Changes in the population age structure can have a significant effect on fiscal sustainability since they can affect both government revenues and expenditures. For example, population aging will increase expenditures on the elderly while reducing potential growth and hence revenues. In this...

This paper examines underlying factors that could explain the decline in income inequality in the People's Republic of China (PRC) since 2008 and inquires whether the decline indicates that the PRC's income inequality has peaked following the Kuznets hypothesis. The paper first identifies four...

Advanced economies have a significantly longer history of using fiscal policy to tackle inequality and promote inclusive growth than those in developing Asia. Therefore, as developing Asia explores the more active use of fiscal policy for inclusive purposes, it can learn from the experiences of...

We estimate the People's Republic of China's (PRC's potential growth rate in 2012 at 8.7% and at 9.2% for the average of 2008–2012, about the same as the average actual growth rate for this period. This rate is the natural growth rate, that is, the rate consistent with a constant unemployment...

We examine the importance of total factor productivity (TFP) growth in middle-income countries based on cross-country panel data for the period 1975-2014. We find that TFP growth contributed significantly to a country’s upward transition from middle-income to high-income country group. The TFP...

This paper examines the relationship between economic growth and environmental sustainability in the People's Republic of China by empirically estimating environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) models using provincial-level panel data from 1985 to 2005. The results show that there exists an inverted-U...

This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on the role of financial sector development, with a view to deepening understanding of the rationale of development assistance to the financial sector of developing countries. The review leads to the following broad conclusions: (i)...

This paper looks at the role of governance and institutions in supporting growth and broadening inclusiveness with a special reference to developing Asia. While the intrinsic value of good governance and institutions as ends of development in their own right is now universally accepted and...

We analyze and compare the patterns of economic growth and development in the Japan, the People's Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea in the postwar period. The geographical proximity and cultural affinity between the three countries, as well as the key role of the development state in...

We examine the determinants of financial development in Asia and the Pacific from 1995 to 2011. To do so, we apply the dynamic generalized method of moments to a panel data set of 26 economies in the region. We find that better governance and institutional quality foster financial development in...