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on South East Asia |
| By: | Cheewatrakoolpong, Kornkarun (Asian Development Bank Institute); Sabhasri, Chayodom (Asian Development Bank Institute); Bunditwattanawong, Nath (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | Empirical evidence suggests that the emergence of international production networks in East Asia results from market-driven forces such as vertical specialization and higher production costs in the home countries and institutional-led reasons such as free trade agreements. This paper examines two industries—autos and auto parts, and hard disk drives (HDDs)—to understand international production networks. The study examines the structure of vertical intra-industry trade among East Asian countries, especially members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, depicts international production sharing in the selected industries, namely HDD, and automobiles and automotive parts, in the region. The study also points out the importance of the People’s Republic of China and Thailand as assembly bases. It concludes that investment promotion policies contributed more to the emergence of international production networks than free trade agreements. |
| Keywords: | asean; production networks; asean economic community; east asia; vertical specialization |
| JEL: | F14 |
| Date: | 2013–02–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0409&r=sea |
| By: | Kawai, Masahiro (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | Infrastructure connectivity in Northeast Asia—comprising the northeastern People’s Republic of China, Japan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia, and the Russian Far East—has been hindered by limited intergovernmental cooperation. The paper finds that total infrastructure investment needs for Northeast Asia excluding Japan and the Republic of Korea (in transport, energy, information and communication technology, and the environment) could be $63 billion per year over the next 10 years. Of this total, $13 billion would have to be mobilized every year from external sources. The paper considers three options to fund these needs in addition to traditional financing by bilateral and multilateral agencies: (i) special and/or trust funds newly set up in existing multilateral development banks (MDBs), (ii) a structured infrastructure investment fund supported by MDBs, and (iii) a new subregional multilateral development bank. It suggests that the first two have potential, but recommends against establishing a new development bank. |
| Keywords: | infrastructure development and connectivity; subregional cooperation programs in asia; northeast asian infrastructure forum; northeast asian infrastructure fund |
| JEL: | F15 F36 F55 O19 Q01 |
| Date: | 2013–02–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0407&r=sea |
| By: | Cameron, Lisa; Shah, Manisha; Olivia, Susan |
| Abstract: | Lack of sanitation and poor hygiene behavior cause a tremendous disease burden among the poor. This paper evaluates the impact of the Total Sanitation and Sanitation Marketing project in Indonesia, where about 11 percent of children have diarrhea in any two-week period and more than 33,000 children die each year from diarrhea. The evaluation utilizes a randomized controlled trial but is unusual in that the program was evaluated when implemented at scale across the province of rural East Java in a way that was designed to strengthen the enabling environment and so be sustainable. One hundred and sixty communities across eight rural districts participated, and approximately 2,100 households were interviewed before and after the intervention. The authors found that the project increased toilet construction by approximately 3 percentage points (a 31 percent increase in the rate of toilet construction). The changes were primarily among non-poor households that did not have access to sanitation at baseline. Open defecation among these households decreased by 6 percentage points (or 17 percent). Diarrhea prevalence was 30 percent lower in treatment communities than in control communities at endline (3.3 versus 4.6 percent). The analysis cannot rule out that the differences in drinking water and handwashing behavior drove the decline in diarrhea. Reductions in parasitic infestations and improvements in height and weight were found for the non-poor sample with no sanitation at baseline. |
| Keywords: | Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Hygiene Promotion and Social Marketing,Housing&Human Habitats,Disease Control&Prevention,Early Child and Children's Health |
| Date: | 2013–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6360&r=sea |
| By: | John Jerrim (Department of Quantitative Social Science, Institute of Education, University of London); Alvaro Choi (Institut d’Economia de Barcelona, University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) are two highly respected studies of school pupils’ academic achievement. English policymakers have been disappointed with school children’s performance on these tests, particularly in comparison to the strong results of young people from East Asia. In this paper we provide new insight into the England – East Asia gap in school children’s mathematics skills. We do so by considering how cross-national differences in math test scores change between ages 10 and 16. Our results suggest that, although average math test scores are higher in East Asian countries, this achievement gap does not increase between ages 10 and 16. We thus conclude that reforming the secondary school system may not be the most effective way for England to ‘catch up’ with the East Asian nations in the PISA math rankings. Rather earlier intervention, during pre-school and primary school, may be needed instead. |
| Keywords: | : PISA, TIMSS, educational policy, primary education, secondary education |
| JEL: | I20 I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2013–02–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1303&r=sea |
| By: | Christophe Muller (Aix-Marseille University (Aix-Marseille School of Economics, EHESS & CNRS.); Marc Vothknecht (German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin)) |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of violent conflict on social capital, as measured by citizen participation in community groups, defined by four activity types: governance, social service, infrastructure development and risk-sharing. Combining household panel data from Indonesia with conflict event information, we find an overall decrease in citizen contributions in districts affected by group violence in the early post-Suharto transition period. However, participation in communities with a high degree of ethnic polarization is less affected, and is even stimulated for local governance and risk-sharing activities. Moreover, individual engagement appears to depend on the involvement of other members from the same ethnic group, which points toward building of intra-ethnic social networks in the presence of violence. Finally, our results show the danger of generalization when dealing with citizen participation in community activities. We find a large variety of responses depending on the activity and its economic and social functions. We also find large observed and unobserved individual heterogeneities of the effect of violence on participation. Once an appropriate nomenclature of activities is used and controls for heterogeneity are applied, we find that the ethnic and social configuration of society is central in understanding citizen participation. |
| Keywords: | Violent Conflict, Citizen Participation, Local Public Goods |
| JEL: | D74 H42 O11 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aim:wpaimx:1306&r=sea |
| By: | Kaji, Sahoko (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | This paper emphasizes the importance of Europe’s structural problems and governance as the cause of the current euro area crisis. The euro may have led to bubbles, but member economies were not free of trouble before the euro. Many members were losing competitiveness and in need of removing structural rigidities. If anything, the euro was expected to encourage structural reform, by taking away the easy choice of monetary and fiscal expansion. We first discuss the relationship between the single currency and economic stability in Europe. We confirm the asymmetries that remained after the introduction of the euro and then discuss the governance overhaul taking place in Europe today. This overhaul was something that should have been done before introducing the euro, and its advancement may be the silver lining of this crisis. Finally, we touch upon the implications for Asia and Japan, from the point of view of the choice of exchange rate regime as a method to advance necessary reforms. |
| Keywords: | single currency; europe; euro area crisis; economic stability; exchange rate regimes |
| JEL: | F33 F41 |
| Date: | 2013–02–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0408&r=sea |
| By: | Leif Anders Thorsrud |
| Abstract: | We study the synchronization of real and nominal variables across four different regions of the world, Asia, Europe, North and South America, covering 32 different countries. Employing a FAVAR framework, we distinguish between global and regional demand and supply shocks and document the relative contributions of these shocks to explaining macroeconomic fluctuations and synchronization. Our results support the decoupling hypothesis advanced in recent business cycle studies and yields new insights regarding the causes of business cycle synchronization. In particular, global supply shocks cause more severe activity fluctuations in European and North American economies than in Asian and South American economies, whereas global demand shocks shift activity in the different regions in opposite directions at longer horizons. Furthermore, demand shocks play a larger role than that found in related studies. Finally, only innovations to the Asian activity and price factors have significant spillover effects on shared global factors, demonstrating the growing importance of Asia in the global economy. |
| Keywords: | Business cycles, Factor model, Globalization, International macro |
| JEL: | C11 C38 F41 F44 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bny:wpaper:0012&r=sea |
| By: | Michael Bleaney; Sharmila Devadas |
| Abstract: | As some emerging market economies have amassed large quantities of foreign exchange reserves, concern has arisen over the sterilisation of the domestic money stock from these flows. Existing studies focus mostly on narrow (reserve) money, and estimate a high degree of sterilisation. Empirical work on the long-run relationship between money and prices emphasises broad money, yet the long-run effect of foreign exchange inflows on broad money has been almost entirely ignored. Using a sample of quarterly data from 28 countries over the period 1990-2010, it is shown that broad money is sterilised to a significantly smaller degree than reserve money. This pattern is not confined to any particular group of countries and is unrelated to the nature of the flows (e.g. current account versus capital account surpluses). Sterilisation rates have increased in Asia during the recent period of persistent accumulation of foreign exchange reserves. |
| Keywords: | foreign exchange intervention, money, sterilisation, emerging markets JEL codes: E51, E52, F31, F33 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:not:notecp:13/01&r=sea |
| By: | Ghatak, Maitreesh (London School of Economics); Aney, Madhav S (Singapore Management University); Morelli, Massimo (Columbia University) |
| Abstract: | We study how ineffciencies of market failure may be further amplified by political choices made by interest groups created in the inefficient market. We take an occupational choice framework, where agents are endowed heterogeneously with wealth and talent. In our model, market failure due to unobservability of talent endogenously creates a class structure that affects voting on institutional reform. In contrast to the world without market failure where the electorate unanimously vote in favour of surplus maximising institutional reform, we nd that the preferences of these classes are often aligned in ways that creates a tension between surplus maximising and politically feasible institutional reforms. |
| Keywords: | occupational choice, adverse selection, property rights, asset liquidation, po- litical failure, market failure |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:warwcg:121&r=sea |