Economic Growth In Asia Research Articles

Observed Differences in Corruption between Asia and Africa: The Industrial Organization of Corruption and Its Cure

Abstract The paper presents a nonconforming view about corruption and an approach to its ‘cure’. It seeks to explain the situation that despite pervasive corruption and weak institutions, emerging economies in Asia attracted foreign investment and achieved a remarkable economic growth and reduction in poverty. Fragile countries in Africa have done less well. The paper posits that the main difference in the corruption characteristics between the two regions is that in Asia corruption is part of the fixed cost and in Africa it is in the variable costs. Consequently corruption has had less distortionary effect on investment and economic growth in Asia. Corruption becomes part of the fixed costs when it has a governance structure based on relationships. Although corruption and violent criminality are often correlated, many involved in corrupt governance structures are not evil. The theoretical concept of this paper was presented ten years ago under a different title. The paper has been updated. There has been progress in both continents and the broad-brush theoretical generalization applies to countries that are stuck in fragility, not to those that are making sustained efforts to bring stability and reforms. The regions are nonetheless good proxies for calling attention to the two kinds of corruption and their associated dysfunctions: distorting investment decisions, crime, violence and political instability. The leaders are implicated as enablers of corruption. Corruption is an emotional disorder and difficult to cure. The paper outlines modern group-psychoanalytic process to governance and to reorient corruption based on the hypothesis that the human drives, both positive and negative, that bring into being ‘good enough’ government and a cohesive country are the same forces that act as agents of corruption and as a safeguard against it.

Economic Growth and CO<sub>2</sub>-Emissions: What If Vietnam Followed China’s Development Path?

Vietnam and China both are quickly emerging market economies in Asia. China has had an unprecedented economic growth in Asia for the past 30 years. Also, Vietnam’s GDP is increasing, but more slowly. However, Vietnam is starting to catch up. Against this background, this article assesses the question what the economic and environmental impacts in Vietnam would be, if the country followed China’s development path. Based on econometric analysis, it is shown that currently, Vietnam is lagging behind China in terms of economic growth for 11 years. Although Vietnam and China have a similar primary energy mix in the early 1980s, China is still massively relying on coal, whereas Vietnam starts to develop hydro power in the late 1980s on large scale. Due to a quick growth of per-capita income, per capita emissions in China are already catching up with those of North-European economies such as Denmark, Finland and Germany. The question arises, what if Vietnam followed China’s development path. Using econometric models of GDP and CO2-emissions, two scenarios for Vietnam are analyzed, a scenario following China’s development path and one alternative scenario pursuing the current development patterns until 2050. The results show that the additional impact of following China’s economic development path is minor. Vietnam would only have a 0.5% percentage point per annum higher GDP growth. In other words, Vietnam would grow relatively quickly anyway. However, following China’s development path also in terms of high CO2-emissions per capita, would increase the growth of CO2-emissions in Vietnam by 2.3 percentage points per annum and would lead to an increase of CO2-emissions in 2050 by 2.6 bn. tons compared with the scenario in which Vietnam sticks to its own development patterns. However, in that case, Vietnam also had a 25% lower per capita income compared with the scenario following China’s development path. Here, the people and government in Vietnam have to make a strategic choice.

Export-Led Growth Hypothesis: Comparison Between Islamic and Non-Islamic Countries in ASEAN

This study aims to prove and analyze the effect of export growth on economic growth in the ASEAN countries. Using annual data from 2004 to 2014, the empirical result shows that export growth is significant and gives positive impact on the economic growth in ASEAN. However, investment and labor-force are less to affect the economic growth in ASEAN. This study also provides strong evidence that supports the hypothesis of export-led growth as described by Nurkse (Moon, 1997). Export-led growth is an economic strategy that is also used by Islamic countries in ASEAN. Export-led growth has two important reasons, it can generate profits and allow countries to balance their finances and the export growth can lead to greater productivity. This is consistent with the macro theory assumes that exports are injection to the economy (McCombie et al, 1994).

Making the Sustainable Development Goals work.

El logro de los 17 Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible aprobados por la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas en 2015 dependerá en gran medida del funcionamiento del último objetivo: “Asociación global para el desarrollo sostenible”. El documento sugiere que el punto principal para una asociación global efectiva debería ser el reequilibrio del poder de negociación de las diferentes partes interesadas. De esta manera, en la sección I se describen brevemente algunos cambios en la noción de desarrollo y cooperación desde 1950. En la Sección II se describe el proceso que ha conducido a los ODS y a la idea de cooperación como asociación mundial. La sección III se centra en dos grandes cambios económicos que han tenido lugar desde la década de los setenta: el crecimiento económico en Asia y el auge de las finanzas internacionales. Ambos hechos tienen enormes implicaciones para los ODS y para la asociación global. La sección IV presenta tres pasos que podrían ayudar a implementar la “asociación global para el desarrollo” de acuerdo con elprincipio de reequilibrio. Los países en desarrollo necesitan más espacio político, especialmente en sus políticas comerciales y fiscales.

Determinants of Economic Growth: A Comparative Analysis of Asian Countries

This paper investigated how Official Development Assistance (ODA), Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), export, population and raw materials prices affect economic growth in 21 Asian countries. These 21 Asian countries are categorized in to low and middle income based on a Gross National Income (GNI) of USD 3,000 as benchmark. The grouping was used in the Panel Comparative Analysis. Empirical results showed that ODA has more influence on economic growth among the middle-income Asian countries. However, it has little impact on the economic growth of low-income Asian countries. On the other hand, FDI brought positive impact on the economic growth of middle-income Asian countries. However, it did not have an impact on the economic growth of low-income countries. Export brought about more influence on the economic growth of the 21 Asian countries. On the contrary, the population has no impact on economic growth. Raw material prices have positive impact on the economic growth of both the low and middle-income Asian countries. To promote the speedy economic growth in Asia, developed countries should consider the political transparency among developing countries whenever ODA contribution is being made. The developing countries will give a variety of benefits to foreign investor through greenfield investment rather compared to brown-filed one.

Governance and economic growth in Asia

The study utilizes a frequency domain approach to investigate whether a Granger causality running from governance to economic growth exists in twelve Asian countries, classified as “Free”, “Partly Free”, and “Not Free” countries, over the period of 1996–2014. The empirical results show that with the exception of South Korea, “Free” countries exhibited no significant causality running from most dimensions of governance to economic growth. For “Partly Free” countries, with the exception of Indonesia and Thailand, rule of law Granger causes economic growth. As for “Not Free” countries, there exists a significant causality running from most dimensions of governance, especially for government effectiveness and rule of law, to economic growth. Generally speaking, various dimensions of governance lead to more significant economic growth in “Not Free” countries when compared to “Free” and “Partly Free” countries. The findings of this study indicate that policy makers in “Not Free” countries should opt to pay more attention on the quality of governance, specifically around government effectiveness and rule of law, in order to promote the future growth rate of real GDP per capita.

Population Aging and Potential Growth in Asia

We study the effects of projected population aging on potential growth in Asian economies over the period 2015–2050. We find that an increase in the share of the population over 64 years of age will significantly lower output growth through decreased labor participation. Population aging can also reduce economic growth through increased labor income taxes and dampened productivity growth.

Culture and built-form in the making; an examination of the Asian and Sri Lankan urban space

The dawn of the new millenium is characterized by the fast and abrupt change in cultures across the world, propelled largely by western thoughts, ideas and practices. Asia is no exception and has been in the forefront of this change in terms of economy, social patterns and indeed the built-form. 1980s saw a vibrant economic growth in Asia, followed by social, cultural and environmental transformations hitherto unknown in the Asian history, that some of those economies were even dubbed tiger economies. Despite the collapses of those economies and turmoil that prevailed at the end of the last millenium, the social and environmental transformations have not seen any conceptual set-back but a steady progression towards a universal uniformity coloured only thinly by a subtle diversity of cultural grain. This paper examines the nature of the emerging Asian urban space and the way in which its spatiality is generated, nurtured and transformed in a people-driven highly politicized cultural process.

The Role of Structural Transformation in the Potential of Asian Economic Growth

The transition from low-income developing country to high-income developed country involves a deep process of structural transformation in which the productive structure of an economy changes. In this paper we examine this process of structural change and its link to productivity growth for a sample of Asian countries. In particular, the paper addresses the following questions: What is the typical pattern of structural change that countries experience when they catch up from low-income levels to the economic frontier?To what extent and in which form did structural change contribute to productivity growth in Asia since 1990?How does the contribution of structural change to productivity growth compare to the effects of deviations of actual growth from potential growth?How does the effect of structural change differ between total factor productivity growth and labor productivity growth?And, what is the order of magnitude of the productivity effects that can be expected from further convergence of Asian countries to the economic structure that characterizes middle-income and high-income countries?

Preventing childhood obesity in Asia: an overview of intervention programmes.

The rapid economic growth in Asia in the past few decades has contributed to the global increase in childhood obesity prevalence. Yet, little is known about obesity prevention efforts in this region. This systematic review provides an overview of child obesity prevention programmes in Asia. Searches were performed in six electronic databases. Out of 4,234 studies, 17 were included, among them 11 controlled trials (of which five were randomized). Only one study was published before 2007. Identified studies were predominantly conducted in China and Thailand and targeted primary school children in a school setting. Most studies implemented different programmes, frequently targeting behavioural modification through nutrition/health education lectures and/or physical activity sessions. Programme effects related to obesity outcome measures were mixed. Most substantial effects were found for outcomes such as improved health knowledge and/or favourable lifestyle practices. The relatively small number of relevant publications in Asia highlights the need for scientific evaluations of existing and future programmes. This will help ensure the implementation and dissemination of evidence-based approaches that have been proven to be effective in the Asian context. Targeting preschool settings and applying a comprehensive multisectoral approach may increase the effectiveness and sustainability of childhood obesity prevention programmes.

Macroeconomic Shocks and Economic Growth in Asia: Model Values and Prospects

A setting blueprint of economic resources, social development, and environment, and trade-freedom agreement, investment flows, capital flows, financing, house prices in terms of nurtured relations with supply and demand models, it can produce propagated output implications for macroeconomic shocks and economic growth in one country and to another country in the world. In this paper look at the economics correction and crisis in the United States, Europe, and Asia with inputted model values and perspectives in the normalized monetary and fiscal policy to transferring allocation of resources between agriculture, tourism, industry, and service, climate, innovation, R&D, SOEs reforms or renovations based on alleviating government's intervention towards market-oriented and structural economic shifts, economic transformations such as black energy to blue energy by decision powers aims to achieving the desired or target outcomes set, its inspection on surplus and deficit situation, impetus for explicit and implicit parameter volatility in macroeconomic behavior and economic performance value as resulting in it impacts uncertainty, confidence, thinking on the trend in related to the nation's modernized economic development, government economic policy and satisfied-growth.

The Impact of Globalization on Economic Growth in ASEAN

Abstract. The establishment of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) as one of the most highly-integrated regional organizations is the reflection of the process of globalization. This high integration is characterized by international cooperation in economic, social and political policies. One of the positive impacts of globalization itself is the increasing economic growth. However, this economic growth is disproportionately distributed among countries. In Southeast Asia, this is shown by the fact that the rising globalization in ASEAN is not always followed by the increase in economic growth. By using the KOF Index of Globalization that covers three main dimensions: economic integration, social integration, and political integration, this research paper looked into the impact of globalization on economic growth. Based on the panel data of six developing countries in ASEAN from 2006 to 2012, this research paper found that the overall index of globalization had positively and significantly impacted the economic growth in the region. Economic and political globalization also positively impacted the economic growth. However, the social globalization did not affect the growth. Inflation, infrastructure, quality of education, technological preparedness and government spending also had positive impact on economic growth. Keywords: globalization, growth, openness, panel data Abstrak. Pembentukan ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) sebagai salah satu kawasan berintegrasi tinggi merupakan cerminan proses globalisasi. Integrasi tinggi ini dicirikan oleh adanya kerjasama internasional dalam kebijakan ekonomi, sosial dan politik. Salah satu dampak positif dari globalisasi adalah peningkatan pertumbuhan ekonomi. Namun hal ini tidak terdistribusikan secara merata pada negara-negara di dunia yang ditunjukkan dengan peningkatan tingkat globalisasi ASEAN tidak selalu diikuti oleh peningkatan pertumbuhan ekonominya. Penelitian ini menggunakan indeks globalisasi KOF yang meliputi tingkat globalisasi ekonomi, sosial dan politik untuk melihat pengaruh globalisasi terhadap pertumbuhan ekonomi. Dengan menggunakan data panel dari enam negara anggota ASEAN pada tahun 2006-2012, penelitian ini menemukan bahwa tingkat globalisasi mempunyai dampak yang positif secara signifikan terhadap pertumbuhan ekonomi. Tingkat globalisasi ekonomi dan politik juga ditemukan berpengaruh positif terhadap pertumbuhan ekonomi, namun globalisasi sosial tidak mempunyai dampak yang signifikan. Inflasi, infrastuktur, kualitas pendidikan, kesiapan teknologi dan belanja pemerintah juga memiliki dampak yang positif terhadap pertumbuhan ekonomi. Kata kunci: globalisasi, keterbukaan, panel data, pertumbuhan

Diversity of institutional architectures underlying the technological system in Asian economies

This paper assesses whether the institutional architecture underlying the technological, systems in Asian economies are different from that of advanced economies, the possible existence of varieties of institutional architectures within Asian economies, and the characteristics of individual architectures. Our empirical analysis finds that Asian economies are similar, in that, the institutional domain, that is, the “state”, plays the most important role as a hub, combining other domains to bolster technological systems. We also find six clusters regarding technological architectures underlying the individual technological systems. These are as follows: India and the Philippines, characterized by a stagnant technological architecture; Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand, possibly dependent on agriculture and primary export products; China, with a vast internal market and whose architecture is distinctive in “science”; Korea and Japan, characterized by a well-established institutional architecture sustaining the technological system; Singapore and Hong Kong, which are open market-oriented and supported by a developed financial market; and Malaysia and Taiwan, where these individual countries are similar to Singapore and Hong Kong, and Korea and Japan, respectively. It follows from these findings that there are multiple institutional architectures promoting the technological system that could contribute to sustainable long-term economic growth in Asian economies.

Vietnam War and East Asian Economic Growth

This paper considers the impact that the Vietnam War had on the economic growth of East Asia. Somewhat inexplicably, most of the existing research on the economic growth of East Asia fails to address the influence of the Vietnam War. However, the war demonstrably had a major impact on the economic growth of the region. In this paper, in addition to presenting data elucidating the extent of this impact, we will also discuss Japanese and South Korean policies of involvement in the Vietnam War (whether active or passive), in the belief that this provides evidence showing the influence of foreign policy on economic growth.

Financial maturity, diffusion of telecommunications technology, and economic growth in Asia

This paper employs Granger causality tests to examine linkages between economic growth, measured by changes in real per capita GDP, financial maturity, measured by an index – calculated by using principal component analysis, and the diffusion of telecommunications technology (DTT) in 21 Asian countries over the period 1961-2012. We advance on previous studies with (a) advanced estimation procedures (panel cointegration techniques and panel Granger causality tests); and (b) the inclusion of all three potentially two-way interacting variables conjointly. Our findings are not uniform: they vary based on the region and country that is studied. We find that in the case of Bangladesh, Philippines, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates and for Total Asia, financial maturity leads to economic growth, lending support to the supply-leading hypothesis. This implies that economic growth depends upon the level of financial maturity of the countries. In the case of Hong Kong, South Korea, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Vietnam, economic growth leads to financial maturity, lending support to the demand-following hypothesis. This implies that economic growth determines the level of financial maturity. For Bangladesh, Philippines, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Total Asia, financial maturity leads to economic growth, in line with the supply-leading hypothesis. In case of China, Hong Kong, Japan, India, Iran, Thailand, Kuwait, East Asia, South Asia, and West Asia, economic growth and financial maturity cause each other, lending support to both the demand-following and supply-leading hypotheses. Furthermore, in the case of India, Malaysia, and Philippines, economic growth leads to DTT, congruent with the demand-following hypothesis. On the other hand, in the case of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, South Asia, South East Asia, and Total Asia, DTT leads to economic growth, lending support to the supply-leading hypothesis. By contrast, for China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, and East Asia, economic growth and DTT are self-reinforcing and subject to feedback consistent with both the demand-following and supply-leading hypotheses. Finally, in the case of Hong Kong, Pakistan, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, United Arab Emirates, South East Asia, and Total Asia, DTT leads to financial maturity, lending support to the supply-leading hypothesis, while for China, India, Kuwait, Qatar, and West Asia, financial maturity leads to DTT, lending support to the demand-following hypothesis. In case of Malaysia, financial maturity and DTT cause each other thus supporting both the demand-following and supply-leading hypotheses.

The Impact of Political Regime and Governance on ASEAN Economic Growth

Traditionally, researchers have investigated the effect of intrinsic variables such as labour, capital and human capital on economic growth. However, the positive effect of intrinsic variables is reversed by countervailing extrinsic variables such as corruption, armed conflict and political regime, which have not been examined much by existing literature. This study empirically examines the impact of intrinsic and extrinsic variables on economic growth. We apply several estimation techniques using a 2000–09 balanced panel data for ASEAN countries. The study finds that both intrinsic and extrinsic determinants of economic growth are significant. However, countervailing effects of extrinsic variables are documented for growth in ASEAN countries. Corruption and armed conflict have a statistically significant and negative relationship with economic growth in ASEAN countries, whilst political regime is found to be statistically insignificant.

Housewife, 'Gold Miss,' and Equal: The Evolution of Educated Women's Role in Asia and the U.S.

The fraction of U.S. college graduate women who ever marry has increased relative to less educated women since the mid-1970s. In contrast, college graduate women in developed Asian countries have had decreased rates of marriage, so much so that the term “Gold Misses” has been coined to describe them. This paper argues that the interaction of rapid economic growth in Asia combined with the intergenerational transmission of gender attitudes causes the “Gold Miss” phenomenon. I present a simple dynamic model then test its implications using U.S. and Asian data on marriage and time use.

Financial Structure and Economic Growth in Asia

Financial Structure and Economic Growth in Asia

Does Financial Openness Affect Economic Growth in Asian Economies? A Case Study in Selected Asian Economies, 1980-2010

In recent decades, financial liberalization has been one of the most important strategies for Asian countries to promote growth. However, debate emerges following several financial crises on whether liberalizing financial markets and allowing for free access to international capital markets, would benefit or impede economic development. The objective of this study is to examine the impact of financial openness on select seventeen Asian economies and answer the three questions: 1. Is there any linkage between financial openness and economic growth for these seventeen Asian countries? 2. Does any of the financial openness pose positive or negative effects? 3. If no direct impact revealed, can financial openness still have growth effect under certain fundamental or institutional conditions? Our main findings are as follows: 1. By employing both de jure and de facto indicators of financial openness, our empirical results indicate that the de facto indicators are associated with growth of Asian economies but de jure indicator does not show statistically significant impact on growth across three methodologies. 2.Furthermore, these growth effects vary among the de facto indicators. According to our empirical results, out of the four de facto financial openness measurements, only one of them, foreign direct investment inflows, influences growth positively whereas three other measures, including foreign direct investment outflows, portfolio investment inflows and outflows exert negative impact on growth. In terms of the view that the growth effect of the financial openness depends on macroeconomic foundations or institutional conditions of an economy, our findings do not support this view due to the estimation results are not robust across five financial openness proxies.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: Moving the Policy Agenda Forward in the Post‐2015 Asia

AbstractDespite rapid economic growth in Asia, serious health, nutrition and development gaps persist, including inadequate services and inequitable access in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector. We show that the WASH sector has ample justification for increased focus and investment to increase health and nutrition impact, but appropriate prioritisation and quality implementation of interventions are required to address these gaps. The Sustainable Development Goals present opportunities for an increased focus. We argue that the key components required to accelerate change include strengthened data availability, quality and use, institutional and policy reform for greater cross‐sectoral integration and clear accountabilities at national and local level if countries are to achieve universal access with equity, sustainability and quality.