Sustainable and inclusive growth in emerging Asian economies requires high levels of public investment in areas such as infrastructure, education, health, and social services. The increasing complexity and regional diversity of these investment needs, together with the trend of democratization, has led to fiscal decentralization being implemented in many Asian economies. This book takes stock of some major issues regarding fiscal decentralization, including expenditure and revenue assignments, transfer programs, and sustainability of local government finances, and develops important findings and policy recommendations.

This book examines territorial governance in Asia in the context of central-local relations. In an era of attempts to deal with issues such as decentralisation, conflict involving ethnic and religious enclaves, and demands for regional autonomy, it is timely to examine central-local relations in a pan-Asian perspective, assessing the attempts in a range of different constitutional systems from Japan to Myanmar to re-order constitutional structures for local government. The book looks at the constitutional systems for organising central-local relations in Asia and attempts to draw conclusions from contemporary experiences.

A source of perennial tension in states is the degree to which decision-making power and authority should be concentrated in central institutions and individuals. At present the conventional wisdom of central-local relations has swung in favour of decentralisation. This book investigates whether such convergence is taking place through detailed examination in Asia-Pacific. The results of the survey reveal a complex picture in which divergence is still evident in the region's patterns of central-local relations.

This book explores the important topic of fiscal decentralization in Asian countries, and focuses on how government finance and administration are being reformed to bring budgetary decisions closer to voters. The focus on Asia is especially important because all countries in this region have been undergoing serious fiscal reforms in the past decade. They include one of the biggest decentralization reforms in Indonesia, significant reforms in democratic Philippines and Vietnam which are in transition, and Japan, whose fiscal reconstruction program is covered extensively. India and China, which are also covered, are very special cases because of their size and because their policies must fit decentralization into a significant economic growth scenario.

This book considers urbanization in Asia and presents case studies of sustainable development "best practice" from 12 Asian countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, People's Republic of China, India, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Viet Nam.

This topic guide provides practical guidance for designing, implementing and evaluating decentralisation reforms and local government practices to ensure they are as effective as possible. It includes summaries of key texts and provides links to cutting edge research and recent case studies.

How do we understand the evolution of central-local relations in China during the reform period? This book addresses this question by focusing on eight separate issues in which the central-local relationship has been especially salient – government finance, investment control, regional development, administrative zoning, implementation, culture, social welfare and international relations. Each chapter introduces a sector and the way the center and various local governments have shared or divided power over the different periods of China’s reform era. The balance of power is gauged dynamically over time to measure the extent to which one level of government dominates, influences or shares power in making decisions in each of these particular domains, as well as what is likely to occur in the foreseeable future. The authors assess the winners and losers of these changes among key actors in China’s society. The result provides a dynamic view of China’s changing power relations.

In this substantial and referenced study, nine leading scholars present from inside the history, society, geography, economy and governmental institutions of each of the 10 ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam).

This book presents a comprehensive analysis of current trends of trade and economic growth in Asia, assessing how they are likely to develop in the future. It examines the evolving patterns of Asian economic development with the emergence of China, including since China’s accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2001. It is written by experts specialising in economic growth and regional and global trade/investment issues, alongside country specialists who have examined the development path of Asian economies. It discusses the significance of a export-oriented growth strategy on the Asian region, and the likely patterns of intra-regional specialisation given China’s rise. The book examines the degree to which the remarkable growth of China is likely to affect other Asian countries in terms of global market share, and growth prospects. The book explores how the rise of intra-industry trade is affecting patterns of specialisation in the region, and appraises the role of multinational corporations and foreign direct investment. Informed by the latest empirical economic thinking, this book is a rigorous examination of the influence of an emerging economic superpower, and the future for economic growth in Asia. Readers interested in the implications of the rise of China, the effect on the economic development path of the most successful developing nations of our time and the lessons to be heeded from China’s integration with the global economy will find this a thorough yet accessible account of the influence of an emerging economic superpower.