Literature on regional growth suggests that divergences in infrastructure is a major factor behind the wide and persistent imbalances in regional growth in India. Using a state infrastructure expenditure function, possible factors that determine infrastructure expenditure and its role in the regional imbalance in infrastructure creation across 14 major Indian states are examined in the present paper. The study indicates that such factors as lagged expenditure, resource mobilization and per capita income may cause varying amounts of infrastructure expenditure across states. It also indicates that spending by the infrastructure-deficit states, political stability and positive spatial dependence in infrastructure expenditure have a balancing effect on infrastructure creation across regions. Those results suggest the need to do the following: (a) harness the favourable factors influencing public expenditure that include improving the financial capacity of the infrastructure-deficit states; (b) strengthen the positive spatial dependence among states through the creation of interstate infrastructure networks, such as railways and national highways; and (c) enable a conducive investment climate, which could boost competition among states for improved infrastructure creation.
Many argue that the benefits of trade liberalization do not equitably accrue to everyone. To counter this trend, some governments have proposed adding labour provisions in preferential trade agreements. The eradication of child labour is included in most of those agreements. Using unique new data, the present study is an assessment on whether preferential trade agreements with labour provisions have resulted in less child labour in 18 developing economies in the Asia-Pacific region over the period 1997-2014. The analysis reveals that countries with more preferential trade agreements with labour provisions have lower incidences of child labour. Robustness exercises, however, show that those trade policies are unlikely to reduce child labour and that instead, improving educational access is likely to lower this phenomenon. Accordingly, governments tend to sign those agreements after labour market conditions improve. This is useful in that it signals to other countries their concern about labour standards, which have been found to increase foreign direct investment. Alternatively, signing those preferential trade agreements can protect their own labour markets from a potential race to the bottom.
In recent years, income poverty has been declining steadily in the Asia-Pacific region, but rural poverty remains widespread and deep, and continues to pose a serious challenge for policymakers. Improving agricultural productivity has been a core strategy for economic development and poverty alleviation for several decades, as this type of productivity was thought to facilitate structural transformation, which enables "surplus agricultural labour" to find employment in nonagricultural sectors. However, it has now been realized that the share of agriculture in national output declines more rapidly than the share of agricultural employment in total employment, trapping millions in "unproductive" agriculture and making them relatively poorer. Understanding this process and identifying appropriate responses is critical for poverty alleviation and inclusive growth. Based on data analysis and policy reviews, in the present paper, it has been found that structural transformation processes are incomplete in many developing countries. Reducing rural poverty and promoting inclusive growth cannot be realized by confining to agriculture, but instead they can be achieved by seeking a broader policy framework that facilitates enhanced intersectoral linkages.
The present paper contains an outline of a simulation-model for stress testing the household sector in Mongolia. The model uses data from the Household Socio-Economic Survey to assess the financial resilience of the household sector to macroeconomic shocks. The results suggest that the household sector of Mongolia is vulnerable to shocks associated with interest rates, cost of basic consumption, asset prices and unemployment. In particular, impacts of interest and consumer price shocks on household’s debt at risk (or expected loan losses) are considerable. Furthermore, it has been found that a substantial increase in household indebtedness has boosted the financial fragility of the household sector. Those results have important policy implications in mitigating the increasing financial fragility of the household sector and risks to financial stability.
Because of the ambition, comprehensiveness and complexity of the 17 goals and 169 targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the implementation of it is very difficult, especially for developing countries such as Pakistan. The present paper introduces an analytical framework based on a subset of the Global SDG Indicators Database to identify an optimal pathway for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Pakistan. The analysis suggests that the optimal pathway would enable the country to progress towards higher income levels and human development. It also suggests that the country’s national development plan, Vision 2025, is expected to contribute towards achieving inclusive and sustainable development provided that the implementation of it is prioritized and sequenced in an optimal manner.
On 25 September 2015, during the 70th anniversary session of the United Nations General Assembly, the 193 Member States adopted a comprehensive and ambitious set of development goals aimed at the eradication of poverty in all its forms. The present article analyses the consultative process of the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the positions of countries in negotiations, divided into two groups: donor countries and recipient countries. As to the consultative process, a detailed analysis of the main groups is submitted, along with the institutional design of the process. In addition, a comprehensive review of the countries’ positions in the Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals, which includes a comparative analysis of the donor country statements (traditional, BRICS (Brazil, Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa) and Arabic donors) and statements from recipient countries (by region) is presented. The position of the Russian Federation as a donor country is particularly noted. This position along with that of other BRICS countries is closer to position held by recipient countries, namely the Global South position. An analysis of the G20 countries’ annual voting on the United Nations General Assembly resolution 41/128: Declaration on the Right to Development is also provided. In conclusion, the progress achieved in the negotiation process for setting the Sustainable Development Goals presents a solid platform for further progressive work and the opportunity to tackle global challenges.
Sustainable food security at household level is a national concern in many countries. The reasons for household food insecurity include social, economic, political, and personal factors as well as climatic changes and its outcomes. This research aims at finding out the linkage of the factors of climatic changes, non-climatic factors and household resiliencies with the level of household food security among the poor and low income households in Malaysia. This study is based on primary data that were collected in Jul-Oct 2012 through a questionnaire survey on 460 poor and low income households from the Pahang, Kelantan, and Terengganu States of Malaysia. The sample was selected from E-Kasih poor household database based on cluster random sampling technique. Initially the study measures household food security according to the USAID-HFIA model, and ran ordinal regressions under the logit and probit models. This study finds that household food insecurity is not only linked with social and economic factors, but also significantly linked with the climatic factors. Therefore, the food security programs need to be integrated with the adaption programs for climatic change.
Examining the ownership structure of Indonesian corporations and its contribution towards developing appropriate corporate governance is an interesting endeavour, as the country is putting a lot of effort in improving trusts and attracting more foreign investors. A concentrated ownership structure is a common feature in the Asia-Pacific region. For the present paper, an analysis was conducted centred on ownership structures and their impact on governance and firm value in Indonesia. Measurements for ownership structure were based on the percentages of institutional and managerial ownership, while independent commissioners, board of directors and audit committees were used to measure corporate governance and Tobin's Q was used to measure firm value. The results of the study, which is based on secondary data gathered from all the companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2009 to 2016, reveals that ownership structure affects two measures used for corporate governance and firm value. As expected, ownership structure shows a statistically significant relationship with corporate governance.
The paper explores empirically whether income inequality has increased over the past decades. To study this hypothesis, the paper aims to create a new income inequality dataset contains 133 countries over the 1990–2014 period. The results indicate that globally income inequality (population-weighted Gini coefficients), on average, increased from 38.6 to 41.8 during the period 1990-2014. The results further highlight the existence of variations in the level of income inequality across regions and group of countries. The reduction in income inequality, among others, remains one of the key challenges of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The paper, therefore, identifies various transmission mechanisms and drivers of the increasing level of income inequality, as well as points out possible forward-looking development policies to reduce income inequality.
The present paper shows the results of an empirical study to prove that income inequality has increased over the past decades. To conduct the study, an income inequality dataset containing 133 countries over the 1990-2014 period was created. The results indicate that globally, income inequality (population-weighted Gini coefficients), on average, increased from 38.6 to 41.8 during that period. They further show the existence of variations in the level of income inequality across regions and groups of countries. The reduction in income inequality, among others, remains one of the key challenges associated with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Therefore, in this paper, various transmission mechanisms and drivers of the increasing level of income inequality are identified and possible forward-looking development policies to reduce income inequality are given.
The food industry is undergoing transformation globally. The set of circumstances specific to Fiji provides important insights into the drivers of this change, which have implications for private, government and donor agency stakeholders. A novel study of 1,000 urban households in Fiji found that among those surveyed, modern supermarkets have overtaken traditional markets as the dominant food retail outlet and now have 100 per cent patronage and take in 54 per cent of total household food expenditures. However, the battle for the fresh fruit and vegetable category appears to be in its infancy, with 97 per cent of households still shopping for products in this category at the traditional main market. Although foreign investment is a key driver of the retail food sector transformation in more rapidly growing developing countries, in Fiji, where foreign investment is relatively low, this transformation appears to be predominantly supported by rising urban income and changing consumer preferences. Consequently, policy attention should be directed towards market channels that can take advantage of changing consumer preferences, while still supporting local farmers.
The present paper discusses total factor productivity (TFP) in China, including its past success, the current slowdown, and the potential for future growth. It begins by documenting the development of TFP growth over the past three and a half decades, its driving forces and its contribution to the economic growth of the country. It then analyses the reasons for the current slowdown of TFP and economic growth, addresses the institutional imperfections that hinder growth, and explains the government policies and strategies aimed at fostering TFP. Next, it explores the potential for TFP growth from the perspective of institutional reform, investment in research and development and human capital. The paper concludes that although the resources of the past successful TFP have decreased or diminished, further institutional reform, increasing investment in research and development and human capital, and strategies promoting indigenous innovation will become new engines for future TFP growth in China. As the country’s TFP is still at a low level compared with advanced economies, there is large scope for China to maintain relatively high TFP growth, although uncertainty and risk are associated with this process.
India has adopted a balanced growth strategy driven by its large internal market, which entails making a major commitment to the endogenous development model. Previously, the country's development plans were built around the supply-side and import substitution approach. In the early 1980s, the economy of India experienced structural changes, as the gross domestic product growth rate steadily increased, and then in the early 1990s, the country leapfrogged into a development policy centred on information technology, which led to the development of a globally competitive information technology (IT) sector. IT has helped states in India to develop through intersectoral linkages with several services and the multiplier effect. This makes it interesting to review the impact of growth of IT on development in states where IT development is prominent. As states have not been equal beneficiaries, a shift-share analysis was carried out to arrive at these imbalances for the period 2004/05-2008/09 and 2009/10-2013/14. The results of a shift in the share show that regional variations in software exports can largely be attributed to a regional component. In addition, the results of ordinary least squares estimation point out that existing infrastructure is overstressed, namely that there is excessive pressure on teledensity, a shortage of power and a large population, which is making it difficult for regions to sustain a high level of specialization.
The present study draws on two case studies, one on village dynamics during the 1970s rural community development movement in the Republic of Korea and the other on present day challenges and learning based on the experiences of a non-governmental organization from the Republic of Korea in implementing a community project together with local villagers in Cambodia. The study argues that the participatory approach, despite recent criticism and challenges associated with it, should remain the core mode of development cooperation because of its intrinsic and instrumental values in efforts to develop a sustainable community. Local leaders’ accountability and leadership, as well as genuine partnerships, involving equitable sharing of power in decisionmaking among various stakeholders, including external donor agencies, are also underlined as crucial in engaging local people in their own development initiatives.
To formulate health development policy and strategies aimed at the Sustainable Development Goal 3, which seeks to ensuring health and well-being for all, it is indispensable to revisit the issue of global health governance in the wake of the Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa. The issue of global health governance is also relevant in the Asia- Pacific region, where Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), influenza A (H1N1) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) were health security threats. The failure to respond timely and effectively to the health crisis was derived from a few factors that are relevant to the means of implementation necessary to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. During ordinary times, efforts to enhance health systems should include building the core capacities of the International Health Regulations (IHR), which should be supported not only by the World Health Organization (WHO), but also through coordination among diverse multilateral and bilateral organizations as part of their health development cooperation programmes associated with achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. To enhance preparedness for handling health crises, the organizational capacities of WHO and its regional offices need to be strengthened. In addition, coordination among WHO and other actors should be facilitated in accordance with the situational categories based on the combination of (a) the capacity of the country where an outbreak of an infectious disease is occurring and (b) the severity and magnitude of that infectious disease.
Microfinancing institutions (MFIs) are likely to change their management policies and focus more on profitability and product diversification as they mature and expand in size because of a number of reasons, including among them, donor pressure and/or lack of funding to expand. The present study empirically tests whether such changes occur in MFIs over time and how these changes affect their performance with regard to alleviating poverty.
The Sustainable Development Goals are very comprehensive, reflecting the increased diversification and complication involved with the development challenges the world is facing in the post-2015 period. Also taking place is a dramatic change in the global landscape of development finance, in which domestic public revenues have risen rapidly to become the largest source of finance. Official development assistance (ODA) for domestic resource mobilization (DRM) will remain essential to accelerate economic growth and lift people from extreme poverty, particularly in the low-income countries. The combination of technical assistance and increased financing for capacity-building can play a vital role in strengthening DRM and lead to more effective and efficient use of public expenditure. The present report first reviews the latest literature on the rationale for this path and the emphasis on public domestic resource mobilization. It then looks at the two-decade experience of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) with the Mongolian tax authority as an example of international cooperation that supports enhanced DRM. After reviewing the events chronologically from the mid-1990s to the 2010s, key takeaways from JICA are given with a focus on capacity development. Finally, the report discusses the transitional role of international cooperation in this regard. It points out that to effectively carry out capacity development, a long-term commitment and joint concerted efforts from the global community are needed. This, in turn, requires a change in mindset from being oriented towards results management at the individual project level to applying programme-based management, which entails combining different types of operations to meet the national development goals and strategy. In addition, it must go hand-in-hand with strong country ownership to come up with indigenous solutions. In the case involving JICA and the Mongolian tax authority, implementing quick-impact projects and showing the impacts at each stage has convinced the latter of the need for a long-term commitment to the results. The long-term commitment of traditional donors from the North could facilitate the participation of emerging donors in a concerted manner. It could scale up capacity development efforts by facilitating triangular cooperation to promote DRM in many countries.
The establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a response to the wide gap between the financing need and supply of global infrastructure investment, especially in Asia. The potential competiveness of AIIB, as compared to other multilateral development banks, is that it has a more focused function, better balanced governance structure and sound financing and can strike a balance between the requirements of developing countries and conducting operations efficiently.
Structural change associated with rapid growth has not occurred in labour-intensive manufacturing in India. It is argued in the present paper that this is at least partly due to the rise in the relative cost of labour, which is the result of the rising cost of food stemming from rapid overall growth and sluggish growth in agricultural productivity. A theoretical model has been developed and the experience of India is used to illustrate the model and its implications.
The present paper examines the administrative efficiency of implementing the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in the Philippines. Using data collected at a municipal level for four provinces in the Davao Region, administrative efficiency scores were computed, employing cost transfer ratios (CTR) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) for the individual municipal operations offices (MOOs) implementing the programme. CTR estimates showed that the greatest proportion of total expenditure in cash transfer programmes was direct cash transfers, which implied an efficient use of programme funding. The DEA results showed an average technical efficiency score of 0.905, which implied that there was significant potential to further improve the performance of delivery of 4Ps. The results revealed that relatively high technical efficiency scores of MOOs did not necessarily translate into a more cost-efficient implementation of the programme. Nevertheless, a positive correlation was found between CTR and the high technical efficiency scores of the MOOs implementing the programme.
