This study examines the role of government pay rates in economic growth. A trend decline in government pay rates, expressed relative to what an economy can afford, is identified in many developing countries. The decline is attributed to the erosion of economic rents. Drawing on the theoretical...

This paper empirically examines the relative importance of different sources of inflation in developing Asia. In particular, it tests the widely held view that the region's current inflation surge is primarily the result of external price shocks such as oil and food shocks. In addition, this...

A major side effect of globalization is the erosion of the tax base due to the growing mobility of capital and the consequent international tax competition for capital. The potential loss of revenues is encouraging developing Asia's governments to look for alternative, nonconventional, nontax...

Bilateral free trade agreements (BTAs) have been proliferating. The outcome of this proliferation of often overlapping BTAs and plurilateral free trade agreements is described as the spaghetti bowl effect or, in the Asian region, the noodle bowl effect. This is costly and welfare-reducing. How...

This paper analyzes the relationship between growth and inequality of factor income in the Philippines, focusing on the role played by the labor market. It proposes a decomposition methodology that explores linkages between growth in income and labor market performance in terms of labor force...

This study proposes an approach to defining and measuring inclusive growth using a new methodology to capture inclusive growth. In this context, the paper introduces the idea of a social opportunity function that is similar to a social welfare function. In this study, growth is defined as...

The expected slowdown in the economy of the United States (US) has ignited increasing concerns over the short-term growth prospect of East Asia. Historically, a US slowdown has often been associated with a global slowdown. East Asia has been particularly vulnerable to slowing US growth, given...

"Nedelyn Magtibay-Ramos, Gemma Estrada, and Jesus Felipe provide an analysis of the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in the Philippines. The paper provides a profile of the BPO sector; makes comparisons with other large BPO providers; and uses input–output tables to estimate...

The choice of an appropriate social discount rate for cost–benefit analysis of public projects has long been a contentious issue and subject to intense debate among economists. This debate has gained new impetus from the recent discussions on the economics of climate change. The purpose of...

This paper examines the relationships between economic growth, income distribution, and poverty for 17 Asian countries for the period 1981–2001. First, it investigates how much growth is required to offset the adverse effect of an increase in inequality on poverty. This trade-off between...