Search

In many parts of the Global South, food systems are confronted with complex sustainability challenges including high levels of poverty, food insecurity, malnutrition, disempowerment, and degraded environments. Transformation is broadly discussed in research, policy, and planning as the systemic change required to address complex sustainability issues. Transformation of food systems has become a global priority for research and action. However, transformation processes are not neutral, but are associated with losses and gains that are unevenly distributed. Institutions play an important role in relation to how transformation of food systems occur and with what outcomes. Empirical understandings of how institutions can influence transformation processes in a way that avoids risks or the so-called dark side of transformation are needed. This article aims to contribute towards understanding the roles that institutions play in transformation processes in the context of Global South food systems through synthesising insights from transdisciplinary case studies. The three case studies include multi-purpose cooperative institutions in farming areas in southwest Ethiopia, fisherfolk organisations in aquatic food-producing areas in northern Philippines, and Gotong Royong for irrigation canal management for pond aquaculture in Indonesia. The article examines whether and how institutions advance inclusion and participation in food systems, and whether institutions enable or constrain food system actors in mitigating or avoiding transformation risks. The paper reflects on the role of community-level institutions and hybrid governance arrangements, and the interplay of structure and agency in transformation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of commitments made under the UNFCCC Paris Agreement and Glasgow Climate Pact, trillions of dollars are needed to fund climate mitigation and adaptation in developing countries. However, few studies have investigated the effectiveness of climate finance or how it impacts barriers to renewable energy development in recipient countries. This article contributes to the literature by investigating climate finance effectiveness through comparative case study analysis of its impacts on geothermal development in Indonesia and the Philippines. The article finds that three mechanisms of climate finance—utility modifier, social learning and capacity building—work interdependently in impacting the financial, regulatory, and technical barriers to geothermal development in Indonesia and the Philippines but are individually insufficient to scale the industry; political will and energy shocks play a significant intervening role. This paper raises policy implications for climate finance effectiveness and renewable energy technology deployment in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crises and dislocations home in on social, economic, and political weaknesses that are often sidestepped or pushed to the backburner in the interests of master plans of growth or development. Recovery from crises, then, provides the opportunity to address these underlying issues that preceded and, likely, contributed to the crises or dislocation; meanwhile, a return to the previous normalcy following such crises generally means exacerbation of these weaknesses that erode and threaten to fracture social, economic and political foundations. This paper documents social and economic policies across two financial crises, the Asian Financial Crisis and the Global Financial Crisis, for South Korea, the Philippines, and Indonesia, to reveal the problems from growth-centric recovery focus on economic fragilities, social cohesion, and political stability. Further, using evidence from the ground and survey data, we also show how recovery to a new normal with a reprioritization of social policies invigorates the social, political, and economic foundations. We round off the study with an examination of social policy changes under COVID-19 to assess how the efforts track against a recovery to business-as-usual economic normalcy or a new normal that reprioritizes social policies and the economy. The scope of change is high; as we show in the paper, it is also necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores ethical issues of reciprocity, reflexivity and situatedness in conducting ethnographic fieldwork in the Global South as part of PhD research projects. Against the backdrop of increasingly bureaucratised doctoral processes, we argue that PhD students occupy a particular terrain that involves continuous navigation of tensions between institutionally-required ethical procedures and 'situational' ethical processes in the field. We illustrate these tensions by analysing reflections on our experiences of conducting fieldwork in Indonesia, India and the Philippines. Guided by decolonial and feminist thought highlighting the politics of knowledge (co)production, this paper unpacks the problems of insider-outsider binaries and standardised ethical procedures, and explores the possibilities of ethics as visible, collaborative negotiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper compares evidence from the Philippines and Indonesia to examine the argument that the Philippines has a more unequal distribution of both agricultural land and household incomes than Indonesia. It is argued that the evidence from agricultural censuses and household surveys does not support this argument. Instead, the available evidence indicates that there has been a process of convergence in the distribution of land in the Philippines and Indonesia. The percentage of land in holdings over ten hectares has fallen in recent decades in the Philippines, while in Indonesia it may have increased. The cultivated area under large estates continues to grow in Indonesia mainly because of the growth of palm oil cultivation. Evidence on the distribution of household income and of land indicates that neither country has followed the Taiwan model of growth with equity in recent decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intends to answer why Kawaluso Island peoples have an orientation to send their children to a higher level. Kawaluso Island as one of the islands in the RI-Philippines border region, like other border areas, has problems in the field of education, both access and infrastructure. This study uses ethnographic methods as part of qualitative research making researchers as the main instrument. Data collection uses participatory observation where the researcher is involved in the activities of the community under study. The findings in this study are that school and prestige for parents (Kawaluso peoples) become discourses that cannot be separated from one and another. A form of recognition or prestige for parent, who are able to send their children to a higher level, is one of the practices of denial of economic practices. Nevertheless, the process of recognizing parents in achieving educational attainment by children, at the same time also benefits economically. The economic benefit in question is when Kawaluso residents who have finished school are able to carry out a process of vertical social mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across Asia, countries have signed the UNCRPD and to a greater or lesser extent are pursuing inclusive education (IE). In this article, we present case studies from Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, and China analyzing them for common themes around the education of students intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), and noting commonalities, challenges, and emerging issues. While the definition of IE (being the philosophy, process and practice of welcoming, valuing and supporting all learners in general education environments) and the conceptual distinction between integration and segregation are clear in the UNCRPD and subsequent comments, the terminology used in some of the countries is inconsistent with these definitions. This makes interpretation of reports from government instrumentalities difficult. In some cases, misuse of terminology allows justification of practices that are contrary to the UNCRPD. Terminology differences coupled with challenges of finding data related to the education of children with IDD, if the data exist, make a regional analysis of progress towards IE complex. In our paper, we have drawn on previous reviews and reports to discuss common issues and make suggestions for ways forward. Our findings add to the few other reviews from Asia on IE and draw attention to the continuing need for improved access to any education at all for learners with IDD. Provision of IE is caught up in dilemmas in the region about teacher preparation and professional learning, and how to provide specialist support in inclusive settings. School structure decisions including staffing provision and class sizes affect the education outcomes of students with IDD. School leadership, with the fundamental role of translating policy into practice, is critical for the development of IE and must be aligned with system and country priorities. Collaboration across the region has the potential to share best practice and continue to improve the educational opportunities for learners with IDD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contribution of tourism to economic development is an open secret but it is a double-edged sword. The opportunity cost for this significant share is environmental degradation without required measures to protect the environment. Using the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squared approach from 1995 to 2014, this study aims to explore the nexus between tourism and environmental pollution for three lower middle-income Southeast Asian economies: Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. This paper uses carbon emissions as a proxy for environmental pollution against tourist arrivals with a few control variables for analysis. The Zivot-Andrews unit root test is applied to deal with structural breaks in data and the Gregory-Hansen test for robustness. The results confirm a negative impact of tourism on the environment for Indonesia and the Philippines; however, tourism improves the environmental quality of Vietnam. This implies that the relationship varies for different countries in the same region, depending on the country-specific characteristics and corresponding policies to protect the environment. The impact of governmental policies also differs for high and lower middle-income countries as one size cannot fit all. This study provides a comprehensive milieu of the impact of tourism on the environment. The identified dominant factors can guide Southeast Asian and other developing countries' governments at all levels in systematically formulating policies; by using these policies, carbon emissions from tourism can be reduced efficiently, resulting in sustainable development in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Southeast Asia is known for its rich linguistic, cultural and biological diversity. While ethnobiology in the west has benefitted greatly from intellectual and methodological advances over the last decades, the status of Southeast Asian ethnobiology is largely unknown. This study aims to provide an analysis of the current status of ethnobiology in Southeast Asia and outlines possibilities for future advancements. Methods: We accessed papers cited in the Scopus and Web of Science databases for the period of 1960 to 2014 using the current as well as previous names of the 11 Southeast Asian countries and various disciplines of ethnobiology as key words. We juxtaposed the number of publications from each country against its number of indigenous groups and languages, to see if ethnobiology research has addressed this full spectrum of ethnical diversity. The available data for the last ten years was analysed according to the five phases concept to understand the nature of studies dominating Southeast Asian ethnobiology. Results and conclusions: A total number of 312 publications were recorded in the databases for the period 1960-2014. Indonesia ranks highest (93 studies), followed by Thailand (68), Malaysia (58) Philippines (42), Vietnam (31), Laos (29), and other Southeast Asian countries (44). A strong correlation was found between the number of publications for each country, the number of indigenous groups, and the number of endangered languages. Comparing the data available for the period 2005-2009 with 2010-2014, we found a strong increase in the number of phase 5 publications. However, papers with bioprospecting focus were also on the rise, especially in Malaysia. Our study indicates that ethnobiologists still need to realise the full potential of the Biocultural Diversity of Southeast Asia, and that there is a strong need to focus more on socially relevant research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most studies of land taxation in Asia have found that its importance has declined over the 20th century, as a proportion of total government revenues and often in absolute terms. In fact, this decline started well before 1940 in most colonial territories in Asia, as well as in Japan. The paper explores the reasons for this decline in the context of several former colonies in Asia, including British India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Korea. The paper also examines why attempts to revive land taxation, especially in rural areas as a source of revenue for sub-national governments, have often been disappointing, and draws some lessons for future policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In labor-abundant countries, migrant workers are considered state assets and the government often calls them the 'economic heroes' of the nation. Yet by maximizing economic benefits, the protection of labor migrants is often neglected by both origin and host countries. The state's assumed presence in protecting its nationals is tied to its capacity to 'control' migration fl ows and protect its nationals abroad. Within this framework, the regulations concerning migrant workers' protection in Indonesia and the Philippines, which comprise the two largest exporters of migrant labor in South-East Asia, are assessed. This paper compares the two key laws in both countries: Indonesian Law No. 39/2004 and the Philippine Republic Act (RA) No. 10022. In this context, it also aims to answer the following question: Are Filipinos better protected than Indonesians? Looking specifically into the state and the economy, the history of workers' protection, and key aspects of the law, this paper recognizes several weaknesses of the Indonesian government's migrant workers protection scheme, especially in the aspects of educating workers and defining the responsibilities of government agencies. Thus, strong commitment from the government, along with close monitoring by civil society, is needed to ensure better protection for citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What makes a 'classic' in South East Asian studies? In addressing this question, the paper compares and contrasts the features of two books written in the late 1940s and early 1950s: Teodoro Agoncillo's The Revolt of the Masses and George Kahin's Nationalism and Revolution in Indonesia. It examines the subject position of the authors and the politico-academic contexts in which their works were written, assessed and consumed. Specifically, the paper explores the following questions. To what extent did scholarly merit define a 'classic'? What features internal to particular area studies stimulated or impeded the making of a potential classic? What sort of political and academic architectures were conducive or unreceptive to potential candidates? In what ways, and to what extent, have the 'rules of the game' changed 60 years later? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rare diseases, also referred to as orphan diseases, are characterised by their low prevalence with majority of them are chronically debilitating and life threatening. Given the low prevalence and the widely dispersed but very small patient base for each disease, there may often be a disproportion in the availability of treatments and resources to manage patients, spur research and train experts. This is especially true in Southeast Asian countries that are currently in the process of implementing or revising their universal health coverage schemes. This paper aims to examine the status of rare disease management in Southeast Asian countries. It will serve as the basis for a more active discussion on how countries in the region can address an under-recognised rare disease burden and enhance national and regional capacities.Methods: The study consists of literature reviews and key stakeholders interviews in six focus countries, including the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand and five countries as best practice, comprising of France, Canada, Australia, Taiwan, and South Korea. Rare disease management initiatives across each country were examined based on the World Health Organization's framework for action in strengthening health systems.Results: The results suggest rare disease management remains challenging across Southeast Asia, as many of the focus countries face fundamental issues from basic healthcare systems to funding. Nonetheless, there are substantial improvement opportunities, including leveraging best practices from around the world and organising a multi-stakeholder and regional approach and strategy.Conclusions: Southeast Asian countries have made significant progress in the management of rare disease, but there remain key areas for substantial development opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares post-transition Philippines and Indonesia, examining the ways in which authoritarian practices survive and are shaped by regime transition. It examines the transition process in each case, to identify the problems of management and control that regime elites set for themselves in the post-dictatorship period. It is argued that Philippine elites set out to disaggregate and domesticate an already mobilized opposition movement, while the Indonesian authorities strove to keep similar popular politics from mobilizing. The paper then considers how these political objectives find expression in the structuring of two important institutional fields - the electoral and policy making processes - concluding with an examination of how these considerations influence patterns of repression. In particular, the paper also investigates whether repression targets primarily proscribed modes of activity, or sets out to threaten and intimidate proscribed organizations and people. Differences in electoral and policy processes, as well as in patterns of repression, demonstrate the ways in which authoritarianism can survive regime transitions and can undermine the promise of democracy in the post-dictatorship period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares health policy trends in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand with the purpose of drawing usable lessons in reform. The study finds that governments in the region are rapidly privatizing the provision of healthcare at the same time as they are expanding the government's role in financing. The paper argues that expansion of public financing at the same time as private provision is misconceived as the combination would aggravate instances and severity of market failures peculiar to the sector. The dysfunctional trend is particularly evident in Indonesia and the Philippines. In Thailand, in contrast, the expansion of public financing has occurred in the context of a health system dominated by public providers, which has had the effect of restraining healthcare costs. Malaysia occupies a mid position between Indonesia and the Philippines on the one hand and Thailand on the other. All four cases underline the value of state capacity in designing optimal policies and implementing them effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Kangaroo mother care has been highlighted as an effective intervention package to address high neonatal mortality pertaining to preterm births and low birth weight. However, KMC uptake and service coverage have not progressed well in many countries. The aim of this case study was to understand the institutionalisation processes of facility-based KMC services in three Asian countries (India, Indonesia and the Philippines) and the reasons for the slow uptake of KMC in these countries. Methods: Three main data sources were available: background documents providing insight in the state of implementation of KMC in the three countries; visits to a selection of health facilities to gauge their progress with KMC implementation; and data from interviews and meetings with key stakeholders. Results: The establishment of KMC services at individual facilities began many years before official prioritisation for scale-up. Three major themes were identified: pioneers of facility-based KMC; patterns of KMC knowledge and skills dissemination; and uptake and expansion of KMC services in relation to global trends and national policies. Pioneers of facility-based KMC were introduced to the concept in the 1990s and established the practice in a few individual tertiary or teaching hospitals, without further spread. A training method beneficial to the initial establishment of KMC services in a country was to send institutional health-professional teams to learn abroad, notably in Colombia. Further in-country cascading took place afterwards and still later on KMC was integrated into newborn and obstetric care programs. The patchy uptake and expansion of KMC services took place in three phases aligned with global trends of the time: the pioneer phase with individual champions while the global focus was on child survival (1998-2006); the newborn-care phase (2007-2012); and lastly the current phase where small babies are also included in action plans. Conclusions: This paper illustrates the complexities of implementing a new healthcare intervention. Although preterm care is currently in the limelight, clear and concerted country-led KMC scale-up strategies with associated operational plans and budgets are essential for successful scale-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) gears toward full regional integration by 2015, the cross-border mobility of workers and citizens at large is expected to further intensify in the coming years. While ASEAN member countries have already signed the Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers, the health rights of migrants still need to be addressed, especially with ongoing universal health coverage (UHC) reforms in most ASEAN countries. This paper seeks to examine the inclusion of migrants in the UHC systems of five ASEAN countries which exhibit diverse migration profiles and are currently undergoing varying stages of UHC development. Design: A scoping review of current migration trends and policies as well as ongoing UHC developments and migrant inclusion in UHC in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand was conducted. Results: In general, all five countries, whether receiving or sending, have schemes that cover migrants to varying extents. Thailand even allows undocumented migrants to opt into its Compulsory Migrant Health Insurance scheme, while Malaysia and Singapore are still yet to consider including migrants in their government-run UHC systems. In terms of predominantly sending countries, the Philippines's social health insurance provides outbound migrants with portable insurance yet with limited benefits, while Indonesia still needs to strengthen the implementation of its compulsory migrant insurance which has a health insurance component. Overall, the five ASEAN countries continue to face implementation challenges, and will need to improve on their UHC design in order to ensure genuine inclusion of migrants, including undocumented migrants. However, such reforms will require strong political decisions from agencies outside the health sector that govern migration and labor policies. Furthermore, countries must engage in multilateral and bilateral dialogue as they redefine UHC beyond the basis of citizenship and reimagine UHC systems that transcend national borders. Conclusions: By enhancing migrant coverage, ASEAN countries can make UHC systems truly 'universal'. Migrant inclusion in UHC is a human rights imperative, and it is in ASEAN's best interest to protect the health of migrants as it pursues the path toward collective social progress and regional economic prosperity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Involuntary resettlement often impoverishes the displaced households. Cernea argued that impoverishment can be avoided with his Involuntary Risks and Reconstruction Model (IRR). The IRR Model has been widely utilized in resettlement studies and identifies nine interlinked potential risks inherent to displacement. Nonetheless, in assessing the risks as well as the effectiveness of interventions, most attention is directed at the institutional context. This paper argues that factors that mitigate risks of impoverishment are much more wide ranging. It covers the period of a year before and a year after resettlement. It investigates the manifestation of eight risks brought about by involuntary resettlement episodes in the Philippines and Indonesia as well as the factors that increased or decreased them. The findings in the study of two different resettlement contexts show the multi-dimensionality of resettlement risk causes. The study furthermore shows that institutional context alone is not enough to explain the risk outcome. Culture, physical location, individual and household characteristics should be factored in during the examination of impoverishment risks. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In a companion paper (this volume), the authors propose a methodology for assessing ash fall hazard on a regional scale. In this study, the methodology is applied to the Asia-Pacific region, determining the hazard from 190 volcanoes to over one million square kilometre of urban area. Ash fall hazard is quantified for each square kilometre grid cell of urban area in terms of the annual exceedance probability (AEP), and its inverse, the average recurrence interval (ARI), for ash falls exceeding 1, 10 and 100 mm. A surrogate risk variable, the Population-Weighted Hazard Score: the product of AEP and population density, approximates the relative risk for each grid cell. Within the Asia-Pacific region, urban areas in Indonesia are found to have the highest levels of hazard and risk, while Australia has the lowest. A clear demarcation emerges between the hazard in countries close to and farther from major subduction plate boundaries, with the latter having ARIs at least 2 orders of magnitude longer for the same thickness thresholds. Countries with no volcanoes, such as North Korea and Malaysia, also face ash falls from volcanoes in neighbouring countries. Ash falls exceeding 1 mm are expected to affect more than one million people living in urban areas within the study region; in Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines, this situation could occur with ARIs less than 40 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between economic concentration and governance remains controversial. While some studies find that high economic concentration strengthens collective action and reform cooperation, others stress dangers of rent-seeking and state capture. In this paper I argue that effects are neither strictly positive nor negative: they are best described as an inverted u-shaped relationship, where better governance performance emerges with moderate economic concentration. Decentralisation reforms in Indonesia and the Philippines -- unprecedented in scope and scale--provide a unique opportunity to explore this thesis. Subnational case studies and cross-sectional data analyses indicate that moderately concentrated polities in both countries are accompanied by more effective and less corrupt service provision. The presence of 'contested oligarchies'--a small but diverse pool of economic elites--paves the ground for more balanced policy arenas; they contribute to a scenario where private sector actors are strong enough to influence government decisions and, at the same time, diverse enough to keep themselves and public officials in check. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neopatrimonialism is a concept that has predominately been applied to describe governance in sub-Saharan Africa. Recently, however, it has also been used to describe governance in states from other world regions. However, scholars have rarely attempted systematically to compare neopatrimonial rule in different regional settings. This paper aims to narrow this gap by examining the effect of neopatrimonialism on the tax administration as a core state function in six countries from three different world regions: Argentina, Venezuela, Indonesia, the Philippines, Kenya and Zambia. We conclude that neopatrimonialism is a valuable concept for comparative area studies with the potential to foster dialogue on the 'state in operation' across the regional divide. Nevertheless, several indicators are more valid for some world regions than for others. We find that there is no systematic relationship between neopatrimonial trajectories and the strength of tax administration. Individual actor decisions influence the outcomes of neopatrimonialism substantially. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several million children currently live in transnational families, yet little is known about impacts on their health. We investigated the psychological well-being of left-behind children in four Southeast Asian countries. Data were drawn from the CHAMPSEA study. Caregiver reports from the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) were used to examine differences among children under age 12 by the migration status of their household (N = 3,876). We found no general pattern across the four study countries: Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Multivariate models showed that children of migrant fathers in Indonesia and Thailand are more likely to have poor psychological well-being, compared to children in nonmigrant households. This finding was not replicated for the Philippines or Vietnam. The paper concludes by arguing for more contextualized understandings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Snellius expedition (1929-30) in eastern Indonesia and the Philippines, a large collection of Acropora corals was made. This collection is comprised of roughly 700 specimens, many of which remain unidentifi ed. In this paper we discuss species of the Acropora humilis group collected during the expedition and compare the records with the known distribution ranges in Indonesia. New records are found, most notably for Acropora multiacuta, A. retusa and A. fastigata. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This exploratory paper uses Giddens's paradigm of social change to examine the social relationships of never-married professional women in Bangkok, Jakarta and Manila. Based on in-depth interviews, two related questions are addressed: First, how do never-married women view their place in their family network? Second, what sources of social support are available to these women? The findings show that while social relationships are being reshaped by the powerful impact of modernity, the outcome of Giddens's modernity is not uniform in these three social settings. Local context plays an important role in shaping the outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the growth and slowdown in the electronics industry in Southeast Asia. American, Japanese and European multinational corporations relocated operations in Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines in the late 1960s and early 1970s to begin electronics assembly, packaging and testing, which was followed in the late 1980s and 1990s by the relocation of electronics manufacturing from Japanese, European, American, Korean, Singaporean and Taiwanese multinationals to the above Southeast Asian countries as well as Thailand and Indonesia. Whereas Singapore has managed significant upgrading to designing and development activities through the provision of grants, incentives, labs and strong infrastructure coordination, electronics production in the remaining countries has largely remained entrenched in assembly, packaging and testing activities. The failure of Malaysia and Thailand to support technological upgrading has undermined the capacity of these economies to sustain rapid growth of the industry as China, Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam have a big edge in low wages and the labour force. Hence, while Singapore has managed to upgrade, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam continue to enjoy rapid growth in low-end manufacturing activities, Malaysia and Thailand have faced a fall in the significance of the industry since 2000. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We cannot deny that our own language, a native language and one that is not foreign is important in having self-identity or essence. The symbol of a flag, of a marcha nacional, of a national anthem, of a national flower, of a national costume are all meaningful as signs of self-identity and independence. But these are just signs — a symbol. There is a need for making meaning for those who use the symbols. And more importantly, we value the meaning more than the symbol. The symbol is only a symbol — it's not significant if the ones using the symbols don't possess the sentiments. And the signs can be replaced; they can be renewed if needed. In this paper, the case of our neighboring countries in South-East Asia such as Indonesia and Singapore are compared for the case of the Philippines, because these two countries give us a different picture in revisiting the language as an important part of the formation of our identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is a higher degree of party and party system institutionalization positively correlated with the consolidation of democracy, defined here as the prevention of democratic breakdown? In order to answer this question, it is useful to compare different levels and types of institutionalization in three Southeast Asian electoral democracies. Institutionalized party systems are characterized, according to Mainwaring and Torcal, by 'stability of interparty competition.' Moreover, the distinction made by Levitsky ('value infusion' versus 'behavioural routinization') with reference to the institutionalization of individual parties will be employed. The empirical research of this paper finds that most Indonesian parties are better institutionalized than those in the Philippines and Thailand with reference to 'value infusion.' In addition, the interparty competition is more stable in Indonesia. Therefore, the probability of a collapse of the party system in the Philippines and Thailand is much higher. This, in turn, renders the democracies in these countries more fragile and prone to political crises or even sudden breakdowns. The early organizational consolidation of social cleavages, such as in Indonesia, enhances institutionalization. A few of the most important parties are socially rooted and have strong linkages to civil and/or religious organizations. Furthermore, the relationship between central and local elites appears to be essential: strong bosses or cliques undermine institutionalization in the Philippines and in Thailand, respectively. However, in recent years there has also been a tendency towards convergence. There are signs of regression in Indonesia, such that the future of the party system is open to question. This article calls for caution with respect to the stated causal relation between institutionalization and democratic consolidation, and it questions some aspects of the concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the money demand function for five Southeast Asian countries, viz. Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach - The ARDL modeling approach is employed because of its ability to incorporate both 1(0) and 1(1) regressors. Findings - The results reveal that real M2 aggregate, real expenditure components, exchange rate, and inflation rate are cointegrated for Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore. The statistical significance of real income components suggests the bias of using single real income variable in money demand (M2 aggregate) specification of both short- and long-run. The CUSUM and CUSUMSQ tests show that the estimated parameters are stable for the five Southeast Asian economies, except for Indonesia which is based on short-run specification. Practical implications - These findings are important for policy makers in formulating monetary policy. Originality/value - Besides conventional determinants of money demand such as exchange rate and interest rate variables, this study considers the major components of final expenditure (GDP) - final consumption expenditures (private and government sectors), expenditures on investment goods, and exports as scale variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using time series dam over the past four decades, the 1960s to I990s, this paper examines rive pricing policies in Thailand. Indonesia and the Philippines, IT analyses the determinants of the paths along which these policies have moved. While it confirms the findings of previous analyses, that price stabilization has been a major policy achievement it also reveals that stabilization was not necessarily sustained over the entire survey period. It finds that politico-economic factors—such as entry into the GATT. increase in per capita GDP and achievement of rice self-sufficiency—have been among the determinants of rice pricing policy, hut the ways in which these factors have affected policy vary among these countries. Such variation, which previous cross-country studies have not analysed, is a reflection of variations in the roles of rice and in the attitudes of policy-makers in these economies. In its conclusion, this ,study draws policy implications for each country, taking into account differences in the impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the large amount of academic attention that Southeast Asian shrimp farming has received since the 1980s, few attempts have been made to explain the remarkable variation in the industry's organization across countries and localities. This paper compares the development of shrimp farming in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, arguing that differences can be traced to variations in the initial conditions under which shrimp farming was established, the different ways that national aquacultures are embedded in the regional political economy and the ways in which different countries have responded to the characteristic environmental problems the sector causes itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) gears toward full regional integration by 2015, the cross-border mobility of workers and citizens at large is expected to further intensify in the coming years. While ASEAN member countries have already signed the Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers, the health rights of migrants still need to be addressed, especially with ongoing universal health coverage (UHC) reforms in most ASEAN countries. This paper seeks to examine the inclusion of migrants in the UHC systems of five ASEAN countries which exhibit diverse migration profiles and are currently undergoing varying stages of UHC development. A scoping review of current migration trends and policies as well as ongoing UHC developments and migrant inclusion in UHC in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand was conducted. In general, all five countries, whether receiving or sending, have schemes that cover migrants to varying extents. Thailand even allows undocumented migrants to opt into its Compulsory Migrant Health Insurance scheme, while Malaysia and Singapore are still yet to consider including migrants in their government-run UHC systems. In terms of predominantly sending countries, the Philippines's social health insurance provides outbound migrants with portable insurance yet with limited benefits, while Indonesia still needs to strengthen the implementation of its compulsory migrant insurance which has a health insurance component. Overall, the five ASEAN countries continue to face implementation challenges, and will need to improve on their UHC design in order to ensure genuine inclusion of migrants, including undocumented migrants. However, such reforms will require strong political decisions from agencies outside the health sector that govern migration and labor policies. Furthermore, countries must engage in multilateral and bilateral dialogue as they redefine UHC beyond the basis of citizenship and reimagine UHC systems that transcend national borders. By enhancing migrant coverage, ASEAN countries can make UHC systems truly 'universal'. Migrant inclusion in UHC is a human rights imperative, and it is in ASEAN's best interest to protect the health of migrants as it pursues the path toward collective social progress and regional economic prosperity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Asia’s largest biofuels producers are currently Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, China and India. This paper first examines the current status of biofuels in these countries, including the national development targets, strategies, incentives and policies. It then identifies the fundamental driving forces behind the development and promotion of these industries and considers their economic, social and environmental impacts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]