The markets for agri-food products are changing at a pace that is unparalleled in modern history. Markets are increasingly open and also increasingly homogenized toward international tastes and requirements for levels of quality, packaging, safety, and even process attributes such as socially or...

This paper surveys the nature of capital inflows into Asia since the peak of the US dollar in the first quarter of 2002 and the policy responses to them. Portfolio equity flows have become more volatile and more responsive to global equity market developments. Inflows into local bond markets...

The countries of Central and Eastern Europe went from being largely closed to being largely open to international capital flows. This paper discusses their experience with capital account liberalization and coping with large capital inflows. We start with a discussion of basic economic...

This paper quantifies the impact of terrorism and conflicts on income per capita growth in Asia for 1970-2004. Our panel estimations show that transnational terrorist attacks had a significant growth-limiting effect. An additional terrorist incident per million persons reduces gross domestic...

From the early 1990s, India embarked on easing capital controls. Liberalization emphasized openness towards equity flows, both FDI and portfolio flows. In particular, there are few barriers in the face of portfolio equity flows. In recent years, a massive increase in the value of foreign...

This paper examines the prospects for organic agriculture (OA) and the production of biofuels as strategies for rural development in Cambodia and the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). Both agricultural activities are growing worldwide, although there are some questions as to how...

The impressive recovery of Asia from the severe 1997-98 financial crisis has been achieved through, among other things, more flexible exchange rates, remarkable reductions of double mismatches in the banking systems, current account surpluses, increasing volumes of foreign direct investment, and...

Based on recent updated statistical data that has become available since the People's Republic of China (PRC) implemented its first national economic census in 2004, this paper studies the trend of regional disparity both among and within the provinces of the PRC from 1978 to 2005. We find that...

This paper takes advantage of the fact that some stocks trade both in domestic and international markets to characterize the degree of international financial integration. The paper argues that the cross-market premium (the ratio between the domestic and the international market price of...

This paper examines the role that macroeconomic policy management has played in the Malaysian development experience. Given the multiracial nature of Malaysian society, macroeconomic policy has not only been about economic stabilization, but also about addressing income disparities along racial...