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The Burmese rice industry has registered a remarkable revival in recent years. Output has risen by over 40% since 1977/78 and Burma appears to have the potential to re-emerge as a major rice-exporting country. This is a significant reversal of the trend of the early 1960s, when Burma gradually lost its leading position as a rice-exporting country. The study probes these changes during the last 20 years and relates them to the wider economic context

This paper examines causes and implications of Sri Lanka's political regime shift in February 2015, which has been widely hailed a victory for democracy, against the backdrop of the country's political and economic development in the post-independence era. The regime shift vividly demonstrates that voters, given the chance, turn against leaders they perceive to be corrupt, nepotistic, or needlessly divisive, even if they deliver handsome growth figures; there are limits to gaining political legitimacy in a multi-ethnic state simply by creating cleavages between majority and minority communities. For the first time, the minority communities in Sri Lanka appear to have felt themselves part of, and potentially an important influence on, the national political scene. It is, however, difficult at this stage to predict whether the regime change would usher in an era of ethnic harmony and robust economic growth. One hope is that war-weariness and discontent with the previous regime seem to have led to a greater willingness to accommodate diverse perspectives and demands within the political system.

This paper examines causes and implications of Sri Lanka's political regime shift in February 2015, which has been widely hailed a victory for democracy, against the backdrop of the country's political and economic development in the post-independence era. The regime shift vividly demonstrates that voters, given the chance, turn against leaders they perceive to be corrupt, nepotistic, or needlessly divisive, even if they deliver handsome growth figures; there are limits to gaining political legitimacy in a multi-ethnic state simply by creating cleavages between majority and minority communities. For the first time, the minority communities in Sri Lanka appear to have felt themselves part of, and potentially an important influence on, the national political scene. It is, however, difficult at this stage to predict whether the regime change would usher in an era of ethnic harmony and robust economic growth. One hope is that war-weariness and discontent with the previous regime seem to have led to a greater willingness to accommodate diverse perspectives and demands within the political system.

This paper examines several aspects of the rehabilitation and reconstruction program that followed the 2004 tsunami in Asia. Almost 230,000 people died in the disaster. We focus on two main issues: aid delivery and reconstruction policy following the disaster. Although issues such as immediate relief activities in disaster management and the role of political, institutional, and social factors in post-disaster recovery are also very important, they are not discussed in detail here. First, the effectiveness and financing of aid delivery arrangements following the tsunami are considered. The discussion aims to go beyond the headline figures on international aid to assess the level, composition, and quality of aid flows. Second, the challenges of designing reconstruction programs in the wake of the tsunami are surveyed. Questions of why there is often sharp escalation in construction costs and the implications for planning reconstruction are considered. These issues are often not discussed in the standard analytical literature about responses to disasters. It is argued that staggered disbursement of aid funds, although obviously highly undesirable in the case of urgent relief activities, may have benefits during the reconstruction phase by reducing inflationary pressures and leakage of aid funds. The pros and cons of alternative approaches are considered. Finally, it is suggested that a phased reconstruction program where the sequencing of activities is carefully prioritized will deliver better outcomes.

Poverty and environmental degradation or deforestation in developing countries have common determinants in underlying economic and institutional conditions that determine factor and product prices and incentives for migration and resource-depleting activities. These determinants include property rights failures (open access to forest lands) but also 'government failures' in the form of policies that indirectly promote resource use and retard poverty alleviation. A general equilibrium analysis identifies influences that such distortions have on poverty and environment. Using a numerical GE model, we consider likely effects of Philippine trade policy reforms of the 1990s on determinants of poverty, deforestation, and agricultural land expansion. These reforms marked a significant shift away from the import substitution industrialization strategy that characterized post-independence Philippine development. The results suggest that though reforms would increase poverty in the short term, in the longer run trade liberalization is poverty reducing. The environmental impact can also be positive, provided liberalized trade is combined with appropriate government action to address market failures.