Since its launch in late 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has become a significant factor in shaping China's economic and diplomatic relations with the world. China's increasing clout presents opportunities as well as challenges, especially for the developing economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which constitute major sites for investment and trade alongside the BRI routes.This edited volume examines whether and to what extent China's economic ascendancy has impacted the proposed ASEAN Economic Community and the respective nations in the region. It deals with this question by grounding the analysis along three themes — institutions at a regional level, industry/sector, and particular ASEAN countries' economic relationship with China. Sixteen articles are presented to illuminate the state of affairs at the regional level and in specific ASEAN economies. They point to the importance of managing trade and investment flows stemming from China's increasingly sophisticated national firms. This in turn hinges on forging 'rules of the game' at both the multilateral and bilateral levels, which potentially leads to mutually beneficial industrialization and long-term wealth creation.The Political Economy of Regionalism, Trade, and Infrastructure will be of great interest to scholars of political economy and industrial policy in East Asia, as well as to scholars and policy professionals analyzing approaches to development strategy more broadly.

This unique volume aims to provide a first comprehensive assessment on attributes, conditions and characters which constitute a liveable city. The book posits that the degree of liveability depends on five themes: satisfaction with the freedom from want; satisfaction with the state of the natural environment and its management; satisfaction with freedom from fear; satisfaction with the socio-cultural conditions; and satisfaction with public governance.The authors attempt to be more constructive through performing policy simulations by first identifying relative weaknesses and strengths of 64 global cities across major continents including European, Asian, Middle Eastern, North and South American cities. The book also ranks and simulates 36 Asian cities separately, of which many are emerging third-world cities that are in need of policy guidance.

There is a large literature dealing with the spillover effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to emerging and developing economies at the aggregate level. Beyond the aggregate impacts, a growing number of studies also examine the impact of FDI spillovers on firms of different sizes, especially small and medium enterprises (SME). This book is dedicated to exploring issues relating to the various interactions between FDI flows, productivity spillovers and SMEs in Asia and beyond. It studies globalization, FDI, and regional innovation in China, and trade and investment liberalization in India. It analyses how to promote SMEs and enhance labor productivity in Singapore. It investigates the impact of intellectual property rights processes on productivity growth. It documents the use of finance and financing patterns of informal firms. It uses empirical analysis to point out the limitations of traditional banks lending to SMEs and suggests possible policy approaches facilitating them to access growth capital. It also provides an empirical investigation of the main determinants of entrepreneurial activities.

This book is the only annual study that dissects Indonesia's sub-national competitiveness at both the provincial level (covering 34 provinces) and the regional level (covering six major island groups). Based on a rich dataset of 103 indicators, the study covers four environments of competitiveness: (1) Macroeconomic Stability, (2) Government and Institutional Setting, (3) Financial, Businesses, and Manpower Conditions, and (4) Quality of Life and Infrastructure Development. It also presents each province and region's comparative strengths and weaknesses, and conducts "what-if" policy simulations to propose policy suggestions.

This book undertakes rigorous empirical research on competitiveness of the sub-national economies of India. One of the cornerstones of Asia Competitiveness Institute (ACI)'s research strategies is to factor in the diversity of sub-national economies in a large and diverse country like India and undertake rigorous research that will inform policymakers in these economies. ACI's competitiveness framework computes rankings for all the sub-national economies of India by accounting for a plethora of socio-economic development indicators that determine competitiveness.Into its fourth edition, this book entitled 2016 Annual Competitiveness and Growth Slowdown Analysis for Sub-National Economies of India presents our annual update of competitiveness analysis of India's sub-national economies. ACI's competitiveness analysis employs 75 different indicators across four different environments to capture the dynamics of competitiveness in a holistic way at the sub-national level. The book also has a What-if competitiveness simulation exercise to identify the specific policy areas that each sub-national economy must focus on to improve its rankings.Further to an analysis of competitiveness, the book delves deeper into understanding the dynamics of economic growth of the various sub-national economies in India, which is a significant value-addition to the related literature as the book has a comprehensive and dedicated discussion on the prospects of and determinants of growth slowdown at the sub-national level.

This book by the Asia Competitiveness Institute introduces a new ease of doing business index that aims to allow for a better approximation of ease of doing business conditions in India's sub-national economies. The approach takes into account three major aspects of doing business, namely (a) Attractiveness to Investors, (b) Business Friendliness, and (c) Competitive Policies. The bottom-up approach considers the various operational issues that firms face at the ground level, with the emphasis being on de facto issues.The analysis provided in the book not only stands up to academic scrutiny as it is grounded in rigorous methodological foundations, but also remains accessible and appealing to policymakers with the co-authors recommending appropriate policy interventions to improve the ease of doing business of India's sub-national economies.

This book is an update of the annual flagship study by the Asia Competitiveness Institute at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, that dissects Indonesia's sub-national competitiveness at both the provincial level (covering 34 provinces) and the regional level (covering six major island groups). Based on a rich dataset of 100 indicators, the study covers four environments of competitiveness: (1) Macroeconomic Stability, (2) Government and Institutional Setting, (3) Financial, Businesses, and Manpower Conditions, and (4) Quality of Life and Infrastructure Development. It also presents each province and region's comparative strengths and weaknesses, and conducts "what-if" policy simulations to propose policy suggestions.Aside from exploring competitiveness, the book also features empirical research on the determinants of growth slowdown in Indonesian provinces and its impact on policy implications. It also features the inaugural Ease of Doing Business Index on Attractiveness to Investors, Business Friendliness and Competitive Policies (EDB Index ABC) for Indonesian provinces. Coupled with practical insights and policy implications, this book is a recommended read for policymakers, researchers, and the general audience interested in Indonesia's economic development.

As cities continue to play an increasingly significant role in driving economic growth in many countries, competition among cities have shifted from the national level to the global arena. In this context, international benchmarks for cities are vital for businesses and individuals to make informed decisions. In particular, cost of living, wages and purchasing power are of great interest to employees, employers, multinational corporations and policy-makers as basic indicators tracking urban living standards.This publication by the Asia Competitiveness Institute (ACI) provides annual indices and rankings for cost of living for expatriates as well as indices and rankings for cost of living, wages and purchasing power for ordinary residents in 103 global cities since 2005. The ACI's study reflects salient differences in costs of living for expatriate and ordinary urban dwellers which arise from variations in their lifestyles and consumption preferences. This is of critical significance as cost of living for the former is usually conflated as that for the latter by the general public. In this book, we also delve into the analysis of the nexus between liveability, cost of living and purchasing power. We outline the trends and patterns of these benchmarks and explore if there are trade-offs between liveability and affordability. The ACI's study has received considerable interest from reputable media outlets such as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Edge Malaysia.

Indonesia is on the cusp of transformative take-off, poised to become a major economic power not just in Asia, but also on the global-stage. This book is a pioneering attempt in comprehensively assessing all attributes, conditions and policies for 33 Indonesian provinces and Indonesia's trajectory as an emerging middle power. It contains papers and data-sets presented in July 2012, at ACI's signature Annual Conference. The information that was shared at the conference and presented in the book posit a future where tens of millions of Indonesians will be lifted out of poverty to become a self-sustaining middle-class, which will in turn drive the country into a global leadership role in the 21st century. It is a compelling value-added proposition for policy simulations enabling policy-makers to identify relative weaknesses, strengths, threats and opportunities of individual 33 provinces, guiding them to prioritise areas in crafting policies and development strategies.

India is emerging as one of the economic giants of the world, and is gaining international influence and global leadership as the world's largest democracy. India's performance will have far-reaching consequences on whether the economic awakening of the country, which began more than two decades ago, can become a good model to be emulated by other developing economies.This book is a collection of policy papers and data-sets for the 35 states and federal territories of India. With a comprehensive approach to competitiveness, the research done by Asia Competitiveness Institute (ACI) at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore takes into account different factors that collectively shape the ability of a nation to achieve substantial and inclusive economic development over a sustained period of time.ACI's methodology goes beyond rankings to conduct policy simulations on how each state or federal territory can improve its competitiveness. These policy simulations are a compelling value-added proposition enabling policymakers, industry leaders and administrators to identify relative challenges and opportunities, and to prioritise areas when crafting policies and development strategies.

There has been broad-base growth in wealth for cities all over the world, albeit increasingly unequal within and across cities. Some cities tend to grow faster than others, especially those emerging cities in Asia. We tend to observe longer periods of economic expansions compared to downturns with increasing volatility due to external shocks as cities are also increasingly open and interconnected. Such volatility would mean a less stable macroeconomic environment for cities causing fluctuations in prices and unemployment, as well as shares between private and public consumption.Cost of living, wages and purchasing power therefore become important key benchmark indicators to track and monitor the basic living standard for cities, not just by employers and employees; they matter even more for policymakers, multinational corporations and government of the day, politically. This book is thus a valuable compendium studies on 109 major cities around the world whereby the cost of living, wage and purchasing power indices were tracked and monitored, for both average residents and expatriates, which tend to be vastly different. Annual Indices for Average Residents and Expatriates is currently the only publication that provides comparable data on cost of living across cities for both average residents and expatriates. Cost of living analysis on the latter, widely available in published works, is often mistaken or confused as on the former! This book provides a tool to analyse questions of the differences in the cost of living in cities across the globe between ordinary city dwellers and professionals who work abroad.

There has been broad-base growth in wealth for cities all over the world, albeit increasingly unequal within and across cities. Some cities tend to grow faster than others, especially those emerging cities in Asia. We tend to observe longer periods of economic expansions compared to downturns with increasing volatility due to external shocks as cities are also increasingly open and interconnected. Such volatility would mean a less stable macroeconomic environment for cities causing fluctuations in prices and unemployment, as well as shares between private and public consumption.Cost of living, wages and purchasing power therefore become important key benchmark indicators to track and monitor the basic living standard for cities, not just by employers and employees; they matter even more for policymakers, multinational corporations and government of the day, politically. This book is thus a valuable compendium studies on 109 major cities around the world whereby the cost of living, wage and purchasing power indices were tracked and monitored, for both average residents and expatriates, which tend to be vastly different. Annual Indices for Average Residents and Expatriates is currently the only publication that provides comparable data on cost of living across cities for both average residents and expatriates. Cost of living analysis on the latter, widely available in published works, is often mistaken or confused as on the former! This book provides a tool to analyse questions of the differences in the cost of living in cities across the globe between ordinary city dwellers and professionals who work abroad.

This book is a world-class report by the Asian Competitiveness Institute (ACI), updated annually to analyse Indonesia's competitiveness at both the 33 provincial levels and six regional groupings based on the central government's Master Plan for Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia's Economic Development (MP3EI). With 104 indicators covering four environments, the study's unique methodology incorporates comparative strengths and weaknesses as well as applies Geweke causality analysis to a subset of indicators. Apart from scores and rankings, what-if policy simulations offer various provinces practical prescriptions to improve overall competitiveness to accelerate economic growth and development in a balanced, fair and sustainable way. Such qualitative and quantitative analyses in collaboration with various stakeholders generates an exciting pathway for Indonesia to attain its rightful place in both the Asian region and global contexts.

Since its launch in late 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has become a significant factor in shaping China's economic and diplomatic relations with the world. China's increasing clout presents opportunities as well as challenges, especially for the developing economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which constitute major sites for investment and trade alongside the BRI routes.This edited volume examines whether and to what extent China's economic ascendancy has impacted the proposed ASEAN Economic Community and the respective nations in the region. It deals with this question by grounding the analysis along three themes — institutions at a regional level, industry/sector, and particular ASEAN countries' economic relationship with China. Sixteen articles are presented to illuminate the state of affairs at the regional level and in specific ASEAN economies. They point to the importance of managing trade and investment flows stemming from China's increasingly sophisticated national firms. This in turn hinges on forging 'rules of the game' at both the multilateral and bilateral levels, which potentially leads to mutually beneficial industrialization and long-term wealth creation.The Political Economy of Regionalism, Trade, and Infrastructure will be of great interest to scholars of political economy and industrial policy in East Asia, as well as to scholars and policy professionals analyzing approaches to development strategy more broadly.

This unique volume aims to provide a first comprehensive assessment on attributes, conditions and characters which constitute a liveable city. The book posits that the degree of liveability depends on five themes: satisfaction with the freedom from want; satisfaction with the state of the natural environment and its management; satisfaction with freedom from fear; satisfaction with the socio-cultural conditions; and satisfaction with public governance.The authors attempt to be more constructive through performing policy simulations by first identifying relative weaknesses and strengths of 64 global cities across major continents including European, Asian, Middle Eastern, North and South American cities. The book also ranks and simulates 36 Asian cities separately, of which many are emerging third-world cities that are in need of policy guidance.

There is a large literature dealing with the spillover effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to emerging and developing economies at the aggregate level. Beyond the aggregate impacts, a growing number of studies also examine the impact of FDI spillovers on firms of different sizes, especially small and medium enterprises (SME). This book is dedicated to exploring issues relating to the various interactions between FDI flows, productivity spillovers and SMEs in Asia and beyond. It studies globalization, FDI, and regional innovation in China, and trade and investment liberalization in India. It analyses how to promote SMEs and enhance labor productivity in Singapore. It investigates the impact of intellectual property rights processes on productivity growth. It documents the use of finance and financing patterns of informal firms. It uses empirical analysis to point out the limitations of traditional banks lending to SMEs and suggests possible policy approaches facilitating them to access growth capital. It also provides an empirical investigation of the main determinants of entrepreneurial activities.

This book is the only annual study that dissects Indonesia's sub-national competitiveness at both the provincial level (covering 34 provinces) and the regional level (covering six major island groups). Based on a rich dataset of 103 indicators, the study covers four environments of competitiveness: (1) Macroeconomic Stability, (2) Government and Institutional Setting, (3) Financial, Businesses, and Manpower Conditions, and (4) Quality of Life and Infrastructure Development. It also presents each province and region's comparative strengths and weaknesses, and conducts "what-if" policy simulations to propose policy suggestions.

This book undertakes rigorous empirical research on competitiveness of the sub-national economies of India. One of the cornerstones of Asia Competitiveness Institute (ACI)'s research strategies is to factor in the diversity of sub-national economies in a large and diverse country like India and undertake rigorous research that will inform policymakers in these economies. ACI's competitiveness framework computes rankings for all the sub-national economies of India by accounting for a plethora of socio-economic development indicators that determine competitiveness.Into its fourth edition, this book entitled 2016 Annual Competitiveness and Growth Slowdown Analysis for Sub-National Economies of India presents our annual update of competitiveness analysis of India's sub-national economies. ACI's competitiveness analysis employs 75 different indicators across four different environments to capture the dynamics of competitiveness in a holistic way at the sub-national level. The book also has a What-if competitiveness simulation exercise to identify the specific policy areas that each sub-national economy must focus on to improve its rankings.Further to an analysis of competitiveness, the book delves deeper into understanding the dynamics of economic growth of the various sub-national economies in India, which is a significant value-addition to the related literature as the book has a comprehensive and dedicated discussion on the prospects of and determinants of growth slowdown at the sub-national level.

This book by the Asia Competitiveness Institute introduces a new ease of doing business index that aims to allow for a better approximation of ease of doing business conditions in India's sub-national economies. The approach takes into account three major aspects of doing business, namely (a) Attractiveness to Investors, (b) Business Friendliness, and (c) Competitive Policies. The bottom-up approach considers the various operational issues that firms face at the ground level, with the emphasis being on de facto issues.The analysis provided in the book not only stands up to academic scrutiny as it is grounded in rigorous methodological foundations, but also remains accessible and appealing to policymakers with the co-authors recommending appropriate policy interventions to improve the ease of doing business of India's sub-national economies.

This book is an update of the annual flagship study by the Asia Competitiveness Institute at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, that dissects Indonesia's sub-national competitiveness at both the provincial level (covering 34 provinces) and the regional level (covering six major island groups). Based on a rich dataset of 100 indicators, the study covers four environments of competitiveness: (1) Macroeconomic Stability, (2) Government and Institutional Setting, (3) Financial, Businesses, and Manpower Conditions, and (4) Quality of Life and Infrastructure Development. It also presents each province and region's comparative strengths and weaknesses, and conducts "what-if" policy simulations to propose policy suggestions.Aside from exploring competitiveness, the book also features empirical research on the determinants of growth slowdown in Indonesian provinces and its impact on policy implications. It also features the inaugural Ease of Doing Business Index on Attractiveness to Investors, Business Friendliness and Competitive Policies (EDB Index ABC) for Indonesian provinces. Coupled with practical insights and policy implications, this book is a recommended read for policymakers, researchers, and the general audience interested in Indonesia's economic development.

As cities continue to play an increasingly significant role in driving economic growth in many countries, competition among cities have shifted from the national level to the global arena. In this context, international benchmarks for cities are vital for businesses and individuals to make informed decisions. In particular, cost of living, wages and purchasing power are of great interest to employees, employers, multinational corporations and policy-makers as basic indicators tracking urban living standards.This publication by the Asia Competitiveness Institute (ACI) provides annual indices and rankings for cost of living for expatriates as well as indices and rankings for cost of living, wages and purchasing power for ordinary residents in 103 global cities since 2005. The ACI's study reflects salient differences in costs of living for expatriate and ordinary urban dwellers which arise from variations in their lifestyles and consumption preferences. This is of critical significance as cost of living for the former is usually conflated as that for the latter by the general public. In this book, we also delve into the analysis of the nexus between liveability, cost of living and purchasing power. We outline the trends and patterns of these benchmarks and explore if there are trade-offs between liveability and affordability. The ACI's study has received considerable interest from reputable media outlets such as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Edge Malaysia.

Indonesia is on the cusp of transformative take-off, poised to become a major economic power not just in Asia, but also on the global-stage. This book is a pioneering attempt in comprehensively assessing all attributes, conditions and policies for 33 Indonesian provinces and Indonesia's trajectory as an emerging middle power. It contains papers and data-sets presented in July 2012, at ACI's signature Annual Conference. The information that was shared at the conference and presented in the book posit a future where tens of millions of Indonesians will be lifted out of poverty to become a self-sustaining middle-class, which will in turn drive the country into a global leadership role in the 21st century. It is a compelling value-added proposition for policy simulations enabling policy-makers to identify relative weaknesses, strengths, threats and opportunities of individual 33 provinces, guiding them to prioritise areas in crafting policies and development strategies.

India is emerging as one of the economic giants of the world, and is gaining international influence and global leadership as the world's largest democracy. India's performance will have far-reaching consequences on whether the economic awakening of the country, which began more than two decades ago, can become a good model to be emulated by other developing economies.This book is a collection of policy papers and data-sets for the 35 states and federal territories of India. With a comprehensive approach to competitiveness, the research done by Asia Competitiveness Institute (ACI) at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore takes into account different factors that collectively shape the ability of a nation to achieve substantial and inclusive economic development over a sustained period of time.ACI's methodology goes beyond rankings to conduct policy simulations on how each state or federal territory can improve its competitiveness. These policy simulations are a compelling value-added proposition enabling policymakers, industry leaders and administrators to identify relative challenges and opportunities, and to prioritise areas when crafting policies and development strategies.

There has been broad-base growth in wealth for cities all over the world, albeit increasingly unequal within and across cities. Some cities tend to grow faster than others, especially those emerging cities in Asia. We tend to observe longer periods of economic expansions compared to downturns with increasing volatility due to external shocks as cities are also increasingly open and interconnected. Such volatility would mean a less stable macroeconomic environment for cities causing fluctuations in prices and unemployment, as well as shares between private and public consumption.Cost of living, wages and purchasing power therefore become important key benchmark indicators to track and monitor the basic living standard for cities, not just by employers and employees; they matter even more for policymakers, multinational corporations and government of the day, politically. This book is thus a valuable compendium studies on 109 major cities around the world whereby the cost of living, wage and purchasing power indices were tracked and monitored, for both average residents and expatriates, which tend to be vastly different. Annual Indices for Average Residents and Expatriates is currently the only publication that provides comparable data on cost of living across cities for both average residents and expatriates. Cost of living analysis on the latter, widely available in published works, is often mistaken or confused as on the former! This book provides a tool to analyse questions of the differences in the cost of living in cities across the globe between ordinary city dwellers and professionals who work abroad.

There has been broad-base growth in wealth for cities all over the world, albeit increasingly unequal within and across cities. Some cities tend to grow faster than others, especially those emerging cities in Asia. We tend to observe longer periods of economic expansions compared to downturns with increasing volatility due to external shocks as cities are also increasingly open and interconnected. Such volatility would mean a less stable macroeconomic environment for cities causing fluctuations in prices and unemployment, as well as shares between private and public consumption.Cost of living, wages and purchasing power therefore become important key benchmark indicators to track and monitor the basic living standard for cities, not just by employers and employees; they matter even more for policymakers, multinational corporations and government of the day, politically. This book is thus a valuable compendium studies on 109 major cities around the world whereby the cost of living, wage and purchasing power indices were tracked and monitored, for both average residents and expatriates, which tend to be vastly different. Annual Indices for Average Residents and Expatriates is currently the only publication that provides comparable data on cost of living across cities for both average residents and expatriates. Cost of living analysis on the latter, widely available in published works, is often mistaken or confused as on the former! This book provides a tool to analyse questions of the differences in the cost of living in cities across the globe between ordinary city dwellers and professionals who work abroad.

This book is a world-class report by the Asian Competitiveness Institute (ACI), updated annually to analyse Indonesia's competitiveness at both the 33 provincial levels and six regional groupings based on the central government's Master Plan for Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia's Economic Development (MP3EI). With 104 indicators covering four environments, the study's unique methodology incorporates comparative strengths and weaknesses as well as applies Geweke causality analysis to a subset of indicators. Apart from scores and rankings, what-if policy simulations offer various provinces practical prescriptions to improve overall competitiveness to accelerate economic growth and development in a balanced, fair and sustainable way. Such qualitative and quantitative analyses in collaboration with various stakeholders generates an exciting pathway for Indonesia to attain its rightful place in both the Asian region and global contexts.