Well-being and Public Attitudes in Afghanistan
Some insights from the economics of happiness
Carol Graham & Soumya Chattopadhyay
Volume 10, Number 3, 2009, pages 105 - 147
Afghanistan is a context where individuals have to cope with the most adverse of circumstances. Our study of happiness finds that Afghans conform to a remarkably consistent worldwide pattern in the determinants of happiness across individuals within countries of all different development levels. Ave ... Read more
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The New Economic Powers (NEPs)
Leadership opportunities post-crisis
Danny Leipziger & William O’Boyle
Volume 10, Number 3, 2009, pages 43 - 80
In the wake of the global financial and economic crises, much attention has been focused on large developing economies, particularly the BRICs, and their role in the new economic landscape. Focusing on trends in demographics and output, the emergence of the BRICs crystallised the notion that there w ... Read more
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Are Economic Sanctions Useful in Discouraging the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction?
Robert Carbaugh
Volume 9, Number 4, 2008, pages 181 - 200
against countries that have been implicated in the development of weapons
of mass destruction and the use of terrorism. These sanctions have included
limitations on customary trade and/or financial relations with a target country.
Are sanctions effective in discouraging the proliferation of weapo ... Read more
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Perspectives on Inclusive Development
Concepts, approaches and current issues
Michael Chibba
Volume 9, Number 4, 2008, pages 145 - 158
The pursuit of inclusive development raises numerous questions and challenges
for academics, practitioners and policymakers. To demystify the subject and
move towards addressing the challenges, this paper first highlights the concept
of inclusive development. Next, the key approaches as advanced ... Read more
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How can Korea Raise its Future Potential Growth Rate?
Elena Ianchovichina & Danny Leipziger
Volume 9, Number 4, 2008, pages 129 - 144
Korea has achieved tremendous economic progress over the last three and a half
decades, but in recent years growth has slowed down, and looking forward, most
forecasters expect potential growth to decline substantially. The authors’ analysis
of the key factors determining potential growth in Kore ... Read more
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Missing Out on Industrial Revolution
Eric Jones
Volume 9, Number 4, 2008, pages 101 - 128
Explanations of industrialisation stress England’s nineteenth-century abrupt
departure from a common Eurasian pattern. This paper examines the preceding
de-industrialisation of Southern England and limited development of Tokugawa
Japan (the shogunate that ruled Japan from 1600–1868), which throw ... Read more
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Singapore’s Sovereign Wealth Funds
The political risk of overseas investments
Friedrich Wu
Volume 9, Number 3, 2008, pages 97 - 122
This paper examines Singapore’s two sovereign wealth funds (SWFs)-the Government Investment Corporation of Singapore (GIC) and Temasek Holdings (Temasek)—and the political risks which they are exposed to in their overseas investments. Wu argues that Temasek has hitherto exposed itself to a greater l ... Read more
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The Sovereign Wealth Funds of Singapore
Anthony Elson
Volume 9, Number 3, 2008, pages 73 - 96
This paper examines the origin, evolution and recent operations of Singapore’s two sovereign wealth funds, Temasek Holdings (TSK) and the Government Investment Corporation (GIC). Singapore is a unique case in that it has two of the oldest and largest sovereign wealth funds. Both funds reflect a long ... Read more
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Endangering the War on Terror by the War on Drugs
Deepak Lal
Volume 9, Number 3, 2008, pages 1 - 30
The century-old US War on Drugs based on supply control measures is endangering its War on Terror in Afghanistan. With opium poppy cultivation the most profitable crop available to Afghan farmers, the Taliban has been able to use the illegal profits from the trade to buy arms and recruit farmers by ... Read more
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Poverty Reduction in Developing Countries
No consensus but plenty of solutions
Michael Chibba
Volume 9, Number 1, 2008, pages 197 - 200
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Growth Strategies and Dynamics
Insights from country experiences
Mohamed A. El-Erian & A. Michael Spence
Volume 9, Number 1, 2008, pages 57 - 96
The paper examines the challenges that developing countries face in accelerating and sustaining growth. The cases of China and India are examined to illustrate a more general phenomenon which might be called model uncertainty. As a developing economy grows, its market and regulatory institutions cha ... Read more
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The Opium Economy: A Possible Approach to Reform
Jeremy Berkoff
Volume 8, Number 4, 2007, pages 9 - 45
This paper reviews options for reform of the opium economy within a holistic world context, emphasising the economic forces at work at each stage of the marketing chain. Rather than choosing between prohibition and legalisation, the paper proposes an incremental approach that would move steadily fro ... Read more
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The Future of North Korea is South Korea
(Or hope springs eternal)
Marcus Noland
Volume 8, Number 3, 2007, pages 27 - 52
North Korea's famine was in significant part a product of state failure, and unleashed an unintended grassroots process of marketization. Reforms undertaken in 2002 are more usefully interpreted as a response to this development than as a pro-active attempt to improve efficiency, and the government’ ... Read more
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The Emergence of a Regional Financial Architecture in Asia
Recent developments and prospects
Anthony Elson
Volume 7, Number 3, 2006, pages 167 - 184
This paper provides an assessment of monetary and financial cooperation in Asia since the regional financial crisis of 1997–98, with a view to determining whether the emerging Regional Financial Architecture in Asia is compatible with the global financial architecture and what are the prospects for ... Read more
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The Economic Growth of East Asia and Latin America in Comparative Perspective
Lessons for development policy
Anthony Elson
Volume 7, Number 2, 2006, pages 97 - 114
This paper attempts to identify key factors that can account for the divergent economic performance of East Asia and Latin America during the second half of the 20th century. Within the triad of so-called “deep determinants” of economic growth (geography, policy and institutions), the paper argues t ... Read more
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Can Iraq Overcome the Oil Curse?
Robert E. Looney
Volume 7, Number 1, 2006, pages 21 - 44
A growing literature suggests that the oil sector and the allocation of its revenues is the critical variable in shaping both the economic structure and political systems of countries like Iraq. For the most part this literature focuses on the so-called “oil curse” or the “paradox of plenty.” ... Read more
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The Nature of Corruption in Forest Management
Charles Palmer
Volume 6, Number 2, 2005, pages 1 - 10
Corruption is a well-documented and common feature of natural resource management in the developing world. This article investigates the nature of corruption and whether or not there is such a thing as a ‘tolerable’ level of corruption, particularly where there is an established culture of patronage ... Read more
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Reserve Accumulation in Asia
Lessons for holistic reform of the international monetary system
Graham Bird & Alex Mandilaras
Volume 6, Number 1, 2005, pages 85 - 99
In the aftermath of the 1997/1998 crisis, Asian economies have built up large
holdings of international reserves. Although initially encouraged to do so by the
IMF, more recently they have been criticised for maintaining undervalued
currencies, running large current account balance of payments su ... Read more
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Trade in the Chinese 21st Century
Howard Davies
Volume 6, Number 1, 2005, pages 1 - 13
In this article Sir Howard Davies, Director of the London School of Economics
and Political Science, offers some thoughts, first, on the political framework
within which trade policy is determined, then about the way in which the
globalization debate has developed, and finally some suggestions on ... Read more
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Governance Matters
The role of governance in Asian economic development
David E. Bloom, David Steven & Mark Weston
Volume 5, Number 4, 2004, pages 53 - 78
In recent years there has been a surge of interest in governance: good governance
increasingly is seen as a vital adjunct to successful development efforts. This paper
attempts to explain what governance is and why it is important, and assess which
forms of governance are likely to best support a ... Read more
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Asian Drama
The pursuit of modernisation in India and Indonesia
Tim Lankester
Volume 5, Number 3, 2004, pages 75 - 93
The now largely forgotten book Asian Drama: An Inquiry into the Poverty of Nations
by Swedish social scientist Gunnar Myrdal was published in 1968. Myrdal called
his book “Asian Drama” because of the tensions he saw being played out in Asia
between modern ideals and the traditional. But th ... Read more
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Globalisation and the Asia–Pacific Revival
Arne Bigsten
Volume 5, Number 2, 2004, pages 33 - 55
This paper reviews evidence on the evolution of international economic
integration of Asia–Pacific countries, and discusses the extent to which this
explains their recent growth success. It starts with a review of some theoretical
arguments in the growth and globalisation debate, which is followe ... Read more
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The Quest for Development
What role does history play?
Areendam Chanda & Louis Putterman
Volume 5, Number 2, 2004, pages 1 - 31
It may be no coincidence that those countries that grew most rapidly in the late
twentieth century—including South Korea, China, and, of late, India—were
relatively developed civilizations when Western Europe began its overseas
expansion five centuries ago. In this article the authors explore the ... Read more
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China’s Capital Market
Better than a casino
Stephen Green
Volume 4, Number 4, 2003, pages 37 - 54
Throughout the 1990s, China’s stock market was developed as a tool of industrial
policy. It was used to supply capital to state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that
remained controlled by the state and whose performance usually declined after
listing. Secondary market trading was poorly regulated, again ... Read more
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Exchange Rate Regimes
Is there a third way?
Vijay Joshi
Volume 4, Number 4, 2003, pages 15 - 36
This paper argues that (a) for many developing countries, the optimal external
payments regime would be a combination of an intermediate exchange rate with
capital controls and (b) the policy stance and advice of the IMF should reflect
this judgement. The paper uses India as a case study to illus ... Read more
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Hydropower in Bhutan and Nepal
Why the difference?
Jeremy Berkoff
Volume 4, Number 3, 2003, pages 121 - 142
Bhutan and Nepal have followed differing hydropower development strategies.
Bhutan has co-operated with India and power export earnings have helped fund a
broadly successful economic, environmental and social programme. In contrast,
Nepal turned to the World Bank and other donors to fund its powe ... Read more
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A Decade of Trade Reforms in India
How it compares with East Asia
Ramkishen S. Rajan & Rahul Sen
Volume 3, Number 4, 2002, pages 87 - 100
This paper summarises recent trade reforms in India and documents the extent
to which the country has integrated with the global trading system. The paper
argues that India has made important strides since the initiation of reforms in
1991. Although it lags significantly behind most of East Asia ... Read more
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Continuities and Discontinuities in Global Development
Lessons from new East/West comparisons
Kenneth Pomeranz
Volume 3, Number 4, 2002, pages 73 - 86
Much literature normalises a ‘North Atlantic’ pattern of development, and sees a
regionally specific ‘East Asian’ path emerging relatively recently. However,
development patterns in core regions of Europe and East Asia were surprisingly
similar until almost 1800; Europe’s subsequent divergence wa ... Read more
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Japan’s Monetary and Economic Policy
Allan Meltzer
Volume 3, Number 3, 2002, pages 85 - 103
Japan has gone from very successful policies that promoted growth without
inflation to a long period of slow growth, recessions and deflation. The Bank of
Japan’s policies are a major reason for deflation. Although the Bank has purchased foreign exchange, it counteracts the inflationary effects of ... Read more
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Capital Controls
The experience of Malaysia
Jomo K.S.
Volume 3, Number 1, 2002, pages 125 - 143
Malaysia’s decision to adopt capital controls in September 1998 reminded the
world that there are alternatives to capital account liberalisation. Unfortunately,
there has been a tendency for both sides in the debate over the capital control
measures to exaggerate their own cases, with little rega ... Read more
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Negotiating Trade
David Flath
Volume 2, Number 2, 2001, pages 19 - 28
If unilateral free trade is the best policy, then why are international treaties
needed to achieve it? The reason may be found in the Becker theory of
competition among political pressure groups. By entering wide-ranging
negotiations, nations shift the political question from one of protecting a ... Read more
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The Emerging Northeast–Southeast Asia Divide and Policy Implications
Friedrich Wu
Volume 2, Number 1, 2001, pages 169 - 180
Since the outbreak of the Asian financial crisis in mid-1997, the gulf between the Northeast Asian economies and Southeast Asian economies has widened as measured by GDP growth rates and size, direct and portfolio investment flows,
stock market capitalisation and trading turnover, as well as foreig ... Read more
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Why Did the Protected Areas Fail the Giant Panda?
The economics of conserving endangered species in developing countries
Timothy M. Swanson & Andreas Kontoleon
Volume 1, Number 4, 2000, pages 135 - 148
Most biodiversity lies within the developing world, and much of it is under threat because of forces for change within these countries. In order to be effective, biodiversity conservation must be viewed as a development opportunity, rather than as a constraint on development. This implies manageme ... Read more
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Is there a Case for an Asian Monetary Fund?
Graham Bird & Ramkishen Rajan
Volume 1, Number 2, 2000, pages 135 - 143
The East Asian financial crisis has spawned a number of proposals for institutional reform. Some envisage reforming existing institutions, particularly the International Monetary Fund (IMF), while others suggest that new institutions are needed. Amongst them is the idea of establishing an Asian Mone ... Read more
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