MACMILLAN Poverty, Growth and Institutions in Developing Asia (Asian Development Bank Books)

Asia stands our among the world's developing regions as having achieved dramatic poverty reduction accompanied by rapid economic growth. But the region's vastness and diversity mask persistent disparities in economic and social progress between and within countries. While such disparities pose a continuing challenge, they are also a source of lessons: the experience of the more successful East and Southeast Asian economies vis-à-vis the other, less successful Asian developing economies. The theme of this book is that economic growth is the key, but that institutions and other national and sub-national attributes are important as well. These attitudes help to explain differences in social development and poverty reduction across countries and sub-national areas which cannot be accounted for by growth factors alone. The book concludes that a more complete strategy needs to consider various institutional factors at the national and sub-national levels to promote rapid growth and sustained poverty reduction. About the Author ERNESTO M. PERNIA is Lead Economist at the Economics and Development Resource Center at the Asian Development Bank ANIL B. DEOLALIKAR is based in the Department of Economics at the University of California. His research interests include the analysis of poverty and poverty-reduction policies in developing countries and the economics of education and education-sector reform.