The development path of Asia and the Pacific has increasingly relied on economic growth led by rapid export growth. What does the financial crisis imply for the region’s future development path? The second policy brief in this series on the financial crisis assesses the extent to which...

Despite high and long-lasting economic growth, inequalities are widening in most countries in Asia and the Pacific. Currently over 1.6 billion people in the region live on less than $2 per day, of which more than 740 million live on less than $1.25 per day, deprived of basic rights, and...

Recently launched ESCAP’s Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2013 argues for a shift in macroeconomic policy paradigm. Historically, macroeconomic policies have both stabilization and development roles. Since the 1980s the focus of macroeconomic policies shifted to...

Tax rates are key tools for mobilizing domestic resources and addressing specific market failures. Countries often offer tax concessions or reduce corporate tax rates in order to boost private investment or to direct investment to “desired areasâ€. Corporate tax rates, especially for...

Although the Asia-Pacific region has made significant progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), most of its countries are still off-track on one or more indicators. This policy brief examines what would it take for countries in the Asia-Pacific region to meet their MDG targets by...

The necessity for a global currency for the global economy was recognized as early as in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference and after an over 60-year experimenting with various settings, the issue is on the policy agenda again. The recent global crisis highlighted the limitations of the use of...

High food prices have put increasing inflationary pressures across the Asia-Pacific region and are seen as a key downside risk to sustaining recovery in 2011. Bad weather in important food-producing countries, increasing use of crops in biofuels and speculation in commodity markets have added to...

Least developed countries (LDCs) in the Asia-Pacific region face severe structural impediments to growth and sustainable development.1 The majority of their population makes living from agriculture, including horticulture, livestock, fisheries and forestry, and the development of that sector is...

Ensuring full or high employment has been one of the key mandates put forward by the international development community.1 But despite their impressive economic growth, a number of Asia- Pacific economies continue to experience high informal and vulnerable employment. Including agriculture,...

Every year governments spend significant amounts of money in the goods and services needed to run their activities. The general governments of selected Asia-Pacific countries spent 582 billions in procurement in 2010. These expenses, which represented 5.6 percent of the GDP and 18.6 percent of...