Books etc

Postal Savings for Development, Asian Country Case Studies

“Everything comes from land and ultimately goes back to it” explains an old Indian saying. All sense of value in an enterprise is rooted in the value of land. From business to warfare, the characteristics of land have the power to determine the ultimate success of the endeavour. From maintaining biodiversity to ensuring prosperity for all, the sound management of land resources is vitally important to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Asian Development Bank notes that more than 400 million Asians still lack electricity; roughly 300 million have no access to safe drinking water, and 1.5 billion lack basic sanitation. In many countries, power outages constrain economic growth. Development of infrastructure is a prerequisite for long-term sustainable economic growth. However, more than 8.8% of the GDP is needed to finance infrastructure-related projects in South Asia which are expected to have a spillover on the achievability of the SDGs.

Improving the Incentive Structure and Regulatory Norms toward Stronger Banking Sectors in Asia, How to Strengthen the Banking System and Develop Capital Markets in Post-Crisis Asia, Relationships between the Ownership Structure and Strengthen of the Banking Sector, Implications of Enron Debacles for Asian Corporate Governance, Mobilizing Domestic Savings by Enhancing Investment Oppotunities, Who Should Play Major Rples in Developing Capital Markets in Asia

Japanese Banks should be Proactive in Fostering the Asian Bond Market: A Mechanism to Circulate Local Money within the Region is required, Results of Quantitative Analysis of Deflationary Factors

Increased dependence on nonrenewable energy sources contributes to greater air pollution, which in turn leads to negative health outcomes. This chapter examines the relationship between fossil fuel consumption (FFC) and health issues using the generalized method of moments (GMM) for data from 18 developing Asian economies spanning 1991 to 2022. The findings show that fossil fuel use elevates the risk of lung and respiratory diseases (LRD), with CO2 emissions and FFC significantly affecting undernourishment and mortality rates. Additionally, higher gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and healthcare expenditure are found to reduce undernourishment and death rates (UDR). The chapter concludes that transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy can improve energy security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

This book, Energy Security, Transition, and Economic Growth, provides a timely and comprehensive analysis of these interconnected issues. It brings together insights from a range of regional- and country-level case studies, offering new perspectives on how different nations are navigating the complex landscape of energy security and transition while maintaining the pace of economic growth. The book is structured into two parts: regional-level analyses and country-level studies, comprising 10 chapters. Each chapter presents empirical research, practical policy recommendations, and innovative solutions that can be applied to different countries and regions worldwide. The findings in this book are particularly valuable for policymakers, energy practitioners, and researchers. Each chapter contributes to a broader understanding of how countries can navigate the transition to renewable energy while maintaining or enhancing their energy security and economic growth.

Sustainable Growth and Green Policies: Navigating Energy and Environmental Challenges explores the intersection of green finance, energy transition, and sustainable policies, offering innovative solutions to today's environmental and economic challenges. The book is divided into two sections: Green Policies for Sustainable Growth and Carbon Neutrality and Green Finance and Economic Recovery, featuring empirical research, innovative frameworks, and policy recommendations. The first section focuses on strategies for achieving carbon neutrality and promoting green growth across various economic contexts. Topics include the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in ASEAN's decarbonization, the relationship between financial development and greenhouse gas mitigation in BRICS economies, and behavioral factors influencing private investment in renewable energy. It also explores China's carbon market design and the impact of socioeconomic progress on environmental sustainability. The second section examines the role of green finance in economic recovery, particularly in the post-COVID-19 era. It assesses the interconnectedness of clean and conventional energy markets, the implications of renewable energy financing in Asia, and the effects of green finance on carbon intensity in OECD countries. Additionally, it explores fiscal policies for greening China's economy and macroeconomic frameworks for achieving sustainable development in the EU.

In numerous Asian nations, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are pivotal to economic growth, yet often remain beyond the reach of environmental regulations, which predominantly target larger corporations. This research investigates the link between SME activities and carbon emissions in ASEAN countries from 2010 to 2020, utilizing a fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) model. The analysis reveals that SME operations substantially contribute to CO2 emissions, indicating a disconnect between environmental protection efforts and sustainable development goals. To guide SMEs toward carbon neutrality, the study recommends implementing specific green finance policies, expanding environmental regulations to encompass SMEs, and overhauling banking lending practices to promote sustainability based on SMEs’ environmental performance. These strategies aim to incorporate SMEs into ASEAN’s broader green growth and sustainable development agenda.

Investment in infrastructure is essential for promoting economic growth, and while countries in Asia have enjoyed higher rates of gross domestic product growth in recent years, the region remains severely deficient in the scale and quality of sustainable infrastructure. Moreover, population growth and climate change continue to put increasing pressure on the need for strategic and farsighted development, calling for policy makers to reevaluate infrastructure governance to ensure sustainable economic growth. Currently, in developing Asia, most investment in infrastructure comes from the public sector. However, with growing fiscal deficits and other budgetary constraints, it is essential to develop alternative sources of investment for infrastructure projects. This presents opportunities to tap into the private sector, which can play an instrumental role in minimizing the funding gap through the development of stronger, more transparent public-private partnerships (PPPs) and incentivizing sustainable infrastructure investment. This book provides a scholarly discussion on the importance of PPPs and approaches to unlock private participation in infrastructure investment based on lessons from across Asia. Among the proposed schemes are government tax incentives, development-based land value capture strategy under PPP land pooling, Viability Gap Funds, Project Development Facilities, and other guarantees. The book aims to assess the impacts and future of sustainable infrastructure investments and examines the role of governments in mobilizing financial resources and new models for unlocking private investment in sustainable infrastructure. This book consists of fifteen original chapters on the experiences of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) and a few other cases for promoting private investment in sustainable infrastructure. The fact that not much has been published previously on this theme makes this book a welcome and timely addition to the much needed knowledge on this subject. 'The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylor fran cis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution- Non- Commercial- No Derivatives 4.0 license.

If students of economics or finance want to work in financial technology (fintech), they must first acquire at least a basic understanding of statistics and econometrics.

Oil shocks have been one of the most important and controversial issues among economists in the past decades. The fact that a sudden and significant change in the world price of crude oil can disrupt the mechanism of the world economy became evident in the early 1970s with the occurrence of the world's first major oil shock. This issue has become more complicated and requires a more detailed scientific investigation due to the spread of the Corona virus and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In this chapter of the book, the effects of oil shocks are discussed from a scientific point of view based on monetary policies. In this chapter of the book, the effects of oil shocks are discussed from a scientific point of view based on monetary policies. For this purpose, an attempt is made to look at this issue from a theoretical point of view and also with an empirical case study to examine this relationship in energy exporting countries and energy importing countries. The main points of this chapter's talks showed that an increase in oil prices would directly increase the GDP growth rate of nations that export oil. A brilliant technique to manage the impact of the oil price on a country's macroeconomic environment is to take suitable monetary policies into consideration.

In many countries, food and energy are vital in national security. However, in energy policy, the relationship between the prices of food and energy has been debated. This chapter examines the connection between the prices of these two vital commodities. Hence, we review existing literature and attempt to determine the relationship using a theoretical framework and an empirical test. Our findings revealed that energy price significantly impacts food prices. According to the results of impulse response functions, agricultural food prices respond favorably to any oil price increase. Moreover, variance decomposition demonstrates that oil prices are responsible for the largest amount of agricultural food price volatility. Oil price changes account for 6.95% and 64.17% of the variance in food prices during the second and 20th periods, respectively. Because rising crude oil prices adversely affect food security, one viable strategy involves combining renewable sources and fossil fuels in a way that positively impacts both energy and food security. We observed that biofuel costs account for less than 2% of the variance in food prices. Finally, as global biofuel demand increases, rising global prices for agricultural commodities and, consequently, the growing threat to food security may also increase. This could be even more important for small-economy countries that have been negatively affected by COVID-19.

Currently, the private investment is not enough to fill the US$ 2.5 trillion gap of SDGs, this will endanger the SDGs achievements in 2030. The financial sector needs to be aligned with the SDGs in order to fill the finance gap. The financial sector’s imperative includes standardizing SDG accounting and reporting to identify strengths and weaknesses, assess and quantify the risk and opportunities for the banking industry in addressing the SDGs; and developing innovative financial products that address the SDGs. Governments and financial regulators need to align financial regulation with the SDGs and offer financial mechanisms to mitigate financial risks in addressing the SDGs. The paper theoretically shows that the current portfolio allocation of institutional investors by taking account of SDG indicator based on various consulting companies’ measurements of SDGs will distort optimal portfolio allocation and not meet the SDGs by 2030. The desired portfolio allocation based on the paper model, can be achieved by taxing the negative externalities such as pollutions, wastes, and plastics, globally with the same tax rate. Finally, although adopting the international taxation system on GHG and plastic might be desirable, it might not be easy for developing countries. It is recommended to start adopting such a system in regions where economic cooperation and economic integration exist, such as in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Various roadmaps and strategies have been proposed to promote environmental protection in the last few decades; however, this process has not been appropriate. Private investments in green energy projects are hampered by insufficient capital to finance projects, the high risk of investment, low rates of return, and the lack of capacity in the market actors. This chapter seeks to identify the difficulties in addressing the insufficient investment flows in green projects and offer workable strategies for attracting private capital to these endeavors. Establishing a novel instrument for green credit guarantee schemes to lower the risk of investment, adopting an international or regional carbon taxation scheme, increasing transparency in green regulations, establishing community-based trust funds, and enhancing the role of public financial and nonbanking financial institutions (pension funds and insurance firms) in long-term green investments are practical solutions.

The decrease in solar module prices is one of the main factors behind the recent expansion of the global solar energy market. The mechanism underlying this price reduction has been the subject of numerous empirical research. However, the technological aspect of manufacturing has been the main focus of studies on the mechanism for solar module price reduction over the years. This chapter examines how economic and monetary factors, such as interest rates and exchange rates, affect solar module pricing in addition to other factors that have been examined in earlier studies, such as technology and wage rates. The economic factors that influence solar module prices are identified in this chapter. To determine the influence of each factor, the chapter develops a pricing model for solar modules in the top five solar module-producing countries, backed by a theoretical oligopolistic model. For every country, the determinants of solar module prices are different. While exchange rates, knowledge stocks, and oil prices often correlate negatively with solar module prices, interest rates generally have a positive correlation with them. Since the renewable industries are hightech, capital costs significantly impact technology costs. The governments' initiatives to offer low-interest financing to enterprises will hasten the commercialization of renewable energy. To expedite the growth of solar energy projects, there have been numerous attempts to lower interest rates for renewable energy technology; however, it is not enough, and specific green financing channels are required. Second, the governments must expand research and development (R&D) expenses relevant to renewable energy. Increasing targeted R&D expenditure through government policies will be an effective strategy for reducing costs and increasing the willingness of the private sector to invest in the solar energy projects.

Successful startups and small businesses can play a significant role in economic growth and job creation. They also contribute to economic dynamism by spurring innovation and injecting competition. Startups are known to introduce new products and services that can create new value in the economy. It is notable that most startups exit within their first ten years, and most surviving young businesses do not grow but remain small. Startups and small businesses face several obstacles to their development. Accessing capital is a crucial constraint on their growth. Most startups and small businesses have difficulties getting the funds they need because of their lack of a performance track record and lack of collateral, making it difficult for lenders or investors to assess their risk. Besides, they are in the early stages of development and face a very high possibility of failure, which significantly raises financing and investment risk. Investment in Startups and Small Business Financing provides 12 thematic and case studies on new methods for bringing private investment (loans or equity) to startups and easing small businesses' access to finance (debt and capital). The contributors are senior-level policy experts and researchers from governments, think tanks, academia, and international organizations. The chapters are authored in a policy-oriented way to be understandable for the readers with a different background. This book is a precious source for the governments for adopting the right policies to develop small businesses and startups and valuable for the researchers in economics, business, and finance.