In this study, we examine the impact of the STAR highway located in Batangas province, Philippines, on the public finance of the cities and municipalities through which it directly passes. Specifically, we exploit a unique, disaggregated dataset on tax (property and business taxes) as well as...

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...

Urban road infrastructure is crucial in determining air pollution. Yet, little is known about the roles played by road width vs. road length. This paper attempts to fill this gap by estimating the effects of road infrastructure on 10-micron particulate matter (PM10) using city-level data from...

The Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) region has historically been an important route for global trade - connecting Asia to Europe (and vice versa) and beyond through the ancient Silk Road before the evolution of maritime trade and commerce in the 1500s. The Asian Development...

This paper investigates whether better access to markets through an improved road network plays a role in improving the profitability of firms in India. We construct a district-level market access index using Indian road network shapefiles, district boundaries, and nightlight raster images and...

This study examines the determinants of blue economy activities, namely tourism and fisheries, in 21 Asia and Pacific island countries during the period 1996 to 2016. Using a panel data model, it was found that the size of the blue economy positively depends on the gross fixed capital formation...

Natural disasters bring tremendous destruction to small island economies in the South Pacific region. Foreign development aid, as an important source of green finance in the region, has the fundamental purpose of reducing natural disasters' effect on the small island economies. With country...

The Pacific Island nations heavily rely on the tuna fishery for government revenue and economic growth. Since the conversion of some nations to the Vessel Days Scheme (VDS) from the fishing Quota system, the region's domestic catch has significantly increased. VDS has stimulated economic return...

This study investigates the patterns of global value chain (GVC) participation of Pacific island countries (PICs) at the country, industry, and firm levels, utilizing UNCTAD-Eora GVC data (1999-2018) and the World Bank's Enterprise Survey data (2009 and 2015). It also uses the survey data to...

When parents migrate from home to another place and leave their children behind, it can have a large influence on their children. This study explores the relationship between parental migration and the learning outcomes of left-behind children aged 7-14 in Pacific Island economies, particularly...