Managing climate change caused by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has been recognized as one of the world’s greatest challenges in current times, in particular in Asia and the Pacific which accounts for most of the world’s GHG emissions. Such temperature rises in turn are expected to result...

Focusing on the Least Developed Countries located in the Asia-Pacific region, the study explores the impact of different approaches available to the LDCs and their partners in improving their developmental prospects through enhanced trade. The monograph starts with the presentation of trade...

This publication aims to point out how services sector reforms have benefited the poor, and more generally, how regulatory reforms in services have increased the opportunites for more inclusive growth.

The value of world exports of commercial services rose by 11% in 2011 to $4,170 billion, exceeding pre-crisis levels of $3,850 billion in 2008. Half of world exports of commercial services in 2011 consisted of travel receipts and other business services. Asia-Pacific as a region increased its...

The current economic and financial crisis is an unprecedented challenge for policymakers of the Asia-Pacific region. While the region's policymakers have gained considerable experience in responding to national or regional financial crises, they have less expertise in addressing a crisis that...

Can Africa's current state of under-development be partially attributed to the large trade in slaves that occurred during the Atlantic, Saharan, Red Sea and Indian Ocean slave trades? To answer this question, I combine shipping data with historical records that report slave ethnicities and...

Unfulfilled expectations about economic growth in Brazil has led many observers to question the ability of the new, open trade regime to put the economy back on an path of sustainable growth. Whereas the country’s growth record has been really poor, the evidence suggests that the underlying...