There is mixed evidence regarding the effectiveness of pro-natalist policies in developed countries (McDonald 2007), particularly in lowest-low fertility countries (including Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan in East Asia, and Italy, Spain and Portugal in Europe). Since demographic transitions were generally completed much earlier in Europe, East Asian policy responses to the problem of ...

This paper examines the debate on the East Asian model of economic development in light of the different approaches undertaken by different groups of countries (economies) in Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia. The common strengths and weaknesses shared by the East Asian countries (economies) have helped to reinforce the misconception that there is a single East Asian model of economic developme...

This paper analyzes the feasibility of various types of currency unions, such as a dollar bloc, Euro bloc, Yen bloc, and basket currency bloc in East Asia, and empirically estimates welfare effects of a currency union for East Asian economies. Judging from optimum currency area (OCA) criteria, including the symmetry of output and price shocks across countries, commitment to price stability, and...

Many studies find that gender-based inequalities in education reduce economic growth, because such inequalities decrease the overall human capital available within the country. Notwithstanding the methodological limitations alluded to earlier, Morrison, Raju, and Sinha (2007) report striking findings from work undertaken by Klasen (2002). Klasen estimates the effect of the gender gap in years o...

The United Nations Paris Agreement creates a specific need to compare consequences of cumulative emissions for pledged national commitments and aspirational targets of 1.5° to 2°C global warming. We find that humans have already increased the probability of historically unprecedented hot, warm, wet, and dry extremes, including over 50 to 90% of North America, Europe, and East Asia. Emissions co...