East Asian nations through the dialogue between ASEAN and its partners have been promoting energy market integration (EMI) for a decade. The formation of the East Asian Summit (EAS) group in 2005 adds new momentum to the EMI course in the region. The objective of this edited volume is to present new insights into the understanding of EMI in East Asia and draw implications for further development. This book is the first publication of its kind exclusively focusing on EMI in East Asia.

The chapters are written by a distinguished group of specialists in the field of energy policy, business...

Since the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC) of 1997-98 large current account surpluses have accumulated in the countries of Asia and the Pacific with corresponding deficits elsewhere. The sharp plunge in global trade volumes during the global financial crisis has highlighted the need for 'rebalancing'-focussing more on domestic sources of economic growth than on exports in some Asian economies. One key objective of the book is to elucidate the economic structures and policies that give rise to current account surpluses and imbalances and consider what policy adjustments could change them....

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...

This book focuses on relatively unexplored areas in pension and health care arrangements, including financing, in East Asia. The book aims to fill the literature gap on social protection in East Asia by covering issues such as pension and health care arrangements in the depopulating high income countries of Japan and Korea; the challenges of the pay-out phase in Defined Contribution (DC) arrangements in Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore; and the extension of coverage of social protection schemes in China, India, and Indonesia. It also reviews social protection from a much wider...

International production networks in manufacturing, particularly in machinery industries, have rapidly developed over the last two decades, resulting in dramatic increases in intra-regional and intra-industry trade, providing a key source of regional growth, integration and development in East Asia. This book provides a better understanding on how to effectively further increase SME participation in East Asian production networks, and in doing so identifies key challenges and issues that they need to address. This book aims to not only fill the theory-practice gap, but also to lay solid...

This book explores the linkages between age-related pension expenditures and the fiscal space needed to fund them, as well as to organize the mix of financing methods with different risk-sharing arrangements. After critically assessing the existing models projecting age-related expenditure in the literature, the book focuses on the case studies of these inter-linkages in four highly-populated East Asian countries, namely China, Indonesia, India, and Japan. Nearly two- fifths of the global population live in these countries. Therefore, how these inter-linkages manifest themselves and the...

The book answers the recently topical questions of how China s processed trade affects the trade of Southeast Asia. What is Southeast Asia s role in Factory Asia, the region s complex of cross-border supply chains? What is Southeast Asia s involvement in building or joining production networks in the region? And, most importantly, how can Southeast Asia increase the value added of its products and improve its competitiveness?

The book provides rigorous analysis of how trade policy affects value added, highly disaggregated at the firm land product level, of the six Southeast...

The book examines the conceptual, economic, and fiscal impact(s) of the Social Protection Floor (SPF) initiative of the ILO and other policy influencers. It contains a brief assessment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted and looks at the methodology used and policy implications of the Social Protection Index (SPI) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The book reviews country experiences of the social protection programs, with focus on the manner and the effectiveness with which outcomes desired by those advocating SPFs. A wide range of Asian countries are covered,...

Against the backdrop of growing anti-globalisation sentiments and increasing fragmentation of the production process across countries, this book addresses how the Indonesian economy should respond and how Indonesia should shape its trade and industrial policies in this new world trade environment. The book introduces evaluation not on tariffs but on new trade instruments such as non-tariff measures (SPS, TBT, export measures and beyond border measures), and looks at industrial policies from a broader perspective such as investment, accessing inputs, labour, services, research and...