This paper analyses the effects of access to Rural Public Works (RPW) and Public Distribution System (PDS), a public food subsidy programme, on consumption poverty, vulnerability and undernutrition in India drawing upon the large household data sets constructed by National Sample Survey (NSS)...

Rising food prices played an important role in the acceleration of inflation across Asia and the Pacific region during 2007 and the early months of 2008. Not only is food price inflation the most regressive of all taxes, it also leads to lower growth and accentuation of income inequality....

This study investigates the effect of both institutional factors and the macro economy on the financial performance of MFIs. Drawing upon the Microfinance Information Exchange data and cross-country data on macro economy, finance and institutions, we use three stage least squares and...

Laos and Cambodia have been transitioning to a market-oriented policy regime. Both are agrarian economies with agriculture contributing about one-third of the GDP. We assess prospects of achieving MDG1 and centrality of agricultural growth in achieving this goal. As these are macro...

In response to the Deaton and Dreze (2009) explanation of a downward shift in the calorie Engel curve in terms of lower requirements due to health improvements and lower activity levels in India, we develop an alternative explanation embedded in a standard demand theory framework, with food...

Our study examines changes in diets over the period 1993-2009. Diets have shifted away from cereals towards higher consumption of fruits, vegetables, oils and livestock products. Using household data, a food diversity index (FDI) is constructed, based on five food commodities. Significant price...

Our analysis illustrates one pathway between agriculture and nutrition through production of nutrients by crop and size as well as through livestock. As this pathway is subsumed in agriculture and nutrition studies focusing on anthropometric outcomes, and hardly any light is thrown on the...

The objective of the present study is to examine the extent to which the production of different agricultural commodities, namely, maize, wheat, rice, fruit, vegetable, and oilseeds, responds to price changes in selected Asian countries given the recent high and volatile agricultural prices. Our...

This paper examines whether agricultural growth through public expenditure, ODA or investment will improve significantly the prospects of achieving MDG 1 of halving poverty in Asia and the Pacific Region. As more than a few countries in this Region recorded impressive economic growth in the...