This paper argues that attempts at state-building in Afghanistan have led to institutions that are not robust. The state institutions and organizations continue to be highly dependent on external resources and technical expertise, and lack of critical mass of people able and willing to maintain...

How does growth actually trickle down to remove an individual’s poverty? Is it through increases in employment? What other avenues did the benefits of growth travel through before reaching and helping poor people in this country? How do people become poor in the first place? What pathways...

Over the last few decades India has emerged as an economic giant. In 2000 the Special Economic Zone (SEZs) policy became part of a strategy to maintain high growth and promote India’s manufacturing sector. However, India’s current SEZ policy does little to strengthen India’s...

Developing Asia is the driver of today's emissions intensive global economy. As the principle source of future emissions, the region is critical to the task of global climate change mitigation. Reflecting this global reality and a range of related domestic issues, the governments of the People's...

China has adopted a wide-ranging program of pension reform since the late 1990s. The new pension system has replaced the pre-existing enterprise-based system. This paper analyzes the background of this reform, surveys the progress of China’s pension reform, describes its principal...

This paper draws on the experiences of the Far East Economic Crisis in 1998 and argues that: (1) the poor depended heavily on bonding social capital during the Crisis, but the crunch-point beyond which they felt no longer able to rely on this is less certain; (2) bridging social capital could...