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Economics, Education, Finance sector development, Governance and public sector management

Management quality and innovation

Management quality and innovation
It is well recognized that innovation is an important ingredient in generating the competitive advantage and long-run growth of nations, ultimately affecting their economic development. Thus, there is considerable interest in the determinants of innovation, not only in the corporate sector but also among policy makers around the world and in Asia in particular.

Economics, Finance sector development, Governance and public sector management

Unconventional Monetary Policy in the Asian Financial Crisis

Unconventional Monetary Policy in the Asian Financial Crisis
In a new paper, Unconventional Monetary Policy in the Asian Financial Crisis: Seeing the Crisis through Post-2008 Eyes, we reassess some of the policies central banks used during the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997–1998 in light of the responses of some advanced-economy central banks to the North Atlantic Financial Crisis of 2008. Public funding of bank recapitalizations in Thailand and the extraordinary purchase of equities in Hong Kong, China have elements of the unconventional monetary policy known as quantitative easing (QE) that has received so much attention in major advanced economies in recent years.

Economics, Education, Finance sector development, Governance and public sector management, Information and Communications Technology

Mergers and acquisitions and corporate innovation

Mergers and acquisitions and corporate innovation
Technological innovation represents modern corporations’ endeavors to develop and accumulate knowledge, and it has long been recognized as a catalyst for economic growth and productivity increase (Solow 1957; Romer 1986; Aghion and Howitt 1992) and as a key factor in the competitive advantages of nations (Porter 1998).

Economics, Environment, Finance sector development, Governance and public sector management, Industry and trade, Infrastructure, Regional cooperation and integration, Urban development

The PRC’s international capacity cooperation exports both industrial capacity and financial risk

The PRC’s international capacity cooperation exports both industrial capacity and financial risk
International capacity cooperation (国际产能合作guoji channeng hezuo) was a 2014 addition to the “Go Global” policy suite that the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) central bureaucracy expanded throughout 2016. It is the result of seeking a way forward from “new normal” low industrial growth rates and is a novel solution to the industrial capacity utilization problems the PRC has suffered since the 2008–2009 spending stimulus flooded into traditional industries. Steel, cement, aluminum, paper, glass, and everything from pork production to robots are in 2017 mired in cyclical overcapacity.

Economics, Governance and public sector management, Industry and trade, Regional cooperation and integration

Will 2025 be the final deadline for the ASEAN Economic Community?

Will 2025 be the final deadline for the ASEAN Economic Community?
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) fell short of its target of realizing the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by the end of 2015, deferring 105 of its 506 measures. A successor blueprint called the AEC Blueprint 2025, which lays out the work for ASEAN economic integration in the next 10 years, was adopted at the 27th ASEAN Summit in November 2015.

Economics, Finance sector development, Governance and public sector management

Is corruption “sand in the wheels” for credit markets? Evidence from European MSMEs

Is corruption “sand in the wheels” for credit markets? Evidence from European MSMEs
Bank credit is a crucial financing tool for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) given their difficulty in entering equity markets. However, accessing bank credit is not as easy as one might think. Specifically, MSMEs often face difficulties when they need to provide valid collateral to loan officers (Cowan, Drexler, and Yañez, 2015).

Economics, Education, Finance sector development, Governance and public sector management, Poverty, Social development and protection

Costs of expanded public pension coverage in emerging Asia

Costs of expanded public pension coverage in emerging Asia
The fiscal burden of public pensions in most emerging Asian economies is relatively small, reflecting relatively young populations and limited coverage of the retired-age population in public pension programs. Nonetheless, these conditions are likely to change dramatically in the coming decades. First, many Asian economies will face rapidly aging populations, which will raise pension and other old-age-related spending substantially. Second, as economies develop, political pressures to expand the coverage of public pensions and raise the level of pension benefits relative to income will likely increase.

Energy, Environment, Governance and public sector management, Infrastructure

Propelling ASEAN towards clean coal technology

Propelling ASEAN towards clean coal technology
Coal, the most abundant and reliable energy resource, will continue to be the dominant energy source in power generation to meet the fast-growing electricity demand in the emerging economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The share of coal use in power generation was 32% in 2015, and this is projected to increase to 42% by 2040.

Economics, Energy, Finance sector development, Governance and public sector management

Twenty years after the Asian financial crisis: The evolution of Asian financial cooperation

Twenty years after the Asian financial crisis: The evolution of Asian financial cooperation
When Asia was hit by its regional financial crisis 20 years ago, Asian policy makers were quick to call for regional solutions to what was perceived to be a common problem: Asian countries’ dependence on foreign finance. Prominent political figures and scholars argued for a greater regional focus of monetary and economies policies, suggesting the introduction of currency baskets modeled on trade patterns, financial structures, and even Asian currency units akin to the European Currency Unit, the euro’s predecessor.

Economics, Education, Finance sector development, Governance and public sector management, Infrastructure

Kick-start private infrastructure with future tax-sharing bonds

Kick-start private infrastructure with future tax-sharing bonds
Everybody from President Trump to the Global Infrastructure Forum is trying to think of innovative ways to attract long-term private and institutional investors to pay for the huge and largely unmet demand for new highways, railways, and dams. Promising ideas, including guarantees or gap funding, the concessional blending of finance, and bankability enhancements, have been tried but are not enough to convince overseas pension schemes or high net worth individuals to invest their idling funds in worthwhile projects, especially in emerging economies with untried issuers (Regan, 2017).