This study reviews two methods of measuring pove rty dynamics. The components approach uses the longitudinally averaged income to determine whether a household is chronically poor or not. On the other hand, the spells approach counts the number of poverty episodes experienced by a household....

The transition from low-income developing countr y to high-income developed country involves a deep process of structural transformation in which the productive structure of an economy changes. In this paper we examine this process of structural chan ge and its link to productivity growth for a...

Structural transformation - the movement of workers from low-productivity to high-productivity activities - is an essential ingredient of inclusive growth. This paper reviews the evidence on why the pace of structural transformation has differed widely across countries in Asia, with a specific...

One of the key determinants of potential growth are productivity gains. Total factor productivity (TFP) differences are the main determinant of per capita income differences between countries. A key factor to understand TFP is misallocation: the aggregate productivity loss from microeconomic...

Developing Asia has benefited greatly from the rise of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), primarily through the trade channel. The PRC and its neighbors have collectively formed a regional production network, and the PRC is becoming an increasingly important source of final demand. Two...

The paper explores risk-based fiscal analytical approaches to complement a standard debt sustainability analysis when applied under conditions of risk and uncertainty. To outline a possible road map for risk-adjusted fiscal sustainability analysis, the paper first examines the types of...

Potential output growth generally decelerated after the global financial crisis during 2008-2009. This paper examines the possible determinants of potential output growth using Bayesian Model Averaging and assesses how the determinants can be used to increase the growth of potential output. It...

This study addresses the debate on whether high-speed railroad (HSR) polarizes or balances economic geography. We find that both can occur: while the service sector tends to agglomerate, the manufacturing sector may decentralize; moreover, economic activities may agglomerate from distant areas to...

Changes in the population age structure can have a significant effect on fiscal sustainability since they can affect both government revenues and expenditures. For example, population aging will increase expenditures on the elderly while reducing potential growth and hence revenues. In this...

Contingent claims analysis applied to Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, and Thailand shows no particular vulnerability to sovereign debt distress during recent years. However, the highly volatile "distance to distress" measure suggests that any of these countries may...