Fintech or, more fully, financial technology, is the buzz word in the startup world. But while the winners in this revolution are entrepreneurs and investors, there are clear benefits for the developing world.

According to a new book from the Asian Development Bank Institute, Labor Migration in Asia: Increasing the Development Impact of Migration through Finance and Technology, lowering the cost of remittances for Asian workers employed in other parts of the world will improve the overall socioeconomic outcomes of their countries of origin.

The research on the benefits of remittances is clear.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development says a 10% rise in remittances—that is, money sent home to the region by its expatriate workers—could lead to a 3.5% fall in the number of people living in poverty.

Read the transcript

https://bit.ly/2JJJ0wZ

Read the report

https://www.adb.org/publications/labor-migration-asia

About the event organizers and report editors

Aladdin Rillo was with ADBI at the time of the event and organized the event. He worked with Jean-Christophe Dumont and Jonathan Chaloff, from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and Nilim Baruah, from the International Labour Organization.

Know more about ADBI’s work on labor

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As parts of the developed world tighten foreign worker laws and maintain a hostile rhetoric against “immigrants” and “refugees,” a new report shows Asian migrant workers add economic value to their new countries.

US President Donald Trump is sending troops to the Mexican border to clamp down on unauthorized arrivals, and European leaders face a backlash for liberal migration policies, but Asian Development Bank Institute research debunks the myth that new migrants are a drain on the government’s coffers through welfare payments.

It suggests new arrivals in countries, including Australia, Canada, the US, and New Zealand, do integrate into society by finding jobs at no cost to established residents.

The report does not differentiate between the types of migrants, whether they be skilled, unskilled, or refugees, and focuses only on those born in Asia.

Read the transcript

https://bit.ly/2Ln5Ash

Read the report

https://www.adb.org/publications/labor-migration-asia

About the event organizers and report editors

Aladdin Rillo was with ADBI at the time of the event and organized the event. He worked with Jean-Christophe Dumont and Jonathan Chaloff, from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and Nilim Baruah, from the International Labour Organization.

Know more about ADBI’s work on labor

https://bit.ly/2LYGzF5

https://bit.ly/2LYGKQL

Headlines about the rebirth of a trans-Pacific trade pact in Santiago, Chile in March have concentrated on the absence of the United States from the 11-nation agreement, or the trade gains expected for each of its signatories.

But those aren’t the only issues at stake in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP-11, signed among Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Viet Nam.

Other areas that may prove important include the aspects of the pact that deal with infrastructure investment and rules on capital flows and foreign investment. Grant Stillman, legal advisor to the Asian Development Bank Institute, explains what is at stake.

Read the transcript

https://bit.ly/2sHpAy3

Read the blog post

https://www.asiapathways-adbi.org/2018/03/next-generation-of-quality-development-and-investment-in-the-new-pacific-trade-pact/

About the speaker

Grant Stillman is legal advisor to the Asian Development Bank Institute.

Know more about ADBI’s work on the Trans-Pacific Partnership

https://bit.ly/2JisyAr

Ghost cities full of empty apartment blocks are evidence of the central government’s failure to slow booming house construction in the People’s Republic of China.

Conflicting incentives for local government officials, and a lack of alternative investments in China, have meant even the toughest of restrictions haven’t been able to stop developers building ever more houses.

The housing industry is a big part of China’s economy. Real estate accounts for one-sixth of its GDP, a quarter of total fixed asset investment, 14% of urban employment, and 20% of bank loans.

Research done for the Asian Development Bank Institute finds that the central government has maintained a firm hand on the sector for the 20 years or so since widespread property ownership was first permitted.

Xiaping Cao of Lingnan College, Sun Yat-sen University, Bihong Huang of the Asian Development Bank Institute, and Rose Neng Lai of the University of Macau argued such a policy loosens or tightens various control measures depending on whether the government wants more or less growth in the sector.

Read the transcript

https://bit.ly/2GXTvrb

Read the report

https://www.adb.org/publications/impact-exogenous-demand-shock-housing-market-evidence-prc

About the authors

Xiaping Cao is associate professor of finance at Lingnan College, Sun Yat-sen University.

Bihong Huang is a research fellow at the Asian Development Bank Institute.

Rose Neng Lai is a professor of finance at the University of Macau.

Know more about ADBI’s work on housing

https://www.adb.org/adbi/research/housing-policy

https://bit.ly/2seqsuK

A growth slowdown in the People’s Republic of China causing a decline in trade would be felt across Asia, with commodity exporters and trade partners closest to the country hit hardest.

Although the region’s dependence on trade with China has been expanding fast, the effects of such a slowdown would not be catastrophic, says a new book published by the Asian Development Bank Institute.

Read the transcript

https://bit.ly/2x7Fyau

Read the book

https://www.adb.org/publications/slowdown-prc-structural-factors-and-implications-asia

About the authors

Peter Morgan is co-chair of ADBI’s Research Department.

Fan Zhai is the former managing director of the China Investment Corporation.

About the book editors

Peter Morgan is co-chair of the Research Department at the Asian Development Bank Institute.

Justin Yi-fu Lin is director of the Center for New Structural Economics, Peking University, China.

Guanghua Wan is director of the Institute of World Economy, Fudan University, China.

Know more about ADBI’s work on PRC

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https://bit.ly/2vQ3fDf

Domestic structural change is necessary if the People's Republic of China is to sustain economic growth of as high as 8% a year over the next 10 years.

Research published in an Asian Development Bank Institute book, Slowdown in the People’s Republic of China, Structural Factors and the Implications for Asia, found the worldwide trade slowdown that followed the global financial crisis in 2008 is mostly to blame for the recent decline in China’s growth rate.

Read the transcript

https://bit.ly/2IH1aPj

Read the book

https://www.adb.org/publications/slowdown-prc-structural-factors-and-implications-asia

About the book editors

Peter Morgan is co-chair of the Research Department at the Asian Development Bank Institute.

Justin Yi-fu Lin is director of the Center for New Structural Economics, Peking University, China.

Guanghua Wan is director of the Institute of World Economy, Fudan University, China.

Know more about ADBI’s work on PRC

https://bit.ly/2vVC0Yi

https://bit.ly/2vQ3fDf

The bulk of Asia’s exports runs through, rather than to, the People’s Republic of China, leaving the region more exposed to downturns and anti-trade sentiments in developed countries than to a domestic slowdown in China.

Governments should promote domestic growth and trade within Asia to lessen that exposure, economists argue in a new book by the Asian Development Bank Institute, Slowdown in the People’s Republic of China, Structural Factors and the Implications for Asia.

Peter Morgan, co-chair of the research department at ADBI and one of the editors of the book, explains the conclusions of a paper by Willem Thorbecke of Japan’s Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Read the transcript

https://bit.ly/2KO2jD0

Read the book

https://www.adb.org/publications/slowdown-prc-structural-factors-and-implications-asia

About the author

Willem Thorbecke is a senior fellow at Japan’s Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry.

About the book editors

Peter Morgan is co-chair of the Research Department at the Asian Development Bank Institute

Justin Yi-fu Lin is director of the Center for New Structural Economics, Peking University, China.

Guanghua Wan is director of the Institute of World Economy, Fudan University, China.

Know more about ADBI’s work on PRC

https://bit.ly/2vVC0Yi

https://bit.ly/2vQ3fDf

The nature of the People’s Republic of China’s growth slowdown is a key question for the global economy.

If it’s a bump in the road, growth in China should soon return to a high rate that can help support global growth. If it reflects deeper problems, the world may have to live without the contribution that has come to be expected from China’s hard-charging economy.

Economists must first determine the factors behind China’s growth, which poses statistical problems.

Read the transcript

https://bit.ly/2rurpP7

Read the book

https://www.adb.org/publications/slowdown-prc-structural-factors-and-implications-asia

About the author

Harry X. Wu, professor at the Institute of Economic Research at Japan’s Hitotsubashi University.

About the book editors

Peter Morgan is co-chair of the Research Department at the Asian Development Bank Institute.

Justin Yi-fu Lin is director of the Center for New Structural Economics, Peking University, China.

Guanghua Wan is director of the Institute of World Economy, Fudan University, China.

Know more about ADBI’s work on PRC

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https://bit.ly/2vQ3fDf

The People’s Republic of China needs to refocus its economy to avoid slipping into an economic downturn that could be worse than the one Japan has suffered for more than the past 2 decades. Comparing the experience of the two countries shows that China faces many of the same issues that prompted the beginning of Japan’s long economic slide in the early 1990s. While some differences could help China avoid Japan’s pitfalls, others could make it even worse.

Some economic fixes are needed, and quickly.

Read the transcripts

https://bit.ly/2GhogH0

About the authors

Yang Yao is a professor at China’s Peking University.

Kyoji Fukao is a professor at Japan’s Hitotsubashi University.

Tangjun Yuan is a researcher at China’s Fudan University.

Read the book

https://www.adb.org/publications/slowdown-prc-structural-factors-and-implications-asia

Know more about ADBI’s work on PRC

https://bit.ly/2vVC0Yi

https://bit.ly/2vQ3fDf

Hundreds of thousands of children in Indonesia are growing taller and heavier thanks to the government’s rice subsidy program, which ensures better nutrition despite flaws in the scheme.

The government started RASKIN—rice for the poor—in 1998 to help poor and near-poor families cope with high food prices in the wake of the Asian financial crisis.

Under the program, currently the largest in-kind subsidy scheme in Indonesia, eligible households across the country receive subsidized rice.

Rice is a staple food, and accounts for nearly a quarter of the average monthly expenditure of poor households in Indonesia.

The program is expected to fulfill 39.5% of poor households’ rice needs.

Read the transcript

https://bit.ly/2K2zrq7

Read the report

https://www.adb.org/publications/kind-transfer-and-child-development-evidence-indonesia

About the authors

Bihong Huang is an ADBI research fellow

Prachi Gupta was an ADBI research associate when the work was published.

Know more about ADBI’s work on Indonesia

https://bit.ly/2qNSfjY

https://bit.ly/2vvX1IA