Using panel data regressions, this paper analyzes the effect of imperfections in the formal export credit and insurance market on trade growth in the regions of Africa and Asia. An exclusive comparison of trade performance of the two regions with respect to export credit and insurance is novel...

The purpose of this paper is to inform the contemporary policy debate on promoting trade among developing countries (South-South trade) by analyzing trade patterns of developing Asian economies from a comparative global perspective. The paper begins with a stage-setting historical overview of...

This paper uses over 20 years of data from Indonesia's labor force survey to study trends in female labor force participation (FLFP). We find that younger women in urban areas have increased their labor force participation in recent years, largely through wage employment, while younger women in...

Natural disasters are on the rise worldwide. There are more and more intense natural disasters - which are defined to cause at least 100 deaths or to affect the basic survival needs of at least 1,000 people - resulting from floods and storms as well as droughts and heat waves. The Asia and the...

Evidence-based economic policies - pragmatic policies that work - played a major role in Asia's success in raising its living standards in the last half century. However, growth prospects are now threatened by rising income inequality and environmental degradation if Asia continues on its...

Developing Asian countries are strengthening their intellectual property rights (IPR) regime as they themselves become producers of intellectual property. At the same time, developing Asia has attracted large amounts of foreign direct investment (FDI) and this trend is expected to continue in...

Financial integration is a multidimensional process through which allocation of financial assets becomes increasingly borderless. This paper assesses the progress achieved thus far in capital market integration in Asia, and compares regional capital market integration with global financial...

This paper studies the effects of the United States' (US) quantitative easing on Asia by examining capital flows and financial markets. After the global financial crisis, Asian economies with more open and developed capital markets experienced greater swings in capital inflows. In particular,...

This paper aims to quantify the political risk effect and its different economic implications in normal and crisis situations through the proxy analysis of election and the sovereign bond spreads. Our study leads to three main findings. First, in normal economic situations, elections and...

In the past 10 years, the service sector has been a significant contributor to overall economic growth in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Uzbekistan, and Viet Nam. Sector growth has been supported by strong industrial growth in some while in others the critical factors have been...