This paper assesses the case for promoting financial education in Asia. It argues that the benefits of investing in financial education can be substantial. Data are limited, but indicate low financial literacy scores for selected Asian countries. As economies develop, access to financial...

One of the targets of the Millennium Development Goals−gender parity in all levels of education−is widely considered to have been attained. However, measuring gender parity only through school enrollment is misleading, as girls may lag behind boys in other educational measures. We...

The paper analyzes the link between human capital and firm-level productivity in five Asian countries. It draws on a dataset of over 4,000 enterprises and considers both the prior educational attainment of workers and in-service training programs of enterprises. Differences between small,...

Quality education is a key determinant for ASEAN's aspiration to be a single market and production base and to attract foreign investment. However, the region is characterized by an education divide in terms of quality and output, and this is likely to increase in the post-COVID-19 period. A...

This paper studies the impacts of providing an efficient and affordable transport system within a country through the experience of the Philippines. In 2003 the roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) policy was implemented to provide an integrated mode of inter-island transfer. We offer three analyses that...

We assessed the impact of compulsory kindergarten education on early-teenage basic and functional literacy skills achievement using a large-scale natural experiment in the Philippines. In 2012, the Philippine government mandated compulsory kindergarten attendance for children aged five years or...

Parents can play a crucial role in children's learning, particularly when children are out of school or during times of school closures. In this study, we evaluate the impacts of two distance educational interventions, which directly involved parents and were delivered via basic mobile phones,...

The relationship between human capital development and urbanization in the People's Republic of China (PRC) is explored, highlighting the institutional factors of the hukou system and decentralized fiscal system. Educated workers disproportionately reside in urban areas and in large cities, and...

This paper studies the impact of skill formation on employment opportunities and wages. Instead of international trade theory or technological progress theory, the paper focuses on labor "skill formation" to investigate the employment discrimination and skill wage inequality in the Chinese labor...

The People's Republic of China (PRC) has made massive investments since the late 1990s in highway infrastructure, connecting its rural and urban regions. In this paper, we study the impact of highway investments on the educational choices in rural PRC. Because enhanced connectivity facilitates...