Debate continues over whether a monetary or currency union will be a viable alternative to the current exchange arrangements in East Asia. This paper adds to the literature by assessing the level of business cycle synchronization among 10 major East Asian economies which is considered a key...

Export diversification, or the breadth of exports of an economy, is increasingly seen as a means of accelerating economic growth, mitigating instability due to price, demand, and exchange rate fluctuations, and stabilizing earnings from exports in the long run. As economies integrate into global...

Real exchange rate (RER) misalignment, which is the deviation between the actual real exchange rate from its equilibrium, occurs frequently among developing economies. Studies have shown that RER misalignment may have negative economic implications, such as a reduction in economic growth,...

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic placed health-care systems around the world under great stress. The sharp increase in demand for health care highlighted the importance of efficient health spending. The negative impact of the pandemic on global economic growth further strengthened the...

In this paper, we review the overall micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise landscape in Asia, including the challenges and constraints faced by enterprises in physical (offline) and online markets. We then explore the unique circumstances and externalities that arise due to the special...

Asia is home to 60% of the world's population, 52% of global agricultural production, and 43% of agriculture-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. While a large portion of the Asian population depends on agriculture for their livelihood and food security, the agriculture sector is one of the...

Timely updates of business cycle fluctuations-commonly represented by movements in the output gap-help policymakers make informed decisions on the appropriate course of action. Unfortunately, business cycle assessments often suffer from lags in actual gross domestic product data releases. This...

In this paper, we examine whether, and if so how, an economy's deliberate policy choices of regional cooperation and integration influence underlying determinants of economic growth. Building on models of growth and innovation, we analyze the role of regional integration on labor productivity...

The recession in the United States in the wake of the global financial crisis has had a pronounced negative impact on developing Asia's exports and growth. As a result, developing Asian countries are increasingly looking to the People's Republic of China (PRC) as a new source of demand and...

The global economic crisis in 2008-2009 had varying impacts on economies in Asia and the Pacific. This paper studies the impacts of the global crisis, with emphasis on the labor market, on three Asian countries: Republic of Korea (Korea), Philippines, and Thailand. It develops a crisis index...