Social sciences Economics

News

shipyard
26 Feb 2024
Researchers explore the benefits of export diversification in oil-rich Brunei, breaking free from the development economics "resource curse".
women with straw hat
29 Jan 2024
Three young fellows supported by IDRC’s Knowledge for Democracy Myanmar are tackling crucial issues in women’s rights, economic empowerment, and climate change through their research and advocacy endeavours.
Due to a high concentration of people and activities in cities, they are at the forefront of battle against climate change.
30 Nov 2023
Aids local governments in adapting to the threats of climate change
09 Oct 2023
The legacy of Sarawak's dedication to fostering innovation and technology will continue to reverberate on the international stage
05 Oct 2023
Sarawak also launches Digital Economy Blueprint 2030 as part of its vision to become a digital economy powerhouse in the region
An electric car in Singapore
28 Jul 2023
Newcastle University (UK) and the Energy Research Institute at Nanyang Technological University hosted a UK-Singapore symposium funded by the UK Government in April 2023. It aimed to foster partnerships and research for widespread electric vehicle adoption. The event featured discussions on technology, economics, and policy over three days, encouraging joint collaboration in advanced electric transport research and commercialization.
11 Apr 2023
With many countries enacting strict lockdowns in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, economists have begun looking at the wider implications of such policies. Typically, they employ a cost-benefit analysis, but this has certain limitations. To overcome these limitations, a Tohoku University professor has turned to a surprising source: physics
Study shows tactile impressions add product value
01 Sep 2022
New research shows that consumers are willing to pay extra for products that give them more to feel.
COVID-19 tourism policies study
20 Jul 2022
The quest for the ideal COVID-19 policies to contain outbreaks without border closures that harm the travel industry led researchers to one protocol.
Study shows link between voluntary employee turnover and headhunter recruitment
07 Jul 2022
New research reveals what kind of employees headhunters contact, how they find them, and why relying on them to fill vacancies can drive up resignations.
Participants rated the ethical decision of automated vehicles and human drivers.
03 Jun 2022
A research team has studied how humans react to the introduction of AI decision making. Specifically, they explored the question, “is society ready for AI ethical decision making?” by studying human interaction with autonomous cars.
13 May 2022
Division of Electronics & Information System Principal Researcher (and guest professor at Seoul National University) Jinhyo Joseph Yun’s team at DGIST conducted joint research with the Nanjing University of Science and Technology’s Professor Lei Ma’s team and the UK Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Professor Zheng Liu’s team on the delivery platform industry, which is becoming a new issue for the 21st century market economy. The teams published an international joint research paper in the ‘European Planning Studies,’ which will be out in May of 2022 in the UK.
18 Apr 2022
In line with globally recommended practices to reduce the dietary risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), the Sri Lankan government implemented a traffic-light labelling (TLL) system for sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) in August 2016. The purpose of the regulations was to educate the public on the sugar content in SSBs to promote healthy diets in Sri Lanka and reduce NCDs associated with a high sugar intake. It is timely to assess the effectiveness of TLL in encouraging healthier food choices. Based on an ongoing IPS study, this blog discusses consumers’ knowledge of TLL and how it impacts their SSB choices.
25 Feb 2022
The tourism industry’s performance was hampered first by the Easter Sunday bomb explosions in 2019 and then the COVID-19 pandemic. Sri Lanka saw a decline in tourist arrivals from 1,913,702 in 2019 to 194,495 in 2021. It is estimated that revenue declined from USD 3600 million to USD 261 million during 2019-2021, reflecting a staggering 92.75% reduction due to a fall in arrivals.
21 Feb 2022
A great deal of discussion is underway on what appears to be the latest wave of migration from Sri Lanka. While the exact scale and nature of youth migration remain unclear, the costs of brain drain dominate these discussions. The brain drain concern is valid, yet focusing on it alone can limit our understanding of the complex implications of migration. This blog argues that apart from its challenges, youth migration can also present some surprising opportunities for socio-economic development if strategically managed.
02 Feb 2022
Despite enhanced trade partnerships in South Asia, intra-regional trade is far from reaching its theoretical potential. Similar production patterns and competitive sectors can be the causes. However, bilateral discussions to further lower trade costs continue. The ongoing Bangladesh-Sri Lanka discussions on a preferential trade agreement (PTA) will benefit from knowing the potential gains from reducing bilateral trade costs. In addition, knowledge of products with a higher potential for export gains will help optimise the economic benefits from a trade deal.
31 Jan 2022
Sovereign debt restructuring can be pre-emptive or post-default. A default is inherently costly as it can result in a sustained loss of access to capital markets. That leaves pre-emptive restructuring when a country deems itself unable to service outstanding debt.
U Hla Myint
20 Jan 2022
Giants in History: U Hla Myint (1920 – 2017) was a celebrated economist from Myanmar. Considered a prodigy, he was admitted to Rangoon University to study economics when he was just 14 years old.
13 Dec 2021
The lockdowns introduced in 2020 to curb the spread of COVID-19 saw the narrative “nature is healing” gain prominence. However, the notion that nature, in the absence of people, was healing fizzled out fairly quickly with the emergence of fresh environmental challenges, most notably, the resurgence of single-use plastics. This blog examines the ecological fallout of the pandemic and suggests policy options for Sri Lanka to avert the looming environmental disaster.
15 Sep 2021
Lockdowns and restricted mobility have devastated labour markets across the world. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), the equivalent of 225 million jobs was wiped out globally due to employment and working hour losses in 2020 compared to 2019 (Q4). These working hour losses are four times higher than those experienced during the global financial crisis in 2009. The COVID-19-instigated recession has affected the quantity and the quality of jobs, with increasing levels of informal types of work with lower remuneration. Restoration of labour markets is important to minimise damage to human development and increase aggregate demand, thereby boosting economic recovery. This blog looks at why it is important to have targetted policy interventions to revive the labour market by illustrating that the impact of COVID-19 is different across occupations and industries.
13 Sep 2021
The MSME sector in Sri Lanka amounts to 1.017 million establishments, employing approximately 2.25 million persons. This approximates to more than 90% of total establishments in the country and 45% of total employment.
08 Sep 2021
Unprecedented declines in merchandise trade, foreign direct investment (FDI) flows, tourism and cross-border migration have all been hallmarks of the economic fallout of COVID-19. As a result, growth expectations for countries worldwide dimmed. Nonetheless, thanks in part to substantial expansionary monetary and fiscal policies being rolled out to achieve pre-COVID economic recovery levels and the development of vaccines, the contraction in global trade and economic output are less than what was anticipated. The Sri Lankan economy too has been impacted by these external developments, witnessing fluctuating fortunes in its external sector performance. This blog discusses the impacts of global economic developments on Sri Lanka’s external sector and suggests ways to cushion them.
22 Sep 2020
To encourage and support cross-faculty, inter-university and international collaboration in the study of economic and social development, policy and governance, Lingnan University (LU) has recently established the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS). Riding on its current research strengths, along with regional and global collaborative links, IPS enjoys the dual advantages of local relevance and global resonance through incorporating various LU’s existing policy research centres and linking inter-university research platforms. In addition to the cutting-edge research and knowledge transfer activities, IPS aims to enhance LU’s high-quality professional training in policy, development and governance studies.
17 Sep 2020
This year’s ADB-Asian Think Tank Development Forum will provide a venue to share ideas and experiences among affiliated scholars on the policies and strategies that countries should pursue to mitigate the big slump in the tourism industry. Deadline 30 September 2020.
29 May 2020
With increasing unemployment, economists are devising and proposing economic measures that could help ensure a sustainable increase in consumer spending and circumvent a long-term economic recession. However, whether the proposed economic measures are going to provide a long-term solution to these problems remains a concern.
11 Mar 2020
When it comes to awareness of social and legal services available to people with dementia, financial knowledge is key
02 Mar 2020
Researchers explore the links between happiness and productivity at a factory in Laos
25 Feb 2020
Study explores strategies that could help reduce emissions from the transport industry
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06 Feb 2019
Research can offer a strategic blueprint for bolstering food security throughout Asia, but regional cooperation is required.
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18 Jan 2019
Conservationists look at five human socioeconomic scenarios to better understand fate of endangered big cat.

Events

08 Mar 2024
The Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN), in collaboration with the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), will host the Asia-Pacific Resilience: Empowering Local Solutions Together session at the Fourth Annual #Gobeshona Global Conference (#GGC4) on 8 March 2024 at 11:00-13:00 (Dhaka/GMT+6) or 14:00-16:00 (Japan/GMT+9).
17 Apr 2023 to 20 Apr 2023
To achieve Net Zero, the governments of the UK and Singapore are targeting ambitious carbon reduction goals, and electromobility has emerged as a key strategy. Now, Newcastle University (UK) and ERI@N (Singapore) are jointly hosting an international event, known as the Electromobility symposium, in Singapore to debate and discuss experiences in implementing land transport electrification in Singapore and the UK, evaluate policy landscapes, and identify successes and obstacles to inform future strategies.
10 Jan 2023
ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute’s flagship conference will be held in hybrid format on 10 January 2023. After 2 years of virtual conference format, we are excited to welcome participants back to a physical event at The Shangri-La Singapore for the Regional Outlook Forum (ROF) 2023.
28 Apr 2022
Organizers: Refinitiv, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, and Asian Development Bank
11 Oct 2021 to 14 Oct 2021
Pandemics and Policy: Protecting Health and Promoting Economic Recovery

Researchers

Ph.D. candidate at the Faculty of Economics, Chaing Mai University with prior experience in public policy and research, especially in Myanmar's economic development.
Sunimalee Madurawala is a Research Economist at the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS) with over 15 years of research experience. Her expertise lies in the areas of gender, health economics, and population studies.
Dr. Irshad CV completed PhD in Economics (Specialisation: Health Economics) from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. He completed a bachelor's and master's in Economics from the University of Calicut. His Ph.D. thesis titled “Healthy Ageing in India: A Mixed Methods Approach” explored various research questions on healthy ageing in India using both quantitative and qualitative tools. His thesis work proposed the first multi- dimensional Healthy Ageing Index (HAI) for the health status measurement of older adults in India. Two of the core works of his thesis was published in the Journal of Population Ageing, an official journal of the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, University of Oxford by Springer. His extended thesis work was also presented at a conference conducted by the Asian Development Bank, Manila, with full funding support from the Government of Japan. Besides his Ph.D. thesis work, he has been extensively collaborating with researchers in the area of Gerontology, and published works in reputed journals. In 2021, he received a research grant from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, to study social frailty status among older adults in India.
Andrei Popescu
Angel Investor and a Vision-driven entrepreneur/executive with career-long record of business growth and innovation.
DOCTORAL CANDIDATE AT JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY, NEW DELHI, INDIA
Dr. Niranjan Devkota is a distinguished researcher in climate change, agriculture, and poverty. He actively contributes to policy dialogues and has extensive experience in governmental and non-governmental sectors, demonstrating his commitment to driving positive change.
A researcher/program director at ALARM - for land & environmental justice and climate & environmental integration in development planning of Myanmar & a graduate of YAU (Myanmar), AIT (Thailand) & ANU (Australia).
Professor Stephen Y. L. Cheung is the President and Chair Professor of Public Policy at The Education University of Hong Kong
I am a Health Economist/Researcher, working with UN agencies in the development of policy documents for developing countries including Nepal, Ethiopia and Pakistan.
Prof. David Lee
David Lee is currently a professor of the finance programme at The School of Business ;Singapore University of Social Science.
https://www.iium.edu.my/v2/
Dr. Irina's research focuses on sustainability, including an analysis of environmental management, the urban environment, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and education for sustainable development, or ESD, and its application in real-world contexts.
Leonard K Cheng
Professor Leonard K Cheng became President of Lingnan University of Hong Kong in September 2013. Prior to joining Lingnan University, he served as Dean of the School of Business and Management of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST Business School) from 2009 to 2013.
I am specialized in international sustainable development cooperation. I am member of European Platform of Women Scientists and Women Scientist from Developing Countries. My research focuses on promoting sustainable development cooperation between government, universities and enterprises on new media platform, with my researches presented on World Cities Day organized by UN-HABITAT, and at Culture Technology Integration Summit organized by Qinghua University.
Prof. Peng Ling
Prof. Peng Ling is an Associate Professor at the Department of Marketing and International Business of Lingnan University.
Ismene
Ismene Gizelis is professor at the Department of Government in the University of Essex. Her main research interests are in conflict dynamics, peacekeeping, gender equality and post-conflict reconstruction, and communicable diseases. For the most up to date details, please see my personal webpage: http://tigizelis.com.
Picture of Semra Ozdemir Van Dyk
Semra Ozdemir is an Assistant Professor at Lien Centre for Palliative Care and the Signature Programme in Health Services and Systems Research, Duke-NUS. Her main research areas are medical decision making and health economics
Prasanna Lakmal
Prasanna Lakmal is a lecturer at the Department for Commerce & Financial Management of the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.
Dr Chin Chin Sia is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Business & Law, Taylor's University, Malaysia.
Picture of Priyanka Jayawardena
Priyanka Jayawardena is a Research Economist with research interests in skills and education, demographics, health, and labour markets. Priyanka has around 15 years of research experience at IPS. She has worked as a consultant to international organisations including World Bank, ADB and UNICEF. She has conducted numerous research studies relating to the human resource development in Sri Lanka for a variety of development partners and various government ministries. Her research has been published in peer reviewed national and international journals and book chapters. She holds a BSc (Hons) specialised in Statistics and an MA in Economics, both from the University of Colombo.
Picture of Nisha Arunatilake
Nisha Arunatilake has been a Research Fellow at IPS since 2000 and was appointed as the Director of Research in January 2018. She has extensive post-doctoral experience in conducting policy related economic research in labour market analysis, education, public finance and health.
Picture of Sabina Dewan
I have nearly two decades of professional experience studying the changing trends in the world of work. This includes a specialized focus on how trends like technology, urbanization, restructuring of trade into global value chains, migration and climate change affect women’s work, and the opportunities and challenges that women face to equal and productive participation in labour markets.
Picture of Drusilla Brown
For the past twenty years, I have led a research team at Tufts University that conducts randomized controlled field experiments on various interventions designed to improve conditions of work in global supply chains, particularly in industries such as apparel dominated by women. Our ranges from social compliance to health interventions.
Shoirakhon Nurdinova is currently a senior lecturer at Namangan State University, Uzbekistan. Her research interests focus on happiness economics, gender issues, and labor migration from Central Asia.
He is currently the Dean of the School of Business and Administration at Wawasan Open University, Malaysia, and also instrumental in developing the MBA programme at the institution.
Prof. Maggie Hu is currently an Assistant Professor of Real Estate and Finance at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Zaw Oo
Zaw Oo is Executive Director of the Centre for Economic and Social Development, an independent think-tank dedicated to inclusive development in Myanmar. Previously, he was the Presidential Economic Advisor from 2012-2016, serving as a principal advisor on finance, industry, commerce and labour issues.
Yoshihiko Kadoya is a Distinguished Researcher of Hiroshima University, the Director of Hiroshima Institute of Health Economics Research (HiHER) and a Professor of Economics at Hiroshima University.

Giants in history

Chinese agronomist Yuan Longping (7 September 1930 – 22 May 2021) developed the first varieties of the high-yield, hybrid rice that brought food security to multiple countries including China, which had been ravaged by food shortages as recently as the mid-20th century.
U Hla Myint (1920 – 2017) was a celebrated economist from Myanmar. Considered a prodigy, he was admitted to Rangoon University to study economics when he was just 14 years old. He went on to earn a Ph.D. at the London School of Economics (LSE).