The global economy must face crucial challenge on how to cope with soaring oil prices, which have been on a precipitous increase in the last years. The high rise has alarmed countries around the world, especially the net oil importers, since continuing oil price hikes tend to lower economic...

The standard theory on optimal commodity taxation is incomplete in the sense that it ignores the fact that taxation -as a system- is attributed with administrative and other costs. The costs could be very large even for the theoretically optimum one. In addition, its application requires...

After two generations of economic growth, the next phase of structural transformation for Asia will have several salient features. Our results suggest that no single policy orientation, pathway, or even destination will apply to all economies. The main driver for each economy’s structural...

The emergence of biofuel as a renewable energy source offers opportunities for climate change mitigation and greater energy security for many countries. At the same time, biofuel represents the possibility of substitution between energy and food. For developing countries like India, which...

The emergence of biofuel as a renewable energy source offers opportunities for significant climate change mitigation and greater energy independence to many countries. At the same time, biofuel represents the possibility of substitution between energy and food. For developing countries like...

Remittances to Asia plunged during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, but the drop was temporary as the flows were increasing once again after just 1 year. The current crisis, however, is fundamentally different in that even the countries that send remittances have been adversely affected. The...

This study examines the potential of remittances for promoting economic growth and reducing poverty in Asian countries using data for more than 20 countries in the region for 1988–2007. The results indicate that remittances positively affect home country real gross domestic product (GDP) per...

As Asia consolidates the economic gains and policy lessons of two generations, it can look to a bright future of sustained growth. More effective policies will even accelerate this growth, provided they recognize the essential agents of trade and productivity growth, as well as the importance of...

The paper examines impact of two water supply and sanitation projects in rural Pakistan in improving access to water supply and sanitation and on health, education, and labour supply based on a household survey of 1300 project and 1300 comparison households. The impact was estimated using...