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on South East Asia |
| By: | International Rivers Network IRN |
| Abstract: | The Mekong is under threat. The governments of Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand are considering plans to build eleven big hydropower dams on the Mekong River’s lower mainstream. If built, these dams would harm the river’s ecology and block the major fish migrations that feed and provide income to millions of people. |
| Keywords: | dams, china, economies, electricity, demands, hydrology, ecology, fisheries, costs, fertilizers, river banks, Mekong, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, river, fish, migrations, income, people, hydropower |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:3049&r=sea |
| By: | Saori N. Katada |
| Abstract: | In the last decade, East Asia has engaged in constructing numerous mechanisms to enhance regional cooperation in the areas of trade and finance. However, the region’s economic architecture exhibits certain idiosyncrasies such as an eclectic institutional structure and a limited level of commitment shown by its members. These idiosyncrasies seem to prevent regional cooperation from becoming deeper and more coherent. This paper focuses on the political factors that have thus far shaped the institutional form of East Asian regional trade and financial cooperation, particularly in the three essential aspects of regionalism derived from the theories of regional institution building. The first aspect is the level at which governments are willing to compromise sovereignty and political autonomy for the sake of regional cooperation. [ADBI Working Paper 170] |
| Keywords: | East Asia, cooperation, idiosyncrasies, financial, autonomy |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:3059&r=sea |
| By: | Kueh, Swee-Hui Jerome; Puah, Chin-Hong; Liew, Khim-Sen |
| Abstract: | The role of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) outflow has become significant and essential for sustainable economic growth in Southeast Asia region particularly Singapore. The saturation of the domestic resources accumulation and as export-led regime, the government of Singapore introduced the regionalization policy in the 1990s to encourage abroad investment. Due to that, this study aims to investigate the determinants of Singapore FDI outflows from the perspective of selected macroeconomics variables namely income, trade openness, interest rate and exchange rate. This study adopted the Johansen and Juselius cointegration test and Granger causality based on vector error correction model to investigate the annually data from 1975 to 2007. Empirical results indicated that FDI outflow of Singapore is positively associated with income while inverse linkage with trade openness, interest rate and exchange rate in the long run. Moreover, exchange rate has the tendency to have greater influence towards the FDI outflow of Singapore in relative to the other determinants. Meanwhile, income, trade openness and interest rate portrayed causality linkage towards FDI outflow of Singapore, except for exchange rate in the short run. The continuous commitment towards economic integration in the East Asia region via the Free Trade Area has further contributed to the expansion of FDI outflow of Singapore in the future. |
| Keywords: | FDI outflow; trade openness; vector error correction model |
| JEL: | F18 F21 C22 |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:25940&r=sea |
| By: | Kueh, Swee Hui Jerome; Puah, Chin Hong; Liew, Venus Khim-Sen |
| Abstract: | The role of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) outflow has become significant and essential for sustainable economic growth in Southeast Asia region particularly Singapore. The saturation of the domestic resources accumulation and as export-led regime, the government of Singapore introduced the regionalization policy in the 1990s to encourage abroad investment. Due to that, this study aims to investigate the determinants of Singapore FDI outflows from the perspective of selected macroeconomics variables namely income, trade openness, interest rate and exchange rate. This study adopted the Johansen and Juselius cointegration test and Granger causality based on vector error correction model to investigate the annually data from 1975 to 2007. Empirical results indicated that FDI outflow of Singapore is positively associated with income while inverse linkage with trade openness, interest rate and exchange rate in the long run. Moreover, exchange rate has the tendency to have greater influence towards the FDI outflow of Singapore in relative to the other determinants. Meanwhile, income, trade openness and interest rate portrayed causality linkage towards FDI outflow of Singapore, except for exchange rate in the short run. The continuous commitment towards economic integration in the East Asia region via the Free Trade Area has further contributed to the expansion of FDI outflow of Singapore in the future. |
| Keywords: | FDI outflow; trade openness; vector error correction model |
| JEL: | F10 F21 C22 |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:25920&r=sea |
| By: | Masahiro Kawai |
| Abstract: | It has taken two crises—the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998 and the global financial crisis of 2007-2009—for the international community to seriously focus on the reform of the international financial architecture for crisis prevention, management and resolution. Facing the global financial crisis, the international community has responded by making the G20 Summit the premier forum for international economic and financial cooperation, creating a potentially more powerful Financial Stability Board, and augmenting the financial resources of the IMF. [ADBI Working Paper 167] |
| Keywords: | Asian, financial, architecture, Financial Stability Board |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:3066&r=sea |
| By: | Filip Abraham (K.U.Leuven, Centre for Economic Studies); Jan Van Hove (H.U.Brussel; K.U.Leuven) |
| Abstract: | Exporting firms are affected in many ways by competition on foreign markets. This paper focuses on the impact of Asian competition on the bilateral export performance of Belgian firms, controlling for firm level as well as destination-market characteristics. Export performance is measured in several ways, including the export intensity, the variety and quality of trade as well as the export intensity growth. Export performance appears to differ substantially across firms, across sectors and across destination markets. Our overall results indicate that both the export intensity and variety of Belgian firms’ exports are reduced by Asian competition. Especially the competitive pressure caused by mainland China and Hong Kong is strong. The competitive pressure is intense in labour-intensive sectors but also felt in a wide range of activities with a higher value added. Belgian exporters cope with foreign competition by following a variety-expansion or a quality-upgrading strategy. |
| Keywords: | multi-product firms, international trade, variety, quality, export intensity, competition, Asia |
| JEL: | F14 F15 L6 |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbb:reswpp:201010-204&r=sea |
| By: | Daniel Suryadarma |
| Abstract: | Different economic characteristics between developing and developed countries may require worker with different skills, resulting in different returns to the same ability. Moreover, it is also possible that different countries require different skills depending on their economic fundamentals. This paper provides evidence of the hypotheses above by comparing the labour market returns to numeracy and cognitive ability in Indonesia and the United States. In Indonesia, I find that numeracy has no significant effect on income, while general cognitive ability positively affects income. In the United States, meanwhile, I find that only mathematics ability is significant. Looking at the returns by sex, I find that the benefits of higher cognitive skills only pertain to males in Indonesia, while females have higher returns to numeracy than males in the United States. These results are robust to different specifications. Overall, these differences in returns to ability between Indonesia and the United States indicate that different economic structures indeed demand different sets of skills. |
| Keywords: | income, ability, mathematics, cognitive, Indonesia, United States |
| JEL: | I20 J31 |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:auu:dpaper:645&r=sea |
| By: | Peng Zhang |
| Abstract: | Completeness of the eigenfunctions of a quantum mechanical system is crucial for its probability interpretation. By using the method of contour integral we give properly normalized eigenfunctions for both discrete and continuum spectrum of the Morse potential, and explicitly prove the completeness relation. As an application we use our spectral decomposition formula to study the problem of the pricing of an Asian option traded in financial markets. |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1010.3820&r=sea |
| By: | Daniel Suryadarma |
| Abstract: | This paper measures the evolution of the gender differences in numeracy among school age children using a longitudinal dataset from Indonesia. A unique feature of the dataset is that it uses an identical test for two survey rounds, which implies that any changes in the gender gap are caused by actual changes in numeracy. To my knowledge, this is the first study that is able to distinguish actual changes in numeracy from changes in the difficulty of the tests. I find that girls outperform boys by 0.09 standard deviations when the sample was around 11 years old. Seven years later, the gap has increased to 0.19 standard deviations. This gap is equivalent to around 18 months of schooling. I find evidence for two explanations for the widening gap. The first is that households invest more resources in girls relative to boys. This behavior appears to be rational, driven by the higher labor market returns to numeracy for girls than for boys. In contrast, I find no marriage market returns to numeracy for either gender. The second explanation is that the Indonesian education system appears to play some role in promoting the gender gap. A particular source of this appears to be the teachers, as the gender gap in numeracy only occurs in schools where more than half of the teachers are female. |
| Keywords: | numeracy, gender gap, education, Indonesia |
| JEL: | I21 J16 O15 |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:auu:dpaper:644&r=sea |
| By: | Amir Akmar Basir |
| Abstract: | Payment systems in Malaysia have been undergoing changes in recent years. Among the notable changes is the emergence of electronic-based payment systems. The central bank has been playing an active role in shaping the development of payment systems, particularly in the gradual introduction of electronic-based payment schemes, in the belief that these have the potential to increase efficiency in the economy as whole. The active introduction of e-payment instruments has increased both the value and volume of transactions per capita use of e-payment instruments in recent years. Checks continue to be the major payment instrument, however. Small- and medium-sized enterprises could benefit tremendously from the use of e-payment schemes through more efficient business operations, cost reductions, enhanced security and wider payment channel choice. [ADBI Working Paper 151] |
| Keywords: | Malaysia, electronic-based, payment systems, business operations, cost reductions, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:3070&r=sea |
| By: | K. S., Jomo; Chong Hui, Wee |
| Abstract: | Malaysian economic development has been shaped by public policy in response to changing national and external conditions. Public investments peaked in the 1970s and early 1980s, until the policy reversals driven by sovereign debt concerns and new policy ideology fads. Foreign investments continued to be favoured after independence for ethnic political reasons. Thus, foreign investments continued to be very significant in financial services as well as manufacturing growth, both for import substitution from the 1960s and for export from the 1970s. Private investments were attracted by government provision of infrastructure, cheap but schooled labour, tax incentives, lax environmental regulations and an undervalued currency. Poverty reduction and ownership redistribution by ethnicity were most successful during the 1970s and early 1980s, although it is unclear how much these improved inter-ethnic relations. Economic liberalization and the growing influence of business interests and political elites have undermined the government’s developmental role, culminating in the 1997–8 financial crisis and lacklustre growth since. Malaysian industrialization could only have been achieved with appropriate incentives for investments and technical progress through key policy interventions. |
| Keywords: | Malaysia, development strategies, liberalization, intervention |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2010-102&r=sea |
| By: | Benjamin Leo and Julia Barmeier |
| Abstract: | In this working paper, the authors introduce an MDG Progress Index to assess how on or off track countries are toward MDG targets. They find evidence of dramatic achievements by many poor countries, such as Honduras, Laos, Ethiopia, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Nepal, Cambodia, and Ghana. These countries’ performance suggests that they may achieve most of the highly ambitious MDGs. Moreover, sub-Saharan Africa accounts for many of the star MDG performers. Interestingly, poor countries perform nearly on par with middle-income countries. Not surprisingly, the list of laggards largely consists of countries devastated by conflict over the last few decades, such as Afghanistan, Burundi, the DRC, and Guinea-Bissau. Most countries fall somewhere in between, demonstrating solid progress on some indicators and little on others. |
| Keywords: | Aid Effectiveness, Economic Growth, Education, Poverty |
| Date: | 2010–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:222&r=sea |