This policy essay, written as a UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Working Paper, reflects on the social factors underlying Pakistan's chronic debt crises, their resolution, and potential paths to future prevention. It stresses the need for a debtors' perspective...

The government’s anti-COVID efforts in the United States have been seen to reduce unnecessary social mobility, curb the spread of the virus, and lower COVID-related mortality; however, these impacts vary by state. In this paper, we aim to explain the heterogeneity in policy efficacy from an...

A quarter of a century has passed since the 1989 Tiananmen demonstrations and June Fourth crackdown in Beijing. At the 25th anniversary of the tumultuous events of 1989, this paper scrutinizes the prospects and challenges in the struggle of post-1989 Chinese dissent and non-violent action (NVA),...

At the 25th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen demonstrations and June Fourth crackdown in Beijing, this article examines the legacy of the tumultuous episode unprecedented in the history of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and scrutinizes the prospects and challenges in the struggle of...

The European debt crisis gave rise to policies of fiscal austerity designed to instill discipline and return economies to growth after a short-lived period of structural adjustment. Greece received several bailouts conditional on implementing severe spending cuts and structural reforms. These...

The fallout and aftershocks from the United Kingdom’s (UK) decision to exit the European Union (EU) in 2016 are still reverberating. With a nationwide schism dividing the countries that comprise the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to discord and resentment amongst the...

In recent years there has been growing interest in the role of private intrafamilial transfers in the family economy. This topic is especially crucial for policy makers during periods of economic downturn, as private support and public transfers are inter-related. The current study examined the...

With the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party concluded on 15th November 2012 and the birth of a new Politburo Standing Committee, the Party thus completed its second orderly hand-over of power in more than six decades of its rule over this most populous country in the world,...

The link between crisis and permanent increases in public spending has been investigated from the perspective of interest groups, bureaucratic growth, etc., while a demand perspective, i.e. the question of changing voter preferences, has been ignored. Survey data suggests that individuals become...

This chapter analyzes the link between the digital divide, infrastructure regulation, and disaster planning and relief through a case study of the flood in San Jose, California triggered by the Anderson dam’s overtopping in February 2017 and examination of communications failures during the...