While structural transformation, driven by technological progress, productivity growth, and capital deepening, has contributed to Asia's sustained rapid growth, its effect on income inequality is uncertain. The central objective of our paper is to empirically examine the effect of structural...

This paper investigates the role of “absorptive capacity” to manage unexpected shocks to their real economy, with a focus on small, open, natural resource-dependent economies. A quarterly panel data series for 45 countries is constructed, including 23 developing Asian countries for empirical...

Deflation has emerged as a new concern for Asian policy makers. The traditional view is that deflation can lead to a vicious cycle of falling demand and prices, and is thus a dangerous condition. However, another school of thought emphasizes the role of positive supply shocks and takes a more...

This paper examines underlying factors that could explain the decline in income inequality in the People's Republic of China (PRC) since 2008 and inquires whether the decline indicates that the PRC's income inequality has peaked following the Kuznets hypothesis. The paper first identifies four...

We empirically examine and compare the determinants of producer and consumer price inflation in 10 Asian economies during 2000-2015. In this connection, we also investigate the pass-through of global oil prices, global food prices, and exchange rates to domestic producer and consumer prices....

The Chinese economy is slowing down and, at the same time, it is in the midst of a structural transformation from an export- and investment-led economy to a domestic demand- and consumption-led growth paradigm. While there are widespread concerns in the People's Republic of China's (PRC) trading...

The recent slowdown of the People's Republic of China (PRC) has led to question to what extent the PRC demand of commodities can have an impact on commodity prices. We take into account the fact that commodity prices are characterized by structural breaks, and to this end we make use of novel...

This paper estimates a household saving rate equation for India and the Republic of Korea using longterm time series data for the 1975-2010 period, focusing in particular on the impact of the premarital sex ratio on the household saving rate. To summarize the main findings of the paper, it finds...

Local currency bond markets in emerging Asian economies have expanded dramatically since governments took steps to end the currency and maturity mismatches that savaged borrowers in the region's financial crisis nearly 20 years ago. Encouraged in part by regional cooperation programs such as the...

This paper examines the trends in skill and activity upgrading in global value chains (GVCs) and the drivers of upgrading in Asian economies. It uses the newly constructed ADB Multi-Region Input- Output Tables as well as occupation data on jobs by educational attainment and business activities,...