The main obstacle to developing green energy projects is lack of access to finance. For larger energy projects (e.g., large hydropower projects), insurance and pensions are sustainable financing alternatives. Large energy projects are long-term investment projects; banks are not able to provide...

Japan has suffered from sluggish economic growth and recession since the early 1990s. In this paper, we analyze the causes of the prolonged slowdown of the Japanese economy (the lost decade). Economics Nobel laureate Paul Krugman has argued that Japan's lost decade is an example of a liquidity...

This paper revisits the fiscal sustainability condition proposed by Domar (1944). The Domar condition is derived from the government budget constraint and thus focuses on the supply side of the government bond. By considering the demand for the government bond, this paper finds that public debt...

In 2016, 88.90% of Asia and the Pacific's primary energy consumption was from fossil fuel, and almost 40% of the global CO2 emissions were from Asia and the Pacific. In order to ensure the increasing energy needs of the region are in line with sustainable development goals, addressing the...

This paper analyses the reaction of fiscal policy to the cycle in OECD countries. The results suggest that while overall government balances were counter-cyclical in the past and more so in economic downturns than in upswings, discretionary fiscal policy was neutral on average. However,...

This paper studies how population aging affects macroeconomic performance and the effectiveness of macroeconomic policies. By using a new Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with heterogeneous households, we find that the effectiveness of monetary policy diminishes as...

This paper studies the impact of tax-financed universal health coverage schemes on macroeconomic aspects of labor supply, asset holding, inequality, and welfare, while taking into account features common to developing economies, such as informal employment and tax avoidance, by constructing a...

Japan has suffered from sluggish economic growth and recession since the 1990s, a phenomenon dubbed "Japan's Lost Decade." The People's Republic of China, many countries in the eurozone, and the United States may face similar problems in future and they have been concerned by Japan's long-term...