Using rural household panel data from three Chinese provinces, this paper identifies determinants of long-term poverty and tests the duration dependence on the probability to leave poverty. Special emphasis is given to the selection of the poverty line and inter-regional differences across...

Asia as a whole is experiencing a rapid demographic transition toward older populations, though different countries are at different stages of this region-wide trend. We document Asia's aging population, describe the region's old-age support systems, and highlight the regional socioeconomic...

We describe the complex support systems in Asia and highlight their importance for economic growth and fiscal sustainability. Familial transfers for old age support are significant in many Asian economies, though their extent varies quite widely, and public transfer systems are less significant....

Reis bleibt das wichtigste Grundnahrungsmittel in Asien und die Regierungen kontrollieren und fördern über eine breite Palette wirtschaftspolitischer Instrumente Anbau, Ertrag, Preise und Produktivität der Reiskultur in Asien. Am Beispiel von neun ausgewählten asiatischen Ländern (s.o.)...

A sample of 283 cotton farmers in Northern China was surveyed in December 1999. Farmers that used cotton engineered to produce the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxin substantially reduced the use of pesticide without reducing the output/ha or quality of cotton. This resulted in substantial...

In Asia and Africa the poor tend to live in marginal environments where droughts and floods are frequent. Global warming is expected to increase the frequency of these weather-induced perturbations of crop production. Drought tolerance (DT) has been one of the most difficult traits to improve in...

Many Asian countries are expected to undergo structural transformations in their economies and rapid urbanization over the next 25 years. The changes in tastes and lifestyles engendered by urban living are likely to have significant influences on food demand. Changes in marketing systems and...

This paper analyzes the political and institutional factors which are behind the dramatic changes in distortions to agricultural incentives in the transition countries in East Asia, Central Asia, and the rest of the former Soviet Union, and in Central and Eastern Europe. The paper explains why...