Population aging is a global phenomenon but what sets Asia apart is the sheer scale and speed of its aging. Pension systems will have to play a bigger role but in most Asian countries pension systems are still underdeveloped, fragmented, and poorly financed. Asian countries need to embark on...

The widespread adoption of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) have been advocated on the premise that it will result in significant savings in electricity and reduced carbon emissions. Using a household level survey of electrical lighting and usage in Pakistan, we examine the decision to...

How much would output increase if underdeveloped economies were to increase their levels of schooling? We contribute to the development accounting literature by describing a non-parametric upper bound on the increase in output that can be generated by more levels of schooling. The advantage of...

Can a government credibly promise not to bailout firms whose failure would have major negative systemic consequences? Our analysis of the Republic of Korea's 1997–1999 crisis, suggests an answer: No. Despite a general "no bailout" policy during the crisis, the largest Korean corporate groups...

The paper aims to assess what influences volatility of capital flows to emerging countries and whether or not there is a spillover or contagion effect in the volatility. The empirical results suggest strong and significant contagion effects from global and regional volatilities on the volatility...

Human capital refers to the ability and efficiency of people to transform raw materials and capital into goods and services, the consensus being that these skills can be learned through the educational system. The concept of human capital, necessarily, is related to the productivity of workers....

This paper estimates the gender-specific effects of birthweight on a variety of schooling and labor market outcomes. A unique feature of the study is to use micro evidence on the relationship between birthweight - an early measure of nutritional advantage - and schooling outcomes to make...

Inclusive economic growth challenges governments to achieve a high, sustainable rate of economic growth and to share opportunity equitably across society. It brings with it an operational challenge of finding an approach to performance measurement that captures the richness of the concept. This...

The underdeveloped service sector in Asia has the potential to become a new engine of economic growth for developing Asia, which has traditionally relied on export-oriented manufacturing to power its growth. The central objective of this paper is to empirically analyze the prospects for the...

The newly independent Timor-Leste has established itself as one of the fastest growing economies in Asia and the Pacific. A concentration of economic activity in the capital has, however, raised the concern that the better off members of society are capturing most of the benefits. This study...