|
on South East Asia |
| By: | Yann Duval (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)); Tengfei Wang (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)); Dimitra Malakoudi (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)); Pamela Bayona (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)) |
| Abstract: | This issue of the Trade Insights series provides analysis of the recently released United Nations Regional Commissions (UNRC) Global Trade Facilitation (TF) and Paperless Trade Implementation Survey 2015 for 44 economies and 5 sub-regions across the Asia-Pacific. The survey provides data on the implementation of 38 TF measures, including but not limited to those featured in the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (WTO TFA). The analysis of the implementation data collected reveals that the level of implementation of the ambitious set of TF measures considered in the UNRC Survey reaches almost 50%, indicating that the region has been actively engaged in implementing TF initiatives. However, implementation of TF remains very heterogeneous across the Asia-Pacific region, with Australia, Republic of Korea and Singapore achieving scores in excess of 85%, while other economies barely achieve 15% implementation. Whilst more than half of all 44 Asia-Pacific economies have at least partially implemented 80% of TFA-related measures included in the Survey, there is significant room for progress to further facilitate trade and reduce trade costs. |
| Keywords: | trade, trade facilitation, paperless trade |
| JEL: | F1 |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unt:esctis:tis12&r=sea |
| By: | Asian Development Bank (ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (Southeast Asia Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (Southeast Asia Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) |
| Abstract: | This report was produced under the technical assistance project Promoting Renewable Energy, Clean Fuels, and Energy Efficiency in the Greater Mekong Subregion (TA 7679). It provides outlines of business models relevant to pursuing the renewable energy and energy efficiency targets adopted by the five Greater Mekong Subregion countries: Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Business models for investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency provide policy makers and investors with alternative business methods for the deployment of new technologies, or for the application of well-established technologies and practices in new settings. |
| Keywords: | energy efficiency, business models, renewable energy, gms, asian development bank, cambodia, lao pdr, myanmar, thailand, viet nam, lahmeyer internationa gmbh, cambodia ministry of mines and energy, lao pdr ministry of energy and mines, myanmar ministry of energy, thailand department of alternative energy development and efficiency, electricity regulatory authority of viet nam, climate change, public-private partnership, ownership business models, multiparty ownership, lease or hire purchase model, dealer credit business model, user cooperative business model, energy performance contracting, decentralized systems, centralized grid-scale systems, build-own-operate-transfer, energy service company, community biogas |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:asd:wpaper:rpt146842-2&r=sea |
| By: | Manaek SM PASARIBU (Commission For The Supervision of Business Competition (KPPU)) |
| Abstract: | This paper discusses the problems in the implementation of Law No. 5 of 1999, the Indonesian Competition Law, explains the substance of the law, and provides recommendations for amending the Indonesian competition law. Existing loopholes in the enforcement of competition law in Indonesia, both in substantive and procedural terms, have created difficulties in practice. One way to solve this problem would be to amend the competition law. Our suggestions for the amendment of the Indonesian Competition Law relate to institutional status, dawn raid authority, indirect evidence, leniency programme, procedural law, private litigations, legal aspects of cross border enforcement, and merger notification. We expect that amending said law will result in a balance between procedural and substantive law and that implementing the competition law will finally create legal certainty regarding competition law enforcement in Indonesia. |
| Keywords: | competition law, Indonesia, amendment, dawn raid authority, indirect evidence, leniency programme, procedural law, private litigations |
| JEL: | L40 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:era:wpaper:dp-2016-04&r=sea |
| By: | VO Tri Thanh (Central Institute for Economic Management, Viet Nam); NGUYEN Anh Duong (Central Institute for Economic Management, Viet Nam) |
| Abstract: | This paper looks at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) cooperation on rural development, employment creation, and inclusive growth beyond 2015. Rural development policy has been implemented in various ASEAN member states, but as a priority by itself rather than a complement to industrialisation. Such efforts contribute to higher growth and more employment in rural areas. This in turn makes way for alleviating rural poverty. Although the poverty incidence is scattered, the rural poverty gap attracts attention. The visions for rural development, employment creation, and inclusive growth beyond 2015 should thus cover: (1) Diversified and climate-resilient rural economy; (2) Employability of rural labour; (3) Rural democracy and deconcentration; (4) Sufficiently upgraded rural infrastructure; (5) Material improvement of living conditions in rural areas; (6) Sufficient rural–urban links; and (7) Ensured social protection and substantial reduction in chronic poverty. The paper also presents several recommendations for ASEAN and for Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Viet Nam (CLMV) related to the three main aims. |
| Keywords: | Rural development; employment creation; poverty reduction; inclusive growth; ASEAN |
| JEL: | R10 O15 O18 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:era:wpaper:dp-2016-03&r=sea |
| By: | Asian Development Bank (ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (Southeast Asia Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (Southeast Asia Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) |
| Abstract: | This report was produced under the technical assistance project Promoting Renewable Energy, Clean Fuels, and Energy Efficiency in the Greater Mekong Subregion (TA 7679). It focused on renewable energy developments and potential in five countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS): Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam. It assessed the potential of solar, wind, biomass, and biogas as sources of renewable energy. Technical considerations include the degree and intensity of solar irradiation, average wind speeds, backup capacity of grid systems, availability and quality of agricultural land for biofuel crops, and animal manure concentrations for biogas digester systems. Most GMS governments have established plans for reaching these targets and have implemented policy, regulatory, and program measures to boost solar, wind, biomass, and biogas forms of renewable energy. Incentives for private sector investment in renewable energy are increasingly emphasized. |
| Keywords: | renewable energy developments in the gms, renewable energy, environment sustainability, greater mekong subregion (gms), asian development bank, cambodia, lao pdr, myanmar, thailand, viet nam, solar energy potential, wind energy potential, biogas energy potential, clean fuel, biofuel, biogas, food-energy-water nexus, renewable energy regulatory, biomass energy resources, cambodia ministry of mines and energy, lao pdr ministry of energy and mines, myanmar ministry of energy, thailand department of alternative energy development and efficiency, electricity regulatory authority of viet nam, lahmeyer internationa gmbh, climate change, photovoltaic, bio-digester, energy sector institutional framework, renewable energy targets |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:asd:wpaper:rpt146841-2&r=sea |
| By: | Venkatachalam ANBUMOZHI (Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)) |
| Abstract: | The year 2015 is a defining year for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). As the region journeys forward in forging the ASEAN Community, the field of disaster management continues to face challenges and opportunities brought about by increasingly complex disasters and the evolving humanitarian landscape. This year also ushers in global conversations that impact national and regional initiatives in disaster management and, conversely, provide opportunities for the ASEAN to inform and influence these discussions. These conversations include, among others, the development of the successor framework to the Hyogo Framework for Action, the review and subsequent development of the post-2015 sustainable development goal, the ongoing debates on climate change, and other emerging issues on protection such as the Nansen Initiative on disasterinduced cross-border displacement, and the potential occurrence of natural disasters in conflict areas. At the regional level, the role of regional organisations in disaster management is deepening and becoming more pronounced and relevant to the member states and the international community. Large-scale disasters such as Cyclone Nargis and Typhoon Haiyan underscored the necessity of enhancing and strengthening synergy and cooperation between and among various stakeholders across multiple sectors. In reaching out to other stakeholders and sectors, ASEAN strives to maintain its centrality and leadership through the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management Emergency Response while, at the same time, being open and flexible to changes. As regional and global forces converge, it is fast becoming an imperative for communities--the peoples of ASEAN--to become more resilient. Attaining a shared analysis and understanding of issues, existing and emerging, in disaster management would better equip the ASEAN member states, ASEAN as a regional organisation together with its ministerial and sectoral bodies, and the communities, to continue building resilient communities post-2015. This paper identifies key thematic areas arising from ongoing and emerging regional and global discussions on disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, development of the post-2015 sustainable development goals, and protection issues arising from natural disasters, under the larger framework of resilience. It scans and analyses regional and global trends in disaster management, underscoring the emerging imperative of cross-sectoral and multistakeholder approaches, with a growing focus on issues of vulnerable groups and protection. The paper then five critical steps viz, strengthened legal framework, implementing integrated risk management, establishing a monitoring and evaluation framework, capitalizing private finance and capacity development as key components for formulating the post-2015 disaster management blueprint. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, disaster risk management, resilience, sustainable development |
| JEL: | Q54 Q56 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:era:wpaper:dp-2016-02&r=sea |
| By: | Asian Development Bank (ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (Strategy and Policy Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (Strategy and Policy Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) |
| Abstract: | The new sustainable development agenda is expected to touch every country, person, and activity. Therefore, shouldn’t every dollar count toward achieving it? Asia and the Pacific, home to more than half of humanity, has the money to improve the lives of all its people, and protect the planet in fair and durable ways. However, funds are in many hands, invested elsewhere, or used for various purposes. It is time to move beyond this fragmentation and align finance behind sustainable development, recognizing that while capital will be key, so will the capacity to apply and attract it effectively. This report explores some of the ways forward. It highlights not just the need to inject more money into investments that contribute to sustainable development, but also the need to attract funds toward them— to finance human needs, infrastructure, and cross-border public goods. The report spans public and private options, in their distinct roles and in combination. An eight-point agenda suggests how key constituents can do their parts. Working together, they can make money work for development where benefits are not only more equitably shared, but will last for generations to come. |
| Keywords: | money, harnessing capital, financing for development, post-2015 agenda, asian development bank, financing frameworks, domestic resources, public funds, private potential, money markets, inclusive finance, public-private partnerships |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:asd:wpaper:rpt157446-2&r=sea |
| By: | Raghavan, Mala (Tasmanian School of Business & Economics, University of Tasmania) |
| Abstract: | ASEAN-5’s continued economic growth with high oil and trade intensities means it is a fast growing region with a significant presence in the global energy market. This paper identifies three main drivers of oil price shocks - oil-supply, globalactivity and oil-specific demand shocks for the period 2000-2013. Subsequently, it assesses the effects of the identified oil shocks on the ASEAN-5’s macroeconomic variables and examines the responses of monetary policy. Since the recent shocks are largely demand driven, the impulse responses and historical decomposition for the ASEAN-5 highlight that the effects on inflation are accentuated while the effects on economic growth are less disruptive. The exchange rate responses are mostly positive while the effects on trade are positive for Malaysia, a net oil exporter and are moderately negative for the oil importers. Consequently the ASEAN-5’s central banks could tighten their monetary policy in response to higher inflation without fear of weakening their economies. The empirical results highlight that for monetary policy responses to be more supportive of growth, policy makers in these economies should examine the underlying causes of the future oil shocks. |
| Keywords: | Macroeconomics, Oil prices, Emerging Asia, Monetary Policy |
| JEL: | C32 E51 F32 F43 F41 E52 |
| Date: | 2015–10–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tas:wpaper:22667&r=sea |
| By: | Laike Yang |
| Abstract: | International production sharing and trade fragmentation has become a key feature of East Asian economic development in recent decades. China has taken advantage of this process and has transformed into a global manufacture center within a thirty-year period. The emergence of China has led to the restructuring of the Asian production network and changed the trade pattern in the region. Firms in advanced Asian economies have relocated their production to China, using it as an assembly base and exporting their final products to the US and Europe. This paper analyzes these trends and changes in the region, studying China’s position in East Asia’s production sharing and trade fragmentation, as well as ascertaining how it influences China’s industrial and technological upgrading. We find that China has moved to the Center of East Asia’s production network and become the key partner of its neighboring countries. China’s manufacturing technology has significant upgraded. There is a technology convergence between China and ASEAN-4, although the gap between China and Japan and South Korea remains fairly large and noticeable. |
| Keywords: | Production Sharing; Intra Industry Trade, East Asia, China |
| JEL: | F14 F15 F19 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtf:wpaper:1407&r=sea |
| By: | Chandler, Luke |
| Abstract: | Food and agricultural producers across Australia and New Zealand are increasingly turning their attention to their close neighbours on the Asian continent. The proximity of almost a third of the world’s population has always been impossible to ignore; however, the region has taken on a new level of significance in recent times as developing countries across Asia have embarked upon their journeys of economic transformation. Rising incomes across Asia and the changing dietary habits of households have already had a significant influence on many global agricultural markets and trade flows. This influence is expected to strengthen in coming years as the region increases its share of the global economy, while remaining somewhat limited in its ability to satisfy its own growing needs and wants for food and fibre products. Indeed, the dawning of the so-called ‘Asian Century’ holds great promise, but it also presents a great challenge to Australian and New Zealand (ANZ) food and agricultural producers. Understanding the business risks of supplying a diverse economic, cultural and political region is critical for ANZ farmers and agribusinesses to maximise the value of their expansion into Asia. Improving their understanding of these factors will also allow ANZ agribusinesses to better respond to the opportunities emerging in Asia at the right scale. Developing strong partnerships along the supply chain and across borders will be critical to the success of Australia and New Zealand in capturing value in the growing Asian markets. Increasingly, consumers across Asia are demanding high levels of food safety and traceability, with many willing and able to pay a premium for the clean and green food we produce. Australia and New Zealand together supply less than 10% of Asia’s total food and agricultural imports: our focus needs to be on leveraging the many attributes of agricultural sectors at the high-value end of the market. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cfcp14:225567&r=sea |
| By: | Asian Development Bank (ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) |
| Abstract: | The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is working closely with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Japan, and the Republic of Korea—collectively known as ASEAN+3—to develop local currency bond markets and facilitate regional bond market integration under the Asian Bond Markets Initiative (ABMI). ABMI was launched in 2002 to strengthen the resilience of the region’s financial system by developing local currency bond markets as an alternative source to foreign currency-denominated, short-term bank loans for long-term investment financing. The need for infrastructure investment among ASEAN+3 members is well documented, with estimates for needed investment through 2020 reaching as high as US$550 billion. Local currency financing of infrastructure projects has the important advantage of avoiding the currency risk that can arise when a project generating revenues in the domestic currency has foreign currency-denominated debt service requirements. This study was undertaken under ABMI and funded by the Government of the PRC. It addresses two key questions: (i) Why is local currency bond financing not more widely used for infrastructure projects in ASEAN+3? and (ii) What can be done to promote infrastructure bond financing? |
| Keywords: | regional cooperation, regional integration, ASEAN+3, local currency bonds, infrastructure |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:asd:wpaper:rpt157469-2&r=sea |
| By: | Noelan Arbis (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)); Adam Heal (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)) |
| Abstract: | Services exports from Asia-Pacific least developed countries (LDCs) are growing in volume and should be further encouraged as they can contribute towards export diversification and development. Unlike in the case of merchandise trade, however, until recently LDCs did not receive any preferential market access in services trade. Progress is finally being made towards implementation of a 2011 WTO mechanism (the ‘Services Waiver’) that provides a route for countries to voluntarily offer LDCs preferences in services. This note reviews headway made so far in implementing the ‘Services Waiver’ and considers the potential impacts for Asia-Pacific LDCs. |
| Keywords: | service, service export, preferential market access |
| JEL: | F1 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unt:esctis:tis13&r=sea |
| By: | Yamazaki, Satoshi (Tasmanian School of Business & Economics, University of Tasmania); Resosudarmo, Budy (Indonesia Project, Arndt-Corden Department of Economics, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University); Girsang, Wardis (Faculty of Agriculture, University of Pattimura); Hoshino, Eriko (Tasmanian School of Business & Economics, University of Tasmania) |
| Abstract: | Using the data collected by a survey of small-scale fishing households from rural coastal communities in Indonesia, we examine the underlying factors that may potentially be associated with the incidence of conflicts among local marine resource users. Intra-village and inter-village conflicts are examined separately. We find that social relationships and individual perceptions of changes in fishery conditions are significantly associated with the incidence of both intra- and inter-village conflicts. We confirm that declining fish stocks is positively associated with inter-village conflicts but not with intra-village conflicts; while increasing catch is positively associated with intra-village conflicts but not with intra-village conflicts |
| Keywords: | local conflict, rural coastal community, Indonesia, small-scale fishery, rural development |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tas:wpaper:22659&r=sea |
| By: | Asian Development Bank (ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) |
| Abstract: | This report summarizes the investments in clean energy made by the operations departments of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 2014, condensing information from project databases and formal reports in an easy-to-reference format. This report was prepared by ADB’s Clean Energy Program which provides the cohesive agenda that encompasses and guides ADB’s lending and nonlending assistance, initiatives, and plan of action for sustainable growth in Asia and the Pacific. |
| Keywords: | energy, clean energy, renewable energy, energy efficiency, solar, wind, clean energy program, investments, loans, grants, technical assistance, 2014 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:asd:wpaper:rpt157381-2&r=sea |
| By: | Grietjie Verhoef |
| Abstract: | Multinational corporations have commenced foreign direct investment (FDI) activities since the 1960s by moving operations to resource-rich, low-cost labour and capital markets (Wilkins, 1970; 1974; 1988; Jones, 1994; 2005). The first wave of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) during the 1960s and 1970s was motivated by efficiency and market-seeking factors. This wave was dominated by firms from Asia and Latin America. A second wave of OFDI followed in the 1980s, led by strategic asset-seeking enterprises from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea (Dunning et al., 1996; UNCTAD, 2005b: 3s). Since the 1990s China, Brazil, India, Russia (the so-called BRIC countries) Malaysia, Turkey and South Africa are among the countries expected to add significantly to OFDI growth (UNCTAD, 2005c: 4). The emergence of EMTNCs (Emerging Market Transnational Corporations) makes up a growing proportion of outward FDI and they acquire an increasing share in foreign affiliates from developed markets conducting business in their regions. This paper reflects on the transformation of businesses and business practice in Africa, from isolated peripheral actors to global players. A growing number of African multinational corporations extended business operations from behind marginalized peripheral operations to global markets. This paper investigates the history of leading emerging market multinational corporations from Africa since the 1980s. |
| Keywords: | Globalization, strategy, market seeking, state, change management |
| JEL: | N17 O55 M16 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rza:wpaper:570&r=sea |
| By: | Asian Development Bank (ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) |
| Abstract: | This report highlights some emerging trends in Aid for Trade (AfT) and trade performance, and explores them in the context of the theme of the 5th Global Review of AfT: “Reducing Trade Costs for Inclusive, Sustainable Growth.” Divided into four chapters, the introduction sets the stage by describing general trends in trade costs, AfT, and inclusiveness; Chapter 2 introduces the idea and opportunities of e-commerce for the region; Chapter 3 analyzes trends in trade costs in Central, East, South, and Southeast Asia; and Chapter 4 offers an in-depth case study of AfT and trade costs in the Pacific. ADB is a member and serves as the secretariat to the Regional Technical Group on Aid for Trade for Asia and the Pacific. It started as a pilot project to provide an informal regional forum for discussing AfT issues and proposals, sharing good practices, taking stock of available analytical work on AfT in the region, and building partnerships among actors and stakeholders. It seeks to formulate an integrated approach to operationalize AfT in the medium term. |
| Keywords: | Industry and Trade, Trade and Investment, SMEs, cross-border e-commerce, ICT, Aid for Trade, women in trade |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:asd:wpaper:rpt157499-2&r=sea |
| By: | Mike Callaghan; Paul Hubbard |
| Abstract: | China’s first attempt to establish a multilateral financial institution was met with some suspicion and caution in the west. According to one interpretation, China is frustrated with the United States’ reluctance to cede it power at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, and so is attempting to usurp the United States’ economic leadership by creating its own institutions to rival the Bretton Woods institutions, starting with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The AIIB, according to its critics, will not be a true multilateral institution committed to common objectives. Instead it will be a vehicle for China to advance its own unilateral strategic objectives in Asia at the expense of the US. |
| JEL: | E02 F21 G24 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eab:develo:25355&r=sea |
| By: | - (Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) United Nations) |
| Abstract: | The Global Survey on Trade Facilitation and Paperless Trade Implementation 2014-2015 is a global effort led by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in collaboration with the other four United Nations Regional Commissions, namely, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The goal of the Global Survey is to gather information from the member states of the respective Regional Commissions on trade facilitation and paperless trade measures and strategies implemented at the national and regional levels. The results of the survey will enable countries and development partners to better understand and monitor progress on trade facilitation, support evidence-based public policies, share best practices and identify capacity building and technical assistance needs. |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:col022:38946&r=sea |
| By: | Wardhana, Dadan; Ihle, Rico; Heijman, Wim |
| Abstract: | The agricultural sector plays an important role for rural economies. However, rural populations still face poverty as one main issue threating livelihoods. Regional concentration and specialization in agricultural production and processing is referred to as agro-clusters. These clusters might generate income possibilities so that rural poverty may be reduced. We empirically analyse this question by applying spatial econometric models because neighbouring regional economies are likely to influence each other. The analysis focuses on the 545 sub-districts of the West Java province of Indonesia where about 10% of the population live in poverty. Concentration of agricultural employment is found to have significant effects on poverty reduction in the sub-district as well as its neighbouring regions. Specialisation in agricultural output is also found to cause lower poverty rates. This implies that the government should support the regional specialization in agriculture. Based on the identification of the comparative advantage of each sub-district, the government should establish regional production nuclei in agriculture in order to boost the specialization. Care has to be taken of the spillover effects the policies will have for surrounding areas. |
| Keywords: | agricultural production, spatial concentration, spatial dependence, clusters, Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa150:212683&r=sea |
| By: | Van Bo, Nguyen |
| Abstract: | Ensuring food security is not merely an economic or humanitarian activity: it also actively contributes to national and global socio-political stability. During the last 25 years of implementing its Renovation Policy, Vietnam has achieved national food security, actively contributing to the goals of eliminating hunger, alleviating poverty, and ensuring regional and global food security. Vietnam is changing from a net food importer to an exporter of many agricultural commodities. However, Vietnam is an agriculture-based economy with more than 70% of its population engaged in agriculture. A very high proportion of many of the commodities it produces are exported: 25% of its rice production, 90% of coffee, rubber, cashew nut and cassava, and 95% of black pepper. Any fluctuation on the international market can adversely affect its agricultural industries. Difficulties and challenges will face the country in the years to come: rapid population growth; decreasing farm areas and water resources; natural disasters, floods, droughts; decreasing levels of investment in agricultural production; barriers to agricultural international trade; low incomes of the poor, reducing their access to food; food demand increasing for other purposes, including the production of bio-energy; and climate change. Vietnam’s agriculture restructuring policy aims at higher competitiveness and ensuring food security in the context of climate change. Efforts are focused on policies to stabilise the area of land devoted to rice cultivation; increasing investment in water management infrastructure; and promotion of mechanisation in rice production and processing. It will apply scientific and technological advances to varietal improvement; natural resource management; pest and disease control; and post-harvest technologies. It will also re-organise the institutional set up for agricultural production, linking production with processing and marketing. This will raise the incomes of rice growers, modernise rural life and enhance farmers’ livelihoods. At the same time, it will actively seek to mitigate the impacts of climate change, especially of rising sea levels. With sound policies to guarantee its national food security, Vietnam is ready to cooperate with its neighbours, share its experiences in agricultural development with the international community; and actively contribute to ensuring food security globally. Halving the proportion of people suffering from hunger by 2015 is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals agreed to by many nations more than a decade ago. With many difficulties and challenges still facing food security, achieving this goal will require the effort of every nation, and especially active support from developed countries and international organisations. This demands coordinated action at regional levels as well as on a global scale |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cfcp14:225580&r=sea |
| By: | Alan Gustman (Dartmouth College); Thomas Steinmeier (Texas Tech University); Nahid Tabatabai (Dartmouth College) |
| Abstract: | The composition, wealth, and employment of male veterans and nonveterans are analyzed for four cohorts from the Health and Retirement Study, ages 51 to 56 in 1992, 1998, 2004, and 2010. Half of the two oldest cohorts served in the military. Only 16 percent of the youngest cohort, the only cohort subject to the all-volunteer military, served. One-fifth to one-third of the members of each cohort who served saw combat, mainly in Vietnam and in the Gulf War. Among those 51 to 56 in 1992, veterans were better educated, healthier, wealthier, and more likely to be working than nonveterans. By 2010, 51- to 56-year-old veterans had lost their educational advantage, were less healthy, less wealthy, and less likely to be working than nonveterans. After standardizing in multiple regressions for the influence of major observable characteristics, for the original 1992 HRS cohort, the wealth of veterans is no longer higher than the wealth of nonveterans. In contrast, the wealth of veterans from the youngest cohort, those 51 to 56 in 2010, remains about 10 to 13 percent below the wealth of nonveterans from that cohort. There also is a decline from older to younger cohorts of veterans compared to nonveterans in the probability of being not retired, of working more than 35 hours per week, and in the likelihood of holding a job for more than 10 years. Comparisons are made within the group of veterans by years of service, officer rank and other covariates. |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mrr:papers:wp323&r=sea |
| By: | Yongheng Deng (National University of Singapore); Eric Girardin (National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS)); Roselyne Joyeux (Macquarie University) |
| Abstract: | In a similar way to the stock market, the housing market in China has often been portrayed as highly speculative, giving rise to ¡°bubble¡± concerns. Over the last decade, residential prices increased every year on average by double digits in Beijing or Shanghai (Deng, Gyourko and Wu, 2012). However many observers and researchers argue that the fundamentals of the housing sector, both sector-specific and macroeconomic, may have been the driving force behind housing price volatility. While existing empirical work exclusively relies on downward-biased official housing prices, this paper uses original high-frequency unit level residential price series for Beijing and Shanghai to test alternative hypotheses about the drivers of house price growth. We propose a sequential research strategy including the construction of hedonic prices, explosive unit root tests (Phillips, Shi and Yu, 2014), the filtering of microstructure noise (Bollerslev et al. 2015) and a Mixed Data Sampling (MIDAS) methodology (Ghysels et al, 2007; Engle et al., 2013) which enables us to document that fundamentals can indeed account for movements in housing price volatility, as well as transaction volume in first©\tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hkm:wpaper:222015&r=sea |
| By: | Dar, William D. |
| Abstract: | The global production and use of biofuels have increased dramatically in the past few years due to volatile and increasing oil prices, and environmental concerns. The main feedstocks for ethanol are sugarcane, maize and, to a lesser extent, wheat, sugarbeet and cassava. Biodiesel oil-producing crops include rapeseed and oil palm. All divert land away from food production to energy production. This has in turn triggered the food versus energy debate, with several studies attributing the rising food prices to the feedstock diversion to biofuels, hurting poor consumers and net food-importing countries. To overcome the food– fuel trade-off several countries are promoting feedstocks that can grow on marginal lands and hence do not compete with food production. At ICRISAT we launched a global pro-poor ‘BioPower Initiative’ focusing on biomass sources and approaches that do not compete with, but rather enhance food and nutritional security. Sweet sorghum is one such ‘smart’ multipurpose crop that does not compromise on food security while producing energy. The grain is used for food and the stalk is used for juice extraction for bioethanol. It is encouraging that the Western Australian Government in partnership with Kimberley Agricultural Investments has plans to grow sweet sorghum on 13,400 hectares of land for processing into bioethanol. Further, the use of sweet sorghum in existing sugar mills as biofuel feedstock provides a win–win situation for both farmers and industry. Data from India, the Philippines, China and Brazil indicate that sweet sorghum is an economically viable, socially equitable, environmentally sustainable and resilient smart crop. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cfcp14:225568&r=sea |