Books

Indonesia, a country with the fourth-largest population and abundant energy resources, is yet to fully optimize its potential. Especially, the high cost of logistics, missing links in the road network, and the unstable power supply undermine opportunities to revitalize economic activities. While there is a constant need for developing infrastructures, the country has struggled with tardy or unsuccessful land acquisitions. This research investigates the landowners’ decision-making in the land lease for infrastructure. The investigation of the determinants of leasing will provide insights into land planning and the negotiation process. We find that landlords are less willing to rent out their land if they self-cultivate the plots, if plots have been obtained through inheritance or have been owned for a longer period and if the land area is small particularly in the case of non-wetlands and plots located in their villages. Currently, the compensation is calculated based on the physical value of relinquished property. For the better facilitation of land acquisition for infrastructure projects, it would be advisable to take the above factors into account, as it would encourage landowners to accept the proposed compensation. 

Simon Kuznets’ views about the inverted-U relationship between inequality and development and the process of structural transformation have long been under the lens of researchers. Over the last 20 years, immense potential for growth in Asia has been facilitated by structural transformation. However, it remains undecided whether the contribution of structural transformation will stay as a crucial factor in determining potential productivity growth and income distribution. This book brings together novel conceptual frameworks and empirical evidence from country case studies on topics related to structural transformation, globalization, and income. 

Efforts to use existing trade agreements to build a larger regional agreement face many challenges. This book considers this problem with reference to ASEAN’s current agreements with key partners and the interest to build the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The analysis of the options is framed by a focus on the use of supply chains in international business. Issues considered include those related to reductions in tariffs, trade facilitation, the treatment of investment and of services and the definition of rules of origin. The work is informed by case studies of supply chains in automobile and electronics, and in a professional service sector. The book provides a set of priority actions for better progress in taking a bottom-up approach to building RCEP. 

A decade has passed since the Asian crisis of 1997–1998 which decimated many of the regional economies. While the crisis itself led to severe economic and political consequences, its primary cause was an inappropriate mix of policies, as regional economies attempted to simultaneously maintain fairly rigid exchange rates (soft US dollar pegs) and monetary policy autonomy in the presence of large-scale capital outflows. The chapters in this volume focus on selected exchange rate, monetary and financial issues and policies that are of contemporary relevance and importance to Asia, including choice of exchange rate regimes, causes and consequences of reserve accumulation, international capital flows, macroeconomic synchronization, and regional monetary and financial cooperation.