Industry and trade, Infrastructure, Regional cooperation and integration

One Belt One Road and the Risks Behind the Win-Win Situation

One Belt One Road and the Risks Behind the Win-Win Situation
The New Silk Road Initiative was originally unveiled by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 and became known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). From the beginning, the initiative was presented as a reestablishment of the trade routes that were successful many centuries ago. The initiative was also a call for partner countries to accelerate transport infrastructure improvements and connectivity to boost trade. Through active diplomacy and intense public relations, 65 countries felt they had to join the initiative with the prospect of Chinese financial assistance.

Economics, Finance sector development

Managing financial globalization: A guide for developing countries

Managing financial globalization: A guide for developing countries
As cross-border capital flows rise relative to world gross domestic product (GDP), developing countries do not wish to miss the associated benefits. But at the same time, they are also anxious about avoiding the associated economic instability and distortions. What is the right strategy with regards to international capital flows? We can draw lessons based on the recent literature.

Health

The Economic Burden of Overweight and Obesity Reaches 3% of GDP in Indonesia

The Economic Burden of Overweight and Obesity Reaches 3% of GDP in Indonesia
Overweight and obesity are on the rise in Indonesia. The results of the Basic Health Survey, a national, community-based survey that measures body mass index (BMI), for 2007, 2010, and 2013 show the rising prevalence of overweight and obesity in Indonesia. Several combining factors increase overweight and obesity. These include the consumption of energy-dense food, the intensive advertisement of unhealthy food, and the consumption of unhealthy school meals.

Environment, Industry and trade

Globalization and the environment in India

Globalization and the environment in India
India embarked on a path of liberal economic reform in the 1990s after years of nurturing an intensively regulated and controlled economic environment that was loosened slightly in the mid-1980s. The most important and critical segments of this reform were trade and foreign investment. India has felt the impact of globalization through increased prosperity, partly triggered by increasing trade volumes, investment, and growth.

Health, Water

What can countries in Asia learn from the Republic of Korea and Malaysia about sanitation and its economic impacts?

What can countries in Asia learn from the Republic of Korea and Malaysia about sanitation and its economic impacts?
In 2014, when I first moved to the Republic of Korea from India, I was impressed and awestruck by the country’s infrastructure and ease of mobility. Being an architect, the aspect I found most endearing of the city-wide master planning was the access and provision of toilets almost everywhere, be it at metro train stations, bus terminals, shopping plazas, parks, or even on mountain hikes. The convenience of having clean and hygienic toilets in public places was truly a gift for me during my stay there for a few years.

Economics Finance sector development, Urban development

New challenges, opportunities, and strategic choices for financing sustainable urbanization in the PRC

New challenges, opportunities, and strategic choices for financing sustainable urbanization in the PRC
In recent years, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has accelerated its urbanization process and increased its urbanization rate from 35.88% in 2000 to 56.7% in 2016, equating to over 1% year-on-year growth. The PRC proposed the “people-oriented” New-type Urbanization Plan in 2014 to definitively release further domestic demand potential, promote social equity and welfare improvements, and facilitate economic, social, and ecological integrated development.

Finance sector development

Innovations in managing local government debt in the People’s Republic of China

Innovations in managing local government debt in the People’s Republic of China
The scale of local government debt (LGD) increased in most countries after the global financial crisis of 2008, resulting in accumulated potential fiscal risk and even systematic risk. Strengthening the management of LGD to avoid risk has become a hot topic. What is the current situation of LGD in the People’s Republic of China (PRC)? Is it high risk or not? What innovations are being implemented? Are there new challenges facing the Chinese government? What are the next steps? These issues, among others, have gained wide attention around the world.

Economics, Environment, Industry and trade

International outsourcing, environmental costs, and welfare

International outsourcing, environmental costs, and welfare
In recent decades, amid the increasing trend of globalization, it has become prevalent in world trade that firms in some countries outsource intermediate and/or finished goods or services from other firms in foreign countries for the purpose of lowering production costs and increasing production efficiency.

Governance and public sector management

Law, culture, and innovation

Law, culture, and innovation
Many aspects of motivating innovation are painfully obvious, but much research on the topic is segmented depending on the particular issue of interest and the available data for examining that issue.