This paper examines the extent to which Pakistan's growth has been, or is likely to be, limited or constrained by its balance-of-payments (BOP). The paper begins by briefly considering the BOP-constrained growth model in the context of demand and supply-oriented approaches to economic growth....

Global oil prices have subsided relative to the peak reached in mid-2008, but compared to historical levels they remain elevated and volatile as economic uncertainties continue to unfold. The likelihood of these prices rising again soon cannot be ruled out. High oil prices can adversely affect...

The paper analyzes the stylized features of historical crisis episodes for 21 developing Asian economies over 1961–2007. The paper finds that while there is substantial diversity, on average, recessions and financial downturns are more frequent, longer lasting, and more severe in Asia than in...

This paper uses the empirical relationship between economic growth and poverty reduction observed between 1990 and 2005 and different scenarios for economic growth to get a sense of how the economic slowdown in the region will affect the incidence of poverty. Since most countries that we work...

This paper examines the impact of food safety standards on processed food exports in developing countries. An intercountry cross-sectional econometric analysis of processed food exports in developing countries was undertaken. The Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standard (SPS) is incorporated into the...

This paper presents a theoretical model and empirical evidence to explain the observation that a country in which the level of technology approaches the technology frontier tends to rely more on technology creation than adoption, and to invest more in basic research than in development. The...

The paper attempted to use the February 2007 round of Indonesia's National Labor Force Survey (Sakernas) for a comparative analysis of wages and benefits of formal and informal workers. While Sakernas was not designed for this purpose, the study explored questions in the existing survey that can...

Over the past three decades, there has been a rapid expansion of processed food exports in developing countries, replacing traditional agriculture exports such as coffee and tea. However, this development and its policy implications have received little attention in the literature. This paper...

This paper examines the equilibrium real exchange rate and real exchange rate misalignments in developing Asian countries during the period 1995–2008. In addition, the relationship between real exchange rate misalignment and export performance is investigated. In the lead-up to the 1997–1998...

An integral part of global current account imbalances is the large and persistent current account surplus developing Asia has run since the 1997–1998 Asian crisis. A country's current account surplus is, by definition, equal to its net saving. The central objective of this paper is to...