This study assesses the differences between Islamic and conventional bank's productivity. Earlier studies on bank productivity focused on conventional banks, but few have been done on Islamic banks. Therefore, the present study attempts to close the gap in the literature by investigating the...

Except for the history of colonialism, the European Union (EU) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have similar roots and they share initial targets to foster economic growth and competitiveness. However, the EU and ASEAN have diverging economic integration paths. The ASEAN...

Limited data on micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) make it difficult for governments to design appropriate MSME policies in Asia and the Pacific. To identify factors affecting MSME development and promote evidence-based policymaking, we propose a probabilistic principal component...

This study investigates the working conditions of subnational government (SNG) employees in select South and Southeast Asian countries, viz. Bangladesh, Nepal, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. It is situated in the context of decentralized governance which transfers powers,...

Purpose: This paper retested the Okun’s Law established in the 1960s and the subsequent research on Okun’s findings that a 1% increase in unemployment would lead to a 3 % decrease in GDP), i.e. Okun’s coefficient (β)= -3 in diverse economies of sixteen South and Southeast Asia, sixteen...

This paper provides a strategic overview of key issues relating to the remittance industry in the South Asia region. The paper builds on recent research on remittances that prominently features the South Asia region. Rather than duplicate that work, this study focuses only on the region's...

East and Southeast Asia face major demographic changes over the next few decades as many countries' labor forces will start to decline, while others will experience higher labor force growth as populations and participation rates increase. A well-managed labor migration strategy presents itself...

This book is a historical review of international food and agriculture since the founding of the international organizations following the Second World War, including the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and into the...

Background: Maternal and neonatal mortality is high in South Asia. Recent studies have identifed factors such as adolescent female fertility, healthcare spending is reducing maternal and neonatal mortality. The objective of this study is to examine the efect of adolescent female fertility and...