an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) border security lens. It also provides recommendations for Australian border security policymakers based on the lessons learned from the Schengen experience. It examines the implications of Schengen for ASEAN member states in the development of the ASEAN Economic Community.

ASPI

Asian Development Outlook 2017: Transcending the Middle-Income Challenge (Full Report, Highlights) covering Central Asia, East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and The Pacific. Developing Asia has continued to perform well, even as recovery in the major industrial economies remains weak. The region is forecast to expand by 5.7% in 2017 and 2018, nearly the 5.8% growth achieved in 2016. Decades of rapid growth transformed developing Asia from a low-income region to middle income. Sustaining growth to power the transition to high income will depend on much greater improvement in productivity. Innovation, human capital, and infrastructure are the three pillars of productivity growth. Supportive institutions and policies, underpinned by macroeconomic stability, can strengthen all three pillars. Asia’s dynamic track record suggests that attaining high income status, while challenging, is achievable.

ADB

Banking on the Future of Asia and the Pacific: 50 Years of the Asian Development Bank, Published 2017. This book is a history of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), a multilateral development bank established 50 years ago to serve Asia and the Pacific. Focusing on the region’s economic development, the evolution of the international development agenda, and the story of ADB itself, Banking on the Future of Asia and the Pacific raises several key questions: What are the outstanding features of regional development to which ADB had to respond?

ADB

Divergent Monetary Policies and International Dollar Credit: Evidence from Bank-Level Data, May 2017. The US dollar's role in driving global financial stability is unmatched. We use a comprehensive and detailed bank-level data set to study how the divergence of central bank balance sheet policy in the US vis-à-vis the euro area and Japan affects the supply of international US dollar loans by global banks. Our empirical findings support the view that the contractionary effect of US monetary normalization on global dollar liquidity would be offset by an expansionary effect from a continued supply of US dollar loans by euro area and Japanese banks...

ADB

Central Banking below Zero: The Implementation of Negative Interest Rate Policies in Europe and Japan, May 2017. Negative interest rates are nothing new and markets react differently depending on the implementation. We provide an overview of the operational implementation of negative interest rates in Europe and Japan, drawing attention to the fact that there is precedent for negative policy rates and negative money market rates. We then address conceptual issues and summarize measures which define negative interest rate policies...

ADB

Why Do Children Take Care of Their Elderly Parents? Are the Japanese Any Different? May 2017. Japanese people care for elderly parents if they expect a bequest, but altruism and social norms determine their caregiving behavior. We conduct a theoretical and empirical analysis of why children live with or near their parents and provide care and assistance to them using microdata from a Japanese household survey, the Osaka University Preference Parameter Study...

ADB

Household Consumption Risk and Coping Strategies in Tajikistan: Evidence from Household Surveys, May 2017. igher exposure to financial risk is linked to lower household consumption and higher rates of poverty in Tajikistan. Forward-looking poverty analyses are essential for targeting and implementing poverty prevention interventions. In the presence of uncertainty and risk, the current poverty status of households is not a good indicator of whether they will be poor in the future. We examine consumption risk and risk-coping strategies in the case of Tajikistan, a country where frequent negative risks and adverse shocks are faced by its people...

ADB

Are Dragons and Tigers Catching Up? May 2017. The Asian “Dragon” economies have grown at a rate fast approaching the United States, while the Asian “Tiger” economies have shown less success. We study the catching-up process in per capita income of the so-called Asian Dragons and Tigers. First, we test the catching-up hypothesis using the longest time span ever considered, from 1870 to 2014. Second, we document the experiences of these two groups of economies and provide potential explanations for them...

ADB

Growth Slowdowns, Middle-Income Trap, and Demographic Profile in South Asia, May 2017. Investment in human capital is critical for innovation. The middle-income trap (MIT) is a scenario of rapidly growing economies that experience sudden stops and ultimately lead to stagnation at the middle-income level. Economic growth depends on changes in the demographics of a country. Conversely, the demographic change in economic growth has both positive and negative relationships, according to the literature. Further, testing a neoclassical model of economic growth is not adequately estimated in the field of demographic and growth slowdowns in South Asia...

ADB

Trade and SDG 13 – Action on Climate Change, May 2017. limate change policies do not operate in isolation. Other policy areas such as trade can influence whether climate objectives are achieved. We assess the interaction of international trade with climate policies, and the influence of trade on the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 on climate change. Although international trade contributes directly to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, increased trade can help to achieve development goals in a GHG-efficient manner, provided that GHG emissions are correctly priced everywhere...

ADB

Foreign Direct Investment and Wage Inequality: Evidence from the People’s Republic of China, May 2017. The inflow of foreign direct investment creates a wage gap between foreign and domestic firms in the People’s Republic of China. Based on theoretical analysis of the effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) on the wage gap between foreign firms and domestic firms in the host country, we use data from the Chinese Industrial Enterprises Database to measure these effects. Theoretical results show that the wage gap between foreign firms and domestic firms in the host country caused by the FDI labor transfer effect and technology spillover effect tends to increase then decrease, which implies an inverted U curve track...

ADB

The Evolving Multilayered Global Financial Safety Net: The Case of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations+3 Regional Financial Safety Net and the International Monetary Fund, May 2017. he Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)+3 regional financial safety net (RFSN) is unlikely to prevent and manage crises. It needs more structured cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). We argue that in the aftermath of the global economic crisis, the centralized international monetary architecture or the global financial safety net set up at the Bretton Woods conference is evolving towards a more decentralized...

ADB

Education, Globalization, and Income Inequality in Asia, May 2017. Higher levels of schooling increase income equality, while unequal education opportunities increase income inequality. We consider how education and globalization affect income inequality in Asia, using unbalanced panel data. The evidence supports the validity of Kuznets’ inverted-U hypothesis for the connection between income level and income inequality. However, when more variables are integrated into the model, the consistency of the inverse U-shaped curve becomes weaker...

ADB

Relationship between Infrastructure and Population Agglomeration in Urban India: An Empirical Assessment, May 2017. Better urban infrastructure does not necessarily increase population, but it improves a city's contribution to national economic growth. Deficiency of urban infrastructure facilities is one of the main problems behind the low rate of urbanization in India. It has also unfavorably affected the realization of the full potential of the urban sector’s contribution to national gross domestic product in India. From this perspective, by considering the population in Class I cities (cities with more than 100,000 people)...

ADB

Using Input–Output Analysis Framework to Explain Economic Diversification and Structural Transformation in Bangladesh, May 2017. Understanding the interlinkages of firms and sectors in the production process and how that leads to higher value added and trade growth has attracted increasing interest. Existing literature on economic growth and structural change relies on trade data to make pronouncements about a country’s competitiveness and long-term growth prospects through the acquisition of capabilities...

ADB

The Debate About the Sources of Growth in East Asia After a Quarter of a Century: Much Ado About Nothing, May 2017. The 1990s witnessed perhaps one of the most important debates in the history of growth and development on the sources of growth in East Asia. This paper reviews what the profession has learnt during the last 25 years about East Asia’s growth using growth accounting exercises and estimations of production functions...

ADB

Asia-Pacific Regional Integration Index: Construction, Interpretation, and Comparison, April 2017. The study develops an index to measure the degree of regional integration in Asia and the Pacific (48 economies in six subregions). The index comprises 26 indicators in six dimensions of regional integration, i.e., trade and investment, money and finance, regional value chains, infrastructure and connectivity, free movement of people, and institutional and social integration...

ADB

LED Street Lighting Best Practices, April 2017. Providing street and public lighting can account for up to 38% of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in some cities. New energy-efficient technologies and design can cut street lighting costs dramatically (up to 60%) and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the same amount. These savings can reduce the need for new generating plants and redeploy scarce capital to delivering energy access to populations in remote areas. The savings also allow municipalities to expand street lighting coverage to additional areas that include low-income and other underserved areas...

ADB

Latest APEC publications:

• Peer Review and Capacity Building on APEC Infrastructure Development and Investment: The Philippines, May 2017
• Facilitating Innovative Economic Development of "Internet + Service Industry" in APEC Region, May 2017
• 2016 PSU Annual Report, Published May 2017
• IFAP Implementation to Facilitate FDI in APEC: Updates in 2016, Published May 2017
• Streamlining Export Certificate Requirements for Food Products in the APEC Region, May 2017
• APEC Regional Trends Analysis (Globalisation: The Good, The Bad, and the Role of Policy), May 2017
• APEC 100 Best Practice Analysis of Nearly/Net Zero Energy Building, April 2017
• Women’s SMEs: Conquering International Markets, March 2017
• Guidelines to Develop Energy Resiliency in APEC Off-Grid Areas, February 2017
• APEC Public - Private Dialogue on Services, March 2017
• APEC Capacity Building Workshop on FTA Negotiation Skills on Intellectual Property (Phase 2), December 2016
• Best Practices on Critical Issues in the Asia-Pacific Region for the Implementation of the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade Facilitation, December 2016
• Research Outcomes: Summary of Research Projects 2016, Published 2017

APEC