Using UNESCO data for research and development (R&D) expenditures and personnel, the authors document international differences in R&D activities and assess the determinants of these differences and the link between R&D and economic growth. For a group of OECD countries, R&D activity and...

The squeeze in United States dollar liquidity that emerged with the global financial crisis highlighted the risks inherent in the current global financial system. Asia was adversely affected by the crisis not only because of its dependence on trade, but also because of its heavy reliance on the...

This paper looks at the recent trends of rising inequality in developing Asia, asks why inequality matters, examines the driving forces of rising inequality, and proposes policy options for tackling high and rising inequality. Technological change, globalization, and market-oriented reform have...

Can a government credibly promise not to bailout firms whose failure would have major negative systemic consequences? Our analysis of the Republic of Korea's 1997–1999 crisis, suggests an answer: No. Despite a general "no bailout" policy during the crisis, the largest Korean corporate groups...

The strong and volatile rebound of capital inflows, mostly portfolio investments, into emerging economies in the recovery process of the 2008 global financial crisis has brought the issue of capital controls to the forefront once again. The presence of global imbalances and unconventional...

The paper discusses key challenges faced throughout the Asia and the Pacific region as a number of its developing economies graduate from low-income status to middle-income status at the same time as the region remains home to the majority of the world's poor people and a number of fragile...

This paper studies the effects of the United States' (US) quantitative easing on Asia by examining capital flows and financial markets. After the global financial crisis, Asian economies with more open and developed capital markets experienced greater swings in capital inflows. In particular,...

Should managers, when making investment decisions, follow the signals given by the stock market even if those do not coincide with their own assessments of fundamental value? This paper reviews the theoretical arguments and examines the empirical evidence, constructing and using a new US time...

This paper examines the role of fiscal policy in the Korean financial crisis and the subsequent recovery from it. We specifically address three questions: Was Korea’s fiscal policy prior to the crisis conservative, or were there large hidden contingent liabilities not captured in the official...

Why are there such large differences in saving rates across countries? Conventional economic analyses have not been successful in explaining international saving differences, so economists have sometimes suggested that national saving differences may be explained by cultural differences. This...