The many small sovereign states and multiple shades of sovereignty that exist across the present-day Pacific Island region are largely the product of the region's colonial history. Yet, the story of regionalism among the Pacific Islands began in pre-colonial times. This history, in turn, has...

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) continue to constrain Pacific economies. They absorb scarce capital, suffer low productivity, and often provide high cost and low quality services. SOE reform is vital to create private investment opportunities, reduce the costs of doing business, and improve...

As East Asia becomes increasingly integrated through market-driven trade and FDI activities, free trade agreements (FTAs) are proliferating. Consolidation of multiple and overlapping FTAs into a single East Asian FTA can help mitigate the harmful noodle bowl effects of different or competing...

The paper argues that the macro focus of the literature on the Asian crises is not helpful in understanding the causes of the crises. The actual causes lie deeper in the operation of the real, that is, the corporate sector. In this context, the paper analyzes the micro behavior of individual firms.

This paper assesses the social impact of the Asian Financial crisis, drawing on the results of studies in six countries, namely, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand. The impacts appear to be less than were anticipated early in the...

"Since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, a popular view among academic economists and policymakers is that developing countries with open capital accounts have only two options in their exchange rate regimes: either float the exchange rate freely or fix it hard. Within a fixed exchange rate...

"This paper surveys the growing literature on monetary cooperation in East Asia that goes beyond the Chiang Mai Initiative. It compares and contrasts the various proposals for cooperation such as the Williamson basket peg, the Asian monetary system, and the yen block as to their crisis...

Bilateral and regional cooperation initiatives in Asia have been growing in importance over the last five years.These accords span the real and financial sectors; rather than following the more typical pattern of "trade first,money later", recent policy initiatives involve the simultaneous...