The sharp decline in trade volume and value during the current economic crisis has contributed to lower transportation costs and reduced waiting times at border crossings, reducing the urgency of progress on trade facilitation. Meanwhile, greater trade is expected to play a key role in recovery,...

This paper studies the impact of migrant children on their parents' occupation choice and wage income using a dataset from a household survey conducted in 2011. We find that the heads of migrant households with school-age children earn significantly less than those who left them at their place...

The Asian region has experienced substantial growth over the past several decades. Indeed, a quarter of all world exports now come from East Asia. Strong infrastructure underpinnings have often been cited as a major factor contributing to this success, and an important competitive advantage over...

Since Viet Nam started its transition from a centrally planned economy to a socialist-oriented market economy, many reforms have been implemented. The Foreign Investment Law signaled an important step toward Viet Nam's integration in the regional and international economic systems. The...

Agricultural trade barriers remain prevalent among developing countries. Three important questions arise from this fact. First, is there any justifiable reason for agricultural protection in developing countries? Second, what are the effects of farm trade liberalization that might result from...

The paper examines the relationship between cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and financial development in emerging Asian economies. Bilateral data of cross-border M&A for nine emerging Asian economies during 2000–2009 are analyzed with a sample selection model and panel data model....

Employment generation has been a challenge in Indonesia since the Asian financial crisis, especially in labor-intensive manufacturing. Drawing on work by James and Fujita (2000), this paper examines the impact of exports on jobs, based on an analysis of input–output tables over the period...

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the issues, policies, and political economy of infrastructure investment, and a review of empirical literature of the relationship between growth and infrastructure. Empirical estimations using the growth accounting framework for a panel of 123...

The paper discusses key challenges faced throughout the Asia and the Pacific region as a number of its developing economies graduate from low-income status to middle-income status at the same time as the region remains home to the majority of the world's poor people and a number of fragile...

Infrastructure services, from both hard and soft infrastructure, play a vital role in facilitating Asia's export-led growth by keeping the prices of delivered goods in export markets competitive. Efficient infrastructure services lower transaction costs, raise value added, and increase potential...