Mukul G. Asher is an Indian national, specializing in social security and public financial management issues in Asia. He has published widely in national and international journals and has authored or edited more than 10 books. He is on the editorial advisory boards of several journals, including the International Social Security Review. He has been a consultant to multilateral organizations and has led executive training programs for officials of several countries, including Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan, Brunei, and Tanzania. His interactions with media have been extensive.Fukunari Kimura has been Chief Economist of Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) since 2008 and Professor at the Faculty of Economics, Keio University, since 2000. He obtained his PhD (in Economics) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1991.

‘This collection of essays by the leading authorities in the field is a superb addition to the literature and provides a most reliable guideline to the public policy makers in East Asia and Oceania Region.’ —Yukinobu Kitamura, Professor, Research Centre for Information and Statistics of Social Science, Hitotsubashi University'The book has been published at the right time, during a period when inequality has been rising in the region. Growing inequality in terms of outcome measures such as income or wealth and opportunities has had a significant impact on vulnerable groups, including older people, women, children, and family. Social protection programs are designed to be inclusive and aim to reduce this inequality. The main strength of this book is its approach of comparing countries with similar levels of development and to link these comparisons with issues and challenges that exist in each country. […] I commend the authors for touching on the inclusiveness of the social protection systems in the Asian Pacific region, not only by discussing older people but also the coverage of specific programs that focus on women, children, and families.' — Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, Volume 30 Issue 2

• 1. Selected Issues in Strengthening Social Protection in East Asia: An Overview 2. Managing Pension and Healthcare Costs in Rapidly Aging Depopulating Countries: The Case of Japan 3. Managing Pension and Healthcare Costs in Rapidly Aging Depopulating Countries: The Case of Korea 4. Structuring the Payout Phase in a Defined Contribution (DC) Scheme in High Income Countries: Experiences of Australia and New Zealand 5. Structuring the Payout Phase in a Defined Contribution (DC) Scheme in High Income Countries: Experiences of Singapore 6. Civil Service Pension Arrangements in India, the Philippines and Thailand: An Assessment 7. Strengthening Sustainability and Extending the Pension Coverage in China 8. Extending the Coverage of Social Protection amongst Informal Workers in India 9. Extending Social Protection for Informal Sector Workers in Indonesia