August, 2014 Current Topics

Source

Caveats for the Mongolia-China Strategic Partnership, July 2014. Mendee Jargalsaikhan, Asia Studies Visiting Fellow at the East-West Center in Washington, explains that "From the Mongolian perspective, the strategic partnership with China is important across a number of areas, but there are caveats, especially concerning the economy, security, and culture."

EWC

US Arms Sales to India, July 2014. Dinshaw Mistry, Asia Studies Visiting Fellow at the East-West Center in Washington, explains that "New Delhi's defense procurements from the United States are worth a substantial $15 billion."

EWC

Broadcasting Justice: Media Outreach at the Khmer Rouge Trials, July 2014. Increasingly, individuals who have perpetrated mass atrocities are being held to account in criminal tribunals. Whether these are in-country tribunals or convened elsewhere, one of their main purposes is to obtain justice for victims. Building a bridge between the tribunal and the affected population is key to achieving this and other goals, such as promoting the rule of law and community reconciliation...

EWC

Trade and Innovation in Global Networks - Regional Policy Implications, May 2014. This Think Piece explores how integration into international trade through global networks of production (GPNs) and innovation (GINs) might affect a region's innovation capacity. As regions across the globe are progressively integrated into those global networks--some certainly more than others--these regions are all faced with a fundamental challenge...

EWC

Asian Development Outlook 2014 Supplement: Stable Growth Outlook for Developing Asia, July 2014. Developing Asia’s outlook remains on track despite slower-than-expected first quarter growth in the United States. The region is projected to grow steadily at 6.2% in 2014 and 6.4% in 2015, the same rates envisaged in Asian Development Outlook 2014. Slight downward revisions to GDP forecasts for Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific are balanced by upward adjustments for South Asia. Relatively stable oil prices and declining food prices are helping to keep inflation in check such that consumer prices in the region are now expected to rise more slowly in 2014 than previously projected...

ADB

Challenges and Opportunities of Population Aging in the People's Republic of China, July 2014. The population in the People's Republic of China (PRC) is aging rapidly. The proportion of people aged 60 years and above is expected to increase from 12% in 2010 to 33% by 2050, turning the PRC into the oldest population in the world. Health care costs and dependency ratios will increase in parallel...

ADB

Whither Multilateral Development Finance? July 2014. Multilateral development finance is at a critical juncture. In the past 70 years, it has developed through four distinct stages. The Bretton Woods conference established the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in 1944 to finance post-war reconstruction and stabilize the global economy. The second stage saw the establishment of regional development banks in the 1950s and 1960s...

ADB

Service Sector Productivity and Economic Growth in Asia, July 2014. This paper explores the impacts of more rapid growth in labor productivity in the service sector in Asia based on an empirical general equilibrium model. The model allows for input–output linkages and capital movements across industries and economies, and consumption and investment dynamics...

ADB

Policies to Enhance Trade Facilitation in South Asia and Southeast Asia, July 2014. This paper discusses trade facilitation in the context of enhancing trading links between South and Southeast Asia, in a manner understandable to the non-specialist. Presently, these two Asian regions tend to trade preferentially with distant markets. One of the reasons cited for the limited trade between themselves is that trade facilitation with trade partners in developed countries is more user friendly and stable...

ADB

Financial Stability and Financial Inclusion, July 2014. Developing economies are seeking to promote financial inclusion, i.e., greater access to financial services for low-income households and firms, as part of their overall strategies for economic and financial development. This raises the question of whether financial stability and financial inclusion are, broadly speaking, substitutes or complements. In other words, does the move toward greater financial inclusion tend to increase or decrease financial stability...

ADB

Energy Security, Sustainability, and Affordability in Asia and the Pacific, July 2014. This paper calculates energy security, sustainability, and affordability from 2010 to 2035 for the Asia and Pacific region using the following indicators: primary energy intensity, carbon dioxide intensity of the primary energy mix, energy self-sufficiency, affordability of electricity, and primary energy diversification. It then assesses the potential benefits of integrating energy systems within the region...

ADB

Measuring Social Protection Expenditures in Southeast Asia: Estimates Using the Social Protection Index, July 2014. This paper provides a cross-country analysis of social protection programs in Southeast Asia. ADB’s Social Protection Index is used to assess program coverage, benefit-level, and impact on poverty and gender equity. While social protection expenditures differ across country income classifications, results show that total spending has remained low...

ADB

RETA 7834: Assessment and Implications of Rationalizing and Phasing Out Fossil Fuel Subsidies (Finalization Conference Report, 26-27 May 2014). This publication presents preliminary findings of an ADB technical assistance study on fossil fuel subsidy reform in India, Indonesia, and Thailand, and the feedback at a conference from peer reviewers, policy makers, and experts in economics, energy, environment and poverty issues. The study quantifies fossil-fuel subsidies, analyzes the economic, energy, and environmental impacts of subsidy reform, and discusses social welfare measures to mitigate the negative impacts of reforms on households...

ADB

• Inequality in Asia and the Pacific: Trends, Drivers, and Policy Implications
• Fiscal Policy for Inclusive Growth

ADB

Local Public Finance Management in the People's Republic of China: Challenges and Opportunities, Published 2014 . The People’s Republic of China is a highly decentralized unitary state with local governments having a dominant share of public service delivery responsibility. Local governance is critically linked to a local public finance system that creates incentives and accountability mechanisms. To ensure the policy response, this project focused on the three interrelated areas in local public finance management, i.e., local budgeting, local debt management and local taxation, and produced policy options in the short, medium and long terms...

ADB

Tap Secrets: The Manila Water Story, Published 2014. In this book, Manila Water tells its story - the story of a water utility’s amazing transformation that is anchored on tapping the unlimited potential of important yet often underappreciated corporate resources. This is the secret of Manila Water’s success. Within each and every employee's story, when told collectively, is Manila Water's secret told.

ADB

July, 2014

Ethnic Minorities, Government Policies, and Foreign Relations: The Ethnic Chinese in Vietnam and Ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia, June 2014. The main purpose of this study is to analyse the impact of government policies and foreign relations on ethnic minorities. This is done through two case studies from East Asia. The cases are: 1) the ethnic Chinese in Vietnam and Sino-Vietnamese relations, and 2) the ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia and Cambodia-Vietnam relations. Both cases display that inter-state relations can have considerable impact on the situation of ethnic minorities in neighbouring countries. The two cases also display that deteriorating inter-state relations can influence government policies toward ethnic minorities...

ISDP

Asia Region Funds Passport - A Study of Potential Economic Benefits and Costs, July 2014. The objective of this study is to evaluate the business case for introducing the ARFP into Asia. It will examine the current state of the mutual funds industry in order to evaluate the benefits that the ARFP can bring into the region. The potential gains from the ARFP will be assessed against the potential risks so that decision makers can implement specific measures to maximize the net benefits.

APEC

APEC Train-the-Trainer Training Course for Women SME Service Exporters - Summary Report, July 2014. On June 17th and 18th, 2014, the APEC Train-the-Trainer Training Course for Women SME Service Exporters, initiated by Viet Nam and co-sponsored by Brunei Darussalam and Indonesia, was held in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam. The Training Course was targeted to help equip women SME service providers with knowledge, skills and techniques to improve enterprises’ competitiveness, access to the global market, as well as to share experiences and best practices among women SME providers in exporting services to international markets.

APEC

Australia in the UN Security Council, June 2014. In this Lowy Institute Analysis, Richard Gowan reviews Australia’s time as a non-permanent member of the Security Council. Gowan argues that while it has not changed the world, Australia has acquitted itself well, bringing extra rigour and professionalism to the Council’s debates. It has carved out a niche on the issue of humanitarian access in the Syrian conflict, and solidified its reputation as a good international citizen and a serious country...

Lowy

How to Buy a Submarine: Part 2, June 2014. The building of a replacement for Australia's Collins class submarines will be the country's most expensive defence project to date. It's also likely to be the most complex, with a myriad of capability, commercial and industrial issues to be managed: the expertise for the design and construction of conventional submarines resides in Europe and Asia while Navy's preference is for American combat and weapon systems. Pulling those elements together while managing the technical risks is no easy task...

ASPI

How to Buy a Submarine: Defining and Building Australia's Future Fleet, October 2009. The Defence White paper announced that the future submarine fleet would consist of at least twelve submarines that would be able to perform a wide range of missions and carry a varied array of weapons and sensors. As described, the resultant boats are likely to be the largest, most complex and, at $3 billion each, the most expensive conventional submarines ever built...

ASPI

Guidance on Private Banking Controls, June 2014. This report aims to provide financial institutions (FIs) with guidance on the policies, procedures and controls applicable to private banking (PB). In addition to setting out MAS’ supervisory expectations, it also highlights sound industry practices and areas where FIs should pay closer attention to, in order to mitigate the risks from their PB operations.

MAS

MAS Survey of Professional Forecasters, June 2014 provides a summary of forecasts of Singapore's key economic indicators by economists and analysts.

MAS

Japan's Cabinet Seeks Changes to Its Peace Constitution - Issues New "Interpretation" of Article Nine, July 2014. Andrew L. Oros, Adjunct Fellow at the East-West Center in Washington, explains that "Nothing has yet been changed in Japanese law, and even if new laws are passed in the fall based on this cabinet statement, the agreement within the ruling coalition places substantial barriers on Japan exercising this right in the years to come."

EWC

US Should Help Vietnam Counter China's Coercion, June 2014. Patrick M. Cronin, Senior Director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, explains that "China's tailored coercion is aimed not just at its neighbors but also at the United States."

EWC

TPP: An Agreement to Bridge the United States with ASEAN and Asia, June 2014. Sanchita Basu Das, Lead Researcher for Economic Affairs at the ASEAN Studies Center, ISEAS, Singapore, explains that "Without a TPP agreement, it is highly unlikely that US trade accords with major partners in Asia can be successfully concluded and enacted upon anytime soon."

EWC

China's New Calculations in the South China Sea, June 2014. Yun Sun, Fellow with the East Asia Program at the Stimson Center, explains that "Official statements and legal studies analysis from within China also reflect a recalibrated determination to uphold the country's controversial nine-dashed line in the South China Sea."

EWC

VRAS

Oil Security Issues in Asia and the Pacific, July 2014. By 2010, demand for oil in developing Asia substantially exceeded that of North America and Europe combined, but demand for natural gas has been expanding rapidly and countries with large coal resources have used them instead of oil wherever possible. The goal of oil security is to make domestic economies and the international market adaptable to changes in availability and price...

ADB

Pacific Economic Monitor, July 2014. This issue of the Pacific Economic Monitor updates the 2014 and 2015 GDP growth and inflation projections for ADB's Pacific developing member countries, from those presented earlier in Asian Development Outlook 2014. The policy briefs in this issue explore the Pacific region’s job creation challenges; highlighting important characteristics of labor markets across the diverse economies of the region and discussing policy options for expanding job creation...

ADB

Asia Bond Monitor, June 2014. Emerging East Asian local currency (LCY) bond markets have regained their bounce as bond yields have fallen for most markets in recent months, shrugging off the impact of the tapering of asset purchases by the United States Federal Reserve. As economic conditions in the US point to a recovery, tapering is expected to proceed as planned. This may result in tighter liquidity conditions for the region’s bond markets in the coming months...

ADB

Environmental Issues, Climate Changes, and Energy Security in Developing Asia, June 2014. Four environmental dimensions of energy security—climate change, air pollution, water availability and quality, and land-use change—and the environmental impact of 13 energy systems on each are discussed in this paper. Climate change threatens more land, people, and economies in Asia and small Pacific island states than any other part of the planet...

ADB

Asia's Energy Adequacy, Environmental Sustainability, and Affordability: An Overview, June 2014. The three pillars of Asian energy security are an adequate, reliable supply; environmental sustainability; and affordable access for all. As Asians become more affluent, managing demand by tackling outmoded subsidies so prices reflect true costs, exploring green innovations in technology and prudent infrastructure design, and changing behavior will be crucial to achieving security as will expanding both renewable and nonrenewable sources in an environmentally sound and cost-effective manner...

ADB

District Governance and Student Learning in Indonesia, June 2014. This paper documents the effects of district education policies on student learning in Indonesian primary schools and finds substantial heterogeneity in learning gains across districts. However, policy variables like school budgets, participation rates in teacher working groups, or student-teacher ratios, can explain only a fraction of the differences in learning across districts. Schools with more active teacher working groups and higher-qualified teachers achieve better learning gains...

ADB

Economic and Political Transitions from Premodern to Modern States in the Meiji Restoration and Xinhai Revolution: A Strategic Approach, June 2014. Economists often identify a reduction in the share of agricultural employment as a quantitative indication of the economic growth of nations. But this process did not occur in earnest in the People's Republic of China until the 1980s and to some extent in Japan until well into the mid-20th century. Were extractive political regimes, commonly regarded as the primary drivers of economic performance, solely responsible for the lateness of these developments? This paper deals with this question from a strategic perspective by examining the interactions between the polity and the economy in both countries...

ADB

The Role of Sri Lanka in Enhancing Connectivity between South Asia and Southeast Asia, June 2014. Improving physical connectivity between South and Southeast Asia has long been recognized as a key element in promoting greater trade and investment linkages within the region. As an island economy, Sri Lanka's regional connectivity has been mainly through its main sea port in Colombo, a transshipment hub port for South Asia...

ADB

Hong Kong: High Frequency Macroeconomic Forecasts Current Quarter Model: 2014Q3, July 2014. Real GDP in 14Q2 is estimated to grow by 2.9% when compared with the same period last year. This is a downward revision from the previous forecast release of 3.7%. This substantial revision mainly reflects the weak external demand caused by the cold winter in the North America. In 14Q3, real GDP growth is forecast to be 3.4% when compared with the same period last year...

HKU

The Responsibility of Intellectuals Redux: Humanitarian Intervention and the Liberal Embrace of War in the Age of Clinton, Bush and Obama, June 2014. In a New York Times op-ed following the public’s rejection of president Barack Obama’s call for air strikes on Syria, Michael Ignatieff, a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and former leader of the Canadian liberal party, sought to reaffirm the doctrine of humanitarian intervention, stating that while the public had become weary over the failure of wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya...

APJ

Japan's Rollout of Smart Cities: What Role for the Citizens? June 2014. On May 27 Ernst & Young Institute Japan (EY) released a Japanese-language study, summarizing Japan’s over 200 smart city projects. EY’s work is especially well timed. Among other recent developments, June 2 saw Apple join a long list of firms including Toyota Home by entering the “smart home” market. The global background includes thousands of smart-city projects, collectively worth at least USD 650 billion in 2014. At over USD 40 billion, Korea’s Songdo smart city project is the costliest private-sector real-estate development ever undertaken...

APJ

After 3.11: Imposing Nuclear Energy on a Skeptical Japanese Public, June 2014. In April 2014 Prime Minister Abe unveiled Japan’s new national energy strategy, reinstating nuclear energy as a key source of energy even as the shambolic cleanup and decommissioning at the Fukushima Daiichi lurches from one blunder to the next malfunction, and radiation contaminated groundwater flows into the ocean. This is a major milestone in the comeback of nuclear energy despite a seemingly endless cascade of damning revelations about lax safety practices and perfunctory oversight since the three reactor meltdowns in March 2011...

APJ

Taiwan and the Ryukyus (Okinawa) in Asia-Pacific Multilateral Relations – a Long-term Historical Perspective on Territorial Claims and Conflicts, May 2014. This article summarizes relevant historical developments involving Taiwan and Okinawa in Asia-Pacific multilateral relations over the longue durée, and suggests future prospects...

APJ

Trial Support Groups Lobby for Japanese Prisoner Rights, Fight to Rectify Injustices, May 2014. Almost every one or two weeks a large envelope arrives in my mailbox. Opening it up invariably reveals a flier, newsletter or newspaper, often accompanied by a handwritten note with a tailored message. At the risk of sounding facetious, only my mobile phone provider is as punctual and frequent. But the deliveries are not from any commercial service. They are from a prisoner support group...

APJ

Changing Modes of Political Dialogue Across the Middle East and East Asia, 1880-2010, May 2014. East Asia’s relationship with the Middle East today is based mainly on economics and is devoid of grand political projects of solidarity and intellectual dialogue. Countries such as China, Japan and Korea present the Middle East with a model of state-led capitalist neoliberal economic development. At the same time, the redemptive transformation of East Asia into a globally powerful region offers a trajectory of development diverging from the Middle East, struggling with political turbulence, regime crises and regional wars both cold and hot...

APJ

Mobilizing Nuclear Bias: The Fukushima Nuclear Crisis and the Politics of Uncertainty (Updated and Revised May 18, 2014), May 2014. The nuclear disaster in Fukushima which followed in the wake of the 3/11 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami has given rise to one of the most significant public health crises in modern world history, with profound implications for how nuclear energy is perceived. This paper analyzes the most dire phase of the Fukushima nuclear crisis, showing how the level of risk was assessed by nuclear experts and state-level actors who worked largely out of view of public scrutiny. In addition to examining how the accident progression in the reactors was addressed and conveyed to the general public,..

APJ

Doom and Gloom or Economic Boom? The Myth of the "North Korean Collapse", May 2014. The DPRK is said to be an economist's nightmare. There are almost no reliable statistics available, making any analysis speculative at best. The few useable figures that we have, though, fly in the face of the media's curious insistence on a looming collapse. Food production and trade volumes indicate that the DPRK has largely recovered from the economic catastrophe of the 1990s...

APJ

Yellow Blood: Hepatitis C and the Modernist Settlement in Japan, May 2014. Japan has one of the highest rates of hepatitis C virus infection in the industrialized world. This endemic and the challenges it poses for the future of Japan’s healthcare system stem, ironically, from the formation of a modernist settlement beginning in the late 19th century. Modern techno-scientific solutions to political problems inadvertently provided millions of opportunities for hepatitis C to spread in rural communities, among leprosy communities, the traumatized postwar community and into the national blood supply...

APJ

Could a US-Japan "Green Alliance" Transform the Climate-Energy Equation? May 2014. US President Barack Obama’s April 23-25 visit to Japan unfortunately went pretty much as expected. Obama asked for concessions on a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement, and received a souvenir “key milestone” whose content and location remain a mystery. Abe asked for exports of fracked gas, kind words about nuclear power, and promises on the Senkaku-Diaoyu Island dispute, and – for what they are worth - got commitments on paper...

APJ

Social Factors Affecting Women's Susceptibility to HIV in India, June 2014. India is the global epicentre of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Asia. Previous research indicates that the majority of HIV-positive women in India were infected by their husbands, their only sexual partner, which makes them difficult to identify as a high-risk population. This paper assesses social factors associated with the transmission of HIV based on demographic determinants, such as age; sexual risk behavior; and gendered discrimination, such as domestic violence...

ADB

Review and Assessment of Programs Offered by State Universities and Colleges, May 2014. The importance of tertiary education in promoting human development and improving the economy`s competitiveness has already been realized. However, state universities and colleges (SUCs) have always faced issues such as the quality of education, management and financial systems, and access, despite considerable funding support provided by the government...

PIDS

Study of Government Interventions for Employment Generation in the Private Sector, May 2014. Economic growth in the Philippines has not been accompanied by significant improvements in employment. Government thus implemented Active Labor Market Programs or ALMPs as one of the strategies to improve the chances of getting jobs of those in disadvantaged sectors...

PIDS

Quick Response Funds and DRRM Resources in the Department of National Defense and Various Departments, May 2014. The study assesses the process of quick response fund (QRF) allocation, administration, and implementation under the various executive departments with cognizance of national disaster risk reduction management (DRRM) imperatives. It further touches on the inventory of the line agencies` available assets for disaster response and rehabilitation...

PIDS

Purchase or Lease of All-Purpose Vehicles for Government Offices, May 2014. This article compares the costs and benefits for the government of leasing vis-a-vis outright purchase of motor vehicles. It presents two methods through which public managers can estimate and assess the value of procuring motor vehicles either under lease payment or direct purchase. Using data from selected government agencies, the net present values generated suggest that outright purchase of low-end vehicles is preferable to leasing...

PIDS

Rapid Appraisal of the State of Competition in the Rice Value Chain, May 2014. The rapid appraisal is based on the interview of select players in various levels of the palay/rice value chain from Pangasinan and Nueva Ecija to Metro Manila. It finds that the paddy and rice supply chain is multilayered with many competing players in each layer, and with no evidence of any cartel-like behavior in the areas studied...

PIDS

Comparing the 1999 and 2007 Philippine NTA Estimates and Examining the Effects of a Definitional Change of Overseas Workers` Remittances, May 2014. This paper compares the estimates of the 1999 and 2007 Philippine National Transfer Accounts (NTA) and examines the implications of using two alternative treatments or definitions of overseas Filipino workers` (OFW) remittances in the NTA...

PIDS

Small Farmers in High Value Chains: Binding or Relaxing Constraints to Inclusive Growth? April 2014. Linking small farmers to modern markets, whether domestically or for export, increasingly entails participation in modern supply chains coordinated by contract farming. Concerns have been raised regarding the possible disadvantages from contract farming facing small farmers. Most empirical work points to a positive correlation between participation in contract farming and net farm income...

PIDS

Formulating the Philippine Services Strategy for Inclusive Growth, April 2014. The paper looks at the role of services in the economy and discusses why competitive services are necessary for achieving inclusive growth. An overview of Philippine services sectors is first presented highlighting their economic contribution as well as performance. This is followed by a discussion of the country`s record in services trade particularly in exports...

PIDS

Implications of an EU FTA to the Philippine Labor Market, April 2014. The Philippines is currently negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU). This paper is expected to shed light on these negotiations in terms of the possible effects of the FTA on the employment in particular. Conceptually, the effects of FTA on the labor market may come from two sources. The first is the intensification of free trade which can either be an opportunity or a threat to the workers, depending on whether the trading of goods and services are complementary or substitutable to the goods and services produced in the country...

PIDS

The Impact of the Cheaper Medicines Act on Households in Metro Manila: A Qualitative Study, March 2014. This research forms part of the "Health Systems Research Management in the Department of Health (DOH)", a project funded by the DOH and implemented by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies...

PIDS

The Sponsored Program of the Philippine National Health Insurance - Analyses of the Actual Coverage and Variations Across Regions and Provinces, March 2014. This study established the breadth of socialized Philippine health insurance, known as the PhilHealth Sponsored Program. It examined the extent of coverage relative to its target "poor" population, how much coverage rates varied across provinces and the factors likely to explain variation. PhilHealth Sponsored Program appeared to have attained universal coverage over the targeted "poor" population at the national level for the year 2011.

PIDS

Barriers of Early TB Diagnosis among the Poor in Highly Urbanized Areas in the Philippines, March 2014. Over the last decade, there was a significant drop in mortality and morbidity cases attributed to tuberculosis (TB). The high TB Case Detection (CDR) and Treatment Success Rates (TSR) may have underpinned the decreasing prevalence. Despite these successes, TB still appears to be a major health problem in the country. Disturbingly, the rate of decrease in the mortality and morbidity is not fast enough...

PIDS

The Prevalence of Philippine Prescribing, Dispensing, and Use Behavior in Relation to Generic Drugs and their Risk Factors, March 2014. This study was designed to address the issue of compliance of physicians and drugstores to the provisions of Generics Act of 1988. Furthermore, it aims to explore the awareness of consumers on generic medicines to explain current trends and practices in drug prescribing, dispensing, and use. The study utilized a cross-sectional design...

PIDS

Analysis of the Employed Program of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, March 2014. The Employed Program of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) caters to those in the formal sector. Included are those in the government and private sectors with a formal employer-employee relationship. Coverage levels for both the government and private sectors are promising with regional averages of 74 percent and 71 percent, respectively; and provincial averages of 80 percent and 75 percent, respectively...

PIDS

Analysis of the Individually Paying Program of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, March 2014. The Individually Paying Program (IPP) is the voluntary component of the Philippines` social health insurance program. The program caters to those in the informal sector and those without a formal employer-employee relationship. Coverage levels for the IPP were found to be considerably low with a regional average of 57 percent and a provincial average of 53 percent...

PIDS

June, 2014

Abe Shinzo and the U.S.-Japan Relationship in a Global Context, April 2014. Victory for Abe Shinzo and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in two consecutive general elections opened the way for Japan to move closer to the policies of the United States and, at the same time, throw off some of the restraints imposed by the postwar peace constitution and the San Francisco Treaty system...

APJ

The Bumble Bee and the Chrysanthemum: Comparing Sweden and Japan's Responses to Financial Crisis, April 2014. Reinhart and Rogoff’s influential book, This Time is Different (2009), argues that financial crises over the past eight centuries have had similar causes and consequences across diverse societies. The authors make an important empirical contribution to our knowledge of financial crises by showing that excessive borrowing, debt-fuelled asset values, and exuberance about ever-increasing prices are central elements in all of them...

APJ

Limited Regular Employment and the Reform of Japan's Division of Labor, April 2014. Responses to Japanese Prime Minister Abe’s proposed labor reforms, which are part of the economic stimulus plan known as Abenomics, are a window on the positions of major stakeholders' social debates in Japan’s future. This paper identifies, summarizes, and analyzes six responses to one of the proposed structural reforms: new labor rules that would encourage expansion of “limited regular employment,” an employment status between Japan’s famous “lifetime employment” and the burgeoning number of non-regular workers...

APJ

The American Deep State, Deep Events, and Off-the-Books Financing, April 2014. The issue of Saudi Embassy funding of at least two (and possibly more) of the alleged 9/11 hijackers (or designated culprits) is so sensitive that, in the 800-page Joint Congressional Inquiry Report on 9/11, the entire 28-page section dealing with Saudi financing was very heavily redacted.56 A similar censorship occurred with the 9/11 Commission Report...

APJ

Japan's Energy Policy Impasse, April 2014. Japan’s energy policy regime appears dangerously adrift in the context of accelerating climate change. The core problem is agency. On the one hand, Japanese PM Abe Shinzo and the nuclear village appear obsessed with nuclear power restarts and 20th century paradigms of the power economy. On the other hand, Japan’s anti-nuclear civil society lacks the political vehicle to force a combined nuclear pullout plus drastic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions...

APJ

China's "Sea Power Nation" Strategy, June 2014. China is a large maritime nation. It has a coastline of more than 18,000 km, three million square kilometers of territorial seas, and over 6,500 islands with an area larger than 500 square meters. However, China is not a strong “sea power” nation. Its ocean economic development lags behind that of its land economy and the level of other world sea powers. Moreover, China is facing many daunting challenges and risks related with its harsh strategic situation...

ISDP

Turkey's December 17 Process: A Timeline of the Graft Investigation and the Government's Response, June 2014. On December 17, 2013, an arrest wave targeted high officials in the Turkish government and their families. Fifty-two people were detained on accusations of accepting and facilitating bribes for state projects and receiving construction permits for protected areas in exchange for money. The accused included the sons of three cabinet members, businessmen, officials and the mayor of the Fatih district in Istanbul from the Justice and Development Party (AKP)...

ISDP

Toward a Roadmap for Peace and Stability on the Korean Peninsula: Steps and Perspectives, May 2014. This paper attempts to illustrate steps and perspectives of a process that could go beyond the present gridlock between the key parties that have a stake in the current conflict situation on the Korean Peninsula. It summarizes key steps that the negotiating parties will need to take into consideration when finding agreements on a comprehensive and mandatory multi-stage structure as part of an inclusive peace process...

ISDP

Azerbaijan's Security and U.S. Interests: Time for a Reassessment, December 2013. Azerbaijan's importance to U.S. interests has waned in recent years despite the fact that the country, including the wider Caucasus region, has risen in importance while the challenges have multiplied. This paper argues accordingly that there is a need for a reassessment of U.S. policy and interests that should be refocused on Azerbaijan and the surrounding region.

ISDP

The Philippine Economy in 2013 and Prospects for 2014, January-March 2014. The outlook is still "generally positive" despite events of the past year that could still have spillover effects this year, in particular, the devastation brought by Typhoon Yolanda. Tighter monetary policy and the end to the US Federal Reserve`s quantitative easing that had brought tremendous liquidity to emerging economies and buoyed financial markets are also expected to weigh in on the production of goods and services by the domestic economy...

PIDS

Competition in the Rice Value Chain: Highlights of a Rapid Appraisal, May 2014. This Policy Note discusses the rice value chain and how the policy on restricting rice imports impacts the various stakeholders in the chain. It is based on a rapid appraisal of the rice value chain conducted through interviews in October 2013. Key informants came from the National Food Authority and each of the nodes of the rice supply chain from the producing, trading, and milling markets in Nueva Ecija and Pangasinan to the milling and wholesale markets in Bulacan, and the wholesale and retail markets in Manila...

PIDS

Linking Small Farmers to Modern Markets: The Role of Contract Farming, May 2014. This Policy Note summarizes a study by Roehlano Briones titled "Small farmers in high-value chains: Binding or relaxing constraints to inclusive growth?", which seeks to assess the impact of contract farming on small farmers in the Philippines using evidence-based methods. Specifically, the study aims to characterize contract farming for a major value chain in Philippine agriculture, determine the impact of contract farming on the farm incomes of smallholders, and assess the degree to which participation in contract farming is biased toward farmers with larger endowments.

PIDS

Bakit Nagmahal ang Bigas Noong 2013? At Bakit Mahal pa rin? The Continuing Saga of Rice Self-Sufficiency in the Philippines, May 2014. It is easy to blame rice traders and smugglers for price manipulation, but it is another thing to produce evidence for this accusation. This Policy Note is the outcome of a study on the actual state of rice supply in the country. It looks into the rice price spike in 2013 by taking a different approach instead of subscribing to the notion of secret conspiracies. The alternative explanation taken by the study invokes nothing more than standard supply and demand...

PIDS

Formulating the Philippine Services Strategy for Inclusive Growth, May 2014. Competitive services are necessary for inclusive growth. Services not only directly contribute to jobs creation and value added in the economy but affect the performance of other sectors through critical intersectoral linkages. Improving the competitiveness of all services is thus essential to transform the economy and achieve broad-based growth. However, there are still vast opportunities left untapped to fully exploit its role in the economy. This Policy Note explains why a Philippine services strategy is essential to maximize the sector`s potential in contributing to the attainment of inclusive growth.

PIDS

A Profile of Graduate Education Programs in the Philippines, April 2014. In 2013, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Task Force on Graduate Education called for an assessment of the state of graduate education programs in the Philippines. This assessment produced a comprehensive report on the state of graduate education programs in the country based on available CHED databases. This Policy Note presents some of the highlights of the report focusing on enrollment and graduation data in the master’s and doctoral programs for school year 2011-2012.

PIDS

Reviewing Quality Assessment Tools for Graduate Education, April 2014. In 2013, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Task Force on Graduate Education assessed the state of graduate education programs in the Philippines. The assessment included a review of quality assessment (QA) tools used in different countries to determine how the quality of graduate education is being assessed. This review is in line with the prospect of CHED to develop its own QA tool for Philippine graduate education. This Policy Note discusses some of the highlights of this review and looks at what the QA tools for higher education are really measuring.

PIDS

Big Data for Measuring Progress and Development: Big Insights or Big Issues? April 2014. This Policy Note provides basic information on Big Data and how they compare with traditional data sources of official statistics. Taking note of their limitations, the possible developmental uses in the Philippines of this nontraditional data source are explored, such as in disaster risk management. It also discusses privacy, analytics, and other issues that could lead to the misuse of big data.

PIDS

Perceptions on the Use of Non-Tariff Measures Within the APEC Region, June 2014. This study aims to achieve a better understanding of the implications in the use of non-tariff measures (NTMs) and raise awareness on how it is possible to achieve legitimate objectives by using policy alternatives that facilitate rather than restrict trade and investment, thereby assisting APEC economies to move closer to attaining the Bogor Goals.

APEC

APEC Study Center Consortium Conference 2014, Proceedings was prepared by the APEC Study Center Consortium (ASCC). It presents the summary of the findings and a compilation of the presentations presented at the above ASCC conference.

APEC

Operation Technology of Solar Photovoltaic Power Station Roof and Policy Framework, May 2014. The 2013 APEC Ministerial Meeting Statements mentioned actions to facilitate the development of clean, renewable and sustainable energy use through (i) Boosting Investments in Clean Energy and Renewables, (ii) Capacity Building and Technical Cooperation, (iii) Fostering Cooperation on Clean and Renewable Energy Development Projects, and (iv) Enhancing Energy Efficiency to Support Sustainable Cities, Communities and Industries. The photovoltaic industry develops very fast during the past several years and plays more and more important role in APEC region, to boost sustainable development and energy security, and reduce carbon emissions.

APEC

Cooperative Study on Efficient Renewable Resources Integration and Distribution Technologies for Smart Grid Construction, December 2013. The smart grid project was initially aimed to analyze technologies on integration of renewable energy resources into smart grid, facilitate the reduction of energy wastage by encouraging projects with recommended technologies in this project to help achieve a low carbon society and safeguard the quality of life through sustainable growth.

APEC

The Indonesian Presidential Election: Now a Real Horse Race? June 2014. Alphonse F. La Porta, former President of the US-Indonesia Society, explains that "With more forthcoming support from the top level of the PDI-P, it is possible that Jokowi could achieve the 44 percent plurality some forecast in the presidential election, but against Prabowo's rising 28 percent, the election is increasingly becoming a real—and possibly too-close-to-call—contest."

EWC

Hub and Spokes: How US Allies in Asia Can Contribute to the US Rebalance, June 2014. Hayley Channer, Visiting Scholar at the East-West Center in Washington and Analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), explains that "Overall, all US allies in Asia could assist the rebalance by deepening their links with each other, increasing their interoperability, and by investing more in multilateral forums."

EWC

Japan-China-Taiwan Relations After Taiwan's Sunflower Movement, May 2014. Madoka Fukuda, Associate Professor at Hosei University, explains that "If cross-strait relations come to a standstill in the aftermath of the Sunflower Movement, there is a possibility that Japan's ties to Taiwan will once again incur protests from China."

EWC

The Bay of Bengal: A New Locus for Strategic Competition in Asia, May 2014. David Brewster, Visiting Fellow at the Strategic and Defense Studies Center, Australian National University, explains that "India has long been anxious about a possible Chinese military strategic presence in the Bay of Bengal."

EWC

Ballistic Missile Defence: How Soon, How Significant, and What Should Australia's Policy Be? May 2014. The issue of ballistic missile defence (BMD) was a controversial one when US President Reagan first advocated a strategic-level system in the early 1980s. It remains so today. What’s Australia’s interest? We live a long way away from most current ballistic missile arsenals. But the ADF frequently deploys within range of ballistic missile systems, especially in Northeast Asia or the Middle East, and those systems might proliferate more widely in the future...

ASPI

Australia's Costly Investment in Solomon Islands: The Lessons of RAMSI. May 2014. In this Analysis Lowy Institute Melanesia Program Director, Jenny Hayward-Jones, argues that Australia’s massive expenditure of $2.6 billion on the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) was a high price to pay for restoring stability in a small country. She argues that although there were many laudable achievements, the key lesson of RAMSI for Australia is the importance of knowing how much to spend and when to leave...

Lowy

The Renminbi and Exchange Rate Regimes in East Asia, May 2014. With the rise of the People's Republic of China (PRC) as the world's largest trading nation (measured by trade value) and second largest economic power (measured by GDP), its economic influence over the neighboring emerging economies in East Asia has also risen. The PRC introduced some exchange rate flexibility in July 2005, and in the wake of the global financial crisis has been pursuing a policy to internationalize its currency, the renminbi (RMB)...

ADB

Paths to a Reserve Currency: Internationalization of the Renminbi and Its Implications, May 2014. In this paper we try to address the question of what could help make the renminbi (RMB) a reserve currency. In recent years, the authorities in the People's Republic of China (PRC) have made efforts to internationalize its currency through a two-track strategy: promotion of the use of the RMB in the settlement of cross-border trade and investment, and liberalization of the capital account...

ADB

The Benefits and Costs of Renminbi Internationalization, May 2014. Despite the increasing recognition that the renminbi (RMB) may eventually become a key global currency, several important questions remain to be answered. This paper analyzes the benefits and costs of the RMB becoming an international currency. The benefits include reduced exchange risk, promotion of the development of the financial market, and expansion of firms in the People's Republic of China...

ADB

Connecting South Asia to Southeast Asia: Cross-Border Infrastructure Investments, May 2014. Most of the trade between South Asia and Southeast Asia is by sea. However, with improved infrastructure and easier border crossing procedures, land traffic could grow to boost trade in goods, services, and tourism between the subregions. The purpose of the study is to analyze how to strengthen connectivity between the two subregions. Specifically, it is concerned with the role of cross-border transport infrastructure investments to improve connectivity...

ADB

Has Financial Liberalization Improved Economic Efficiency in the Republic of Korea? Evidence from Firm-Level and Industry-Level Data, May 2014. This study analyzes the effects of financial liberalization on the lending behavior of banks and non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) before and after the 1997 Asian financial crisis, using panel regressions on Republic of Korea firm-level and industry-level data of the period 1991–2007...

ADB

Stock Market Co-Movement and Exchange Rate Flexibility: Experience of the Republic of Korea, May 2014. This paper argues that for countries where equity investments dominate cross-border capital flows, the proper framework for analyzing the role of a flexible exchange rate system as a buffer against external shocks is the uncovered stock return parity condition, rather than the uncovered interest parity condition...

ADB

Preferentialism in Trade Relations: Challenges for the World Trade Organization, May 2014. This paper argues that preferential trade agreements (PTAs) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) are not substitutes, and while PTAs are without doubt here to stay, dispensing with a multilateral venue for doing business in trade matters is not a serious option...

ADB

Citizen Empowerment in Service Delivery, June 2014. This paper examines different approaches for promoting empowerment and discusses conditions required for effective empowerment. It focuses on three empowerment models, including grievance redress, participatory performance monitoring, and community-driven development. There are three sets of factors that affect people’s ability to influence service delivery: institutional properties of empowerment models, citizen participation, and responses of service providers and public officials...

ADB

Why Do Countries Enter into Preferential Agreements on Trade in Services? Assessing the Potential for Negotiated Regulatory Convergence in Asian Services Markets, April 2014. More than half of the World Trade Organization-notified services trade agreements in effect since 2008 have involved at least one (South or Southeast) Asian trading partner. Drawing on Baier and Bergstrand’s determinants of preferential trade agreements and using the World Bank’s database on the restrictiveness of domestic services regimes, this paper examines the potential for negotiated regulatory convergence in Asian services markets...

ADB

The End of Grand Expectations: Monetary and Financial Integration after the Crisis in Europe, April 2014. The financial crisis in Europe has resulted in a new assessment of monetary and financial integration both in Europe and in Asia. Before the current crisis, regional integration in monetary and fiscal affairs including mechanisms to stabilize exchange rates enjoyed a lot of academic and political support. The crisis served as a reminder of the risks associated with monetary and financial integration and has resulted in a much more cautious appraisal...

ADB

Enlargement of Economic Framework in Southeast Asia and Trade Flows in the Lao People's Democratic Republic, April 2014. Using an unbalanced panel dataset of bilateral exports from 1992 to 2009, this paper assesses the potential trade impacts of the expansion of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to ASEAN+3 and ASEAN+6 on the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). It finds that bilateral exports are positively related to the overall bilateral country size and similarity in country size, but inversely related to the relative factor endowment differences, transportation costs, and import tariffs...

ADB

Can Low Interest Rates be Harmful: An Assessment of the Bank Risk-Taking Channel in Asia, January 2014. Events surrounding the global financial crisis have brought to light the potential role of monetary policy in precipitating the crisis. Numerous studies on advanced economies have documented a significant negative relationship between interest rates and bank risk-taking. This paper also finds the presence of the risk-taking channel based on a panel of publicly listed bank data in Asia. Using both annual and quarterly data, "too low" interest rates are found to lead to an increase in bank risk-taking.

ADB