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on South East Asia |
| By: | Ali Salmande |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how domestic courts in Indonesia and Malaysia engage with and enforce the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA). Employing a mixed doctrinal and empirical methodology, it analyses judicial decisions alongside interviews with judges and legal experts involved in ATIGA-related disputes. The study highlights key cases, including Indonesian tax court rulings that overturned customs authorities’ import duty assessments on the basis of ATIGA provisions, and Malaysian decisions concerning the implementation of ATIGA tariff preferences through the Licensed Manufacturing Warehouse (LMW) scheme. The findings demonstrate that, notwithstanding ASEAN’s limited supranational enforcement mechanisms, domestic courts in both countries have emerged as important actors in ensuring compliance with regional trade commitments. By interpreting and applying ATIGA in domestic disputes, these courts function as de facto enforcement mechanisms and contribute to strengthening the effectiveness, predictability, and credibility of ASEAN’s regional legal order. |
| Keywords: | - |
| Date: | 2026–08–26 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:era:wpaper:dp-2026-03 |
| By: | Shuang Zhang; Douglas Almond |
| Abstract: | China launched a nationwide, rate-based carbon market in 2021. Covering the world’s top CO2 emitter, compliance depends on the intensity of carbon emissions rather than an absolute cap. We draw on the theoretical literature of rate-based systems to provide the first empirical evidence on an early adopter. Using plant-level data from satellite imagery and machine learning methods, we find that high-efficiency power plants increased electricity generation and CO2 emissions by approximately 5% relative to low-efficiency plants. Because its carbon market regulates nearly all coal plants in China, we focus on the differential responses by plant efficiency, finding no evidence of a differential reduction in emission intensity (though these estimates are imprecise). Relative to coal plants in Indonesia and the Philippines, which had no carbon market, China’s high-efficiency plants also increased emissions, while the estimate for its low-efficiency plants is small and insignificant. This pattern of responses suggests that emissions increases of high-efficiency plants exceeded substitution away from low-efficiency plants. Underscoring the production stimulus to more efficient Chinese plants, air quality worsened downwind of high- efficiency plants relative to low-efficiency plants, compromising air quality in relatively clean areas of China. If China's goal is to reduce its carbon emissions, then benchmarks will need to be tightened within the existing system or an alternative system that does not simultaneously incentivize electricity production will need to be adopted. |
| JEL: | Q48 Q5 Q53 Q54 |
| Date: | 2026–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35924 |
| By: | Venkatachalam Anbumozhi (Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)); Chettiyappan Visvanathan |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) indicator framework for assessing provincial circular economy transition and resilience in Viet Nam. Although national strategies identify the circular economy as a strategic pillar of the country’s 2045 development vision, implementation largely depends on provincial governments. However, the absence of an operational sub-national monitoring framework has limited systematic performance assessment, policy alignment, and evidence-based decision-making. First, the paper reviews international circular economy monitoring frameworks and sub-national indicator systems to identify methodological principles relevant to the Vietnamese context. Second, it proposes a structured indicator architecture organised around six pillars: resource efficiency and material flows; waste management and prevention; industrial symbiosis and eco-industrial parks; sustainable consumption and production; circular business models and innovation; and social and economic co-benefits. Third, it develops a consolidated set of indicators specifying definitions, data sources, monitoring frequency, and implementation considerations to support application across provinces with varying institutional capacities. The proposed framework emphasises outcome-oriented indicators, alignment with national statistical systems, and phased implementation. By linking provincial monitoring with national development, climate, and sustainability objectives, the framework provides a practical foundation for strengthening multilevel circular economy governance and enhancing policy coherence in Viet Nam. |
| Keywords: | - |
| Date: | 2026–07–29 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:era:wpaper:dp-2026-04 |
| By: | Sasiwimon Warunsiri Paweenawat; Lusi Liao |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the private and social return to higher education in Thailand. First, we analyze the individual return to higher education by using Socio-Economic Survey (SES) panel data and employing three treatment effects including propensity score matching (PSM), endogenous switching (ES) regression and endogenous binary treatment using probit two stage least square (Probit-2SLS) model. Then, we estimate the social return to higher education using Labor Force Survey (LFS). We identify the social return by estimating the effect of share of higher educated workers living in each province on individual wage and provincial wage gap using instrumental variable (IV) and pseudo panel approach at provincial level accounting for cohort effects. The results show that obtaining higher education increases wage by around 0.98 to 1.78 log points, and the increase in the provincial share of higher education raises individual’s wage and reduce the wage inequality among different provinces. The findings suggest that investment in higher education will improve the income distribution as it contributes more to workers with less education and in lower wage occupations. |
| Keywords: | Private returns to education; Social returns to education; Endogenous switching; Pseudo-panel approach; Thailand |
| JEL: | I20 J24 J30 |
| Date: | 2026–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pui:dpaper:266 |