The study of financial frameworks focuses on corporate finance and analyzes the relationship between financing patterns and the level of development of securities markets and financial liberalization in the region.

The HSBC Bank Canada Papers on Asia series was begun in 1995 to examine Canada's relationship with the East Asian economies and to reduce the information barriers resulting from distance and unfamiliarity in these markets. Six years on from the inception of the series, much has changed in the international environment. The Asian economies suffered a significant crash, a rapid rebound, only to slow again in 2000-2001. This, the sixth and last volume in the series, looks to the future. This new volume focuses on key issues facing the region that corporations and governments should understand, including East Asian regionalization initiatives, obstacles to continued rapid growth in China, aging and pension reform, and the changing security environment. In addition, the Canadian business performance six years on is re-evaluated. With contributions from leading scholars intimately familiar with both Canadian and East Asian business practices, these volumes are an indispensable resource for corporations and governments looking to expand their business into East Asia, or for anyone who wants to better understand Canada's complex relationship with the Asian countries.

Examines how foreign firms entering or operating in various Asian countries have responded to obstacles and opportunities in business.

This study analyzes the supply side of the international financial architecture. It asks the question: How can G-10 capital suppliers reform their system to contribute to a safer world of capital mobility? It contains coverage of capital flows and the benefits of cross-border capital flows.

The evaluation finds that the content of the World Bank s Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) is largely relevant for growth and poverty reduction in the sense that it maps well with the determinants of growth and poverty reduction identified in the economics literature. However, some CPIA criteria need to be revised (in particular trade and finance), and one needs to be added (assessment of disadvantaged socio-economic groups). Second, the evaluation finds that the CPIA ratings are in general reliable and correlate well with similar indicators. The World Bank s internal review process helps guard against potential biases in having Bank staff rate countries on which their work programs depend. The CPIA ratings are found to correlate better with similar indicators for middle income countries than for low income countries. This could be because there is more information available on middle income countries, which increases the likelihood of different institutions having similar assessments on them. This could also be because the CPIA rating exercise takes into account the stage of development, which is more pertinent for low income countries, and which also subject the ratings of those countries to more judgment in an exercise that is already centered on staff judgment.

Financial systems in the East Asian region are commanding worldwide attention. Japan's financial sector, with an ailing banking system in the aftermath of a bubble economy, is undergoing a "Big Bang" deregulation, liberalization, and securitization. At the same time, the rehabilitation of Southeast Asian and Korean economies in the wake of the Asian financial crisis awaits restoration of their banking sectors. The region's bank-dominated and development finance-oriented financial systems are coming into friction with global capital markets that lack adequate architecture. In this volume, researchers from ten East Asian think- tanks analyse the financial systems in their respective economies. They survey the financial sector deregulation and liberalization that took place in the midst of economic booms and they evaluate the role of the financial systems in the region's current economic misfortunes. Together, the pieces in this volume lay the groundwork for understanding how financial systems in East Asia have evolved as the economies have grown more complex and capital markets have globalized, and how these systems must adapt to move beyond today's crisis to serve the region's economies in the future.

This work is the culmination of three years of discussions with individuals from the Trilateral regions and other East Asian countries, including China, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia, focusing on the role East Asia plays in the international system and how that role will develop in the coming years. Topics covered include security, economic and political development, institution-building, and cultural issues.

In this book, experts from across the globe highlight the state of knowledge in intergovernmental transfer design. The essays collected in the volume represent creative new thinking about challenging policy issues and offer useful options for policy makers. The book offers academics and practitioners a thorough, thematic assessment of unresolved issues in the design of equalization grants.

In this text, experts in Asian economics, public management, law and the sciences explore critical issues that will have a role in future policy debates. Topics include growth, income security and fiscal reform; governance and public management; and technological innovation and the environment.

The World Economic Outlook, published twica a year in English, French, Spanish, and Arabic, presents IMF staff economists analyses of global economic developments during the near and medium term. Chapters give an overview of the world economy; consider issues affecting industrial countries, developing countries, and economies in transition to market; and address topics of pressing current interest. Annexes, boxes, charts, and an extensive statistical appendix augment the text.