Spotlight Archives
- ADB identifies 238 FTAs in Asia and the PacificJanuary 2011The spread of regional and bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) in Asia and the Pacific region continues to gain momentum. From 54 FTAs in 2000, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has identified 238 bilateral and plurilateral FTAs as of January 2011. Of these, 93 are in effect, 27 are signed, 63 are under negotiation, and 55 are in the proposal stage. Follow FTA Trends.
- ADB Working Paper Series on Regional Economic Integration No. 72 - The Impact of Monetary Policy on Financial Markets in Small Open Economies: More or Less Effective During the Global Financial Crisis? 25 January 2011Pennings, Ramayandi and Tang estimate the impact of monetary policy on exchange rates and stock markets for eight small open economies during the global financial crisis. Read more.
- Economic Calendar now available on ARIC website21 January 2011The Asia Regional Integration Center launches the Economic Calendar, a new feature which tracks upcoming and current official releases of key macroeconomic and financial data, and policy announcements. The Economic Calendar is updated on a daily basis to provide the latest information on economic developments in Asia, the US, and the eurozone. Click here to view the calendar.
- Economic Calendar now available21 January 2011The Asia Regional Integration Center launches the Economic Calendar, a new feature which tracks upcoming and current official releases of key macroeconomic and financial data, and policy announcements. The Economic Calendar is updated daily to provide the latest information on economic developments in Asia, the US, and the eurozone. View the calendar.
- New Book: Asia’s Free Trade Agreements — How is Business Responding?17 January 2011The spread of Asia’s free trade agreements (FTAs) has sparked an important debate on the impact of such agreements on business activity. This pioneering study, edited by Masahiro Kawai and Ganeshan Wignaraja, uses new evidence from surveys of East Asian exporters – including Japan, the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Korea and three ASEAN economies of the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand – to shed light on the FTA debate. Read the press release and publication details.
- Asia Regional Integration Center launches Twitter page12 January 2011The Asia Regional Integration Center, dedicated to regional surveillance and maintaining economic and financial databases within the Office of Regional Economic Integration, announces the launch of its Twitter page. This features links to latest global financial market summaries and regional economic research. Follow ARIC on http://twitter.com/ARIC_ADB.
- Institutions for Regional Integration: Toward an Asian Economic CommunityJanuary 2011The joint ADB-ADBI flagship study "Institutions for Regional Integration: Toward an Asian Economic Community" is now available in electronic format. This study looks at the institutional framework for regional cooperation and integration and analyzes why, despite the dense network of arrangements and institutions, Asia remains "institution light". It recommends some principles and options to strengthen Asia's institutional architecture to achieve an Asian economic community. Click here to access the e-book.
- ADB Working Paper Series on Regional Economic Integration No. 71 - The Organizational Architecture of the Asia-Pacific: Insights from the New InstitutionalismJanuary 2011Stephan Haggard surveys regional economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific in light of the new literature on international institutions. The paper outlines the political sources of well-known features of regional institutions and considers several proposals for deepening cooperation. Read more.
- ADB Working Paper Series on Regional Economic Integration No. 70 - Changing Impact of Fiscal Policy on Selected ASEAN CountriesDecember 2010Hsiao Chink Tang, Philip Liu, and Eddie Cheung investigate the effectiveness of countercyclical fiscal policy in five ASEAN countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Through a structural vector autoregression (VAR) model, government spending is found to have weak and largely insignificant impact on output, while taxes are found to have outcomes contrary to conventional theory. Read more.
- ADB Working Paper Series on Regional Economic Integration No. 68 - Evolving Asian Power Balances and Alternate Conceptions for Building Regional InstitutionsDecember 2010The paper aims to examine economic interdependence and balancing power politics, and their mixed implications for regional institution building in East Asia based on the concept of common security. By pointing out the gap between the violent conflict prediction and the stability and prosperity reality following the end of the Cold War, the paper gives analysis to the factors affecting the security relations in the region, including (i) the role of the US, (ii) the rise of the PRC, (iii) ASEAN‘s efforts at regional cooperation, the (iv) the PRC–Japan rivalry. The author concludes that economic interdependence and regional cooperation in Asia have constrained a power struggle from spiraling out of control, while open regionalism has become a reasonable approach to regional institution building. Finally, the paper makes policy recommendations with respect to principles and steps in moving to a new regional security order.
