Fiscal Policy and Management in East Asia

by Takatoshi Ito, Andrew K. Rose

Overview

Managing fiscal policy—the revenues and spending of an individual nation—is among the most challenging tasks facing governments. Wealthy countries are constrained by complex regulation and taxation policies, while developing nations often face high inflation and trade taxes. In this volume, esteemed economists Takatoshi Ito and Andrew K. Rose, along with other leading experts, examine the problems and challenges facing public finance in East Asian developing countries as well as the United States and Japan.

Fiscal Policy and Management in East Asia explores the inefficient tax systems of many developing countries, the relationship between public and private sector economic behavior, and the pressing issue of future obligations that governments have undertaken to provide pensions and health care for their citizens. Featuring both overviews and analyses of the countries discussed, this book will be of value to economists and policymakers seeking to understand fiscal policy in a global context.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226386812
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	11/15/2007
Series:	National Bureau of Economic Research East Asia Seminar on Economics , #16
Pages:	376
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Takatoshi Ito is professor in the graduate schools of public policy and of economics at the University of Tokyo and a research associate of the NBER.

Andrew K. Rose is the B.T. Rocca Professor of Economic Analysis and Policy at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, and a research associate of the NBER.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

     Introduction
     Takatoshi Ito and Andrew K. Rose

I. FISCAL SYSTEMS IN DEVELOPING AND DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

     1. Puzzling Tax Structures in Developing Countries: A Comparison of Two Alternative Explanations
     Roger Gordon and Wei Li
     Comment: Francis T. Lui
     Comment: Michael M. Alba

II. THE IMPACT OF GOVERNMENT POLICY ON PRIVATE BEHAVIOR

     2. The Direct Substitution between Government and Private Consumption in East Asia
     Yum K. Kwan
     Comment: Kiyoshi Mitsui
     Comment: Mario B. Lamberte

     3. Measuring the Effectiveness of Fiscal Policy in Korea
     Seok-Kyun Hur
     Comment: Wei Li
     Comment: Yum K. Kwan

     4. Income Risk and the Benefits of Social Insurance: Evidence from Indonesia and the United States
     Raj Chetty and Adam Looney
     Comment: Roger Gordon
     Comment: Mario B. Lamberte

III. INTERNATIONAL LONG-RUN SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES

     5. Will China Eat Our Lunch or Take Us to Dinner? Simulating the Transition Paths of the United States, the European Union, Japan, and China
     Hans Fehr, Sabine Jokisch, and Laurence J. Kotlikoff
     Comment: Yasushi Iwamoto
     Comment: Cielito F. Habito

     6. External Debt, Adjustment, and Growth
     Delano P. Villanueva and Robert S. Mariano
     Comment: Francis T. Lui

IV. SUSTAINABILITY: COUNTRY ISSUES

     7. Australian Government Balance Sheet Management
     Wilson Au-Yeung, Jason McDonald, and Amanda Saygh
     Comment: Youngsun Koh
     Comment: Corrine Ho

     8. Dealing with Contingent Liabilities: The Philippines
     Gilberto M. Llanto
     Comment: Jason McDonald
     Comment: Shigeki Kunieda

     9. Reforming the Fiscal Management System in Korea
     Youngsun Koh
     Comment: Gilberto M. Llanto
     Comment: Chong-Hyun Nam

     10. Population Aging, Fiscal Policies, and National Saving: Predictions for the Korean Economy
     Young Jun Chun
     Comment: Laurence J. Kotlikoff
     Comment: Shigeki Kunieda

     11. Sustainability, Debt Management, and Public Policy in Japan
     Takero Doi, Toshihiro Ihori, and Kiyoshi Mitsui
     Comment: Dante B. Canlas

     12. Policy Options for Financing Future Health and Long-Term Care Costs in Japan
     Tadashi Fukui and Yasushi Iwamoto
     Comment: Epictetus Patalinghug
     Comment: Raj Chetty

Contributors
Author Index
Subject Index

Editorial Reviews

"This book offers many new empirical results and useful insights into important aspects of fiscal management in an international perspective. . . . I am particularly taken with the new household-level studies which are producing useful policy implications for fiscal management."

Journal of Pension Economics and Finance - Satoshi Shimizutani

"A welcome addition to the existing literature, providing not only a fascinating set of studies relating to Asian and Pacific countries but also focusing on issues such as fiscal sustainability, which receive only passing mention in public finance textbooks. . . . This is not only a book of interest to academicians, but one that provides important messages for policy makers struggling to address the looming problems of ageing populations and pension and medical care reform."

Asian Pacific Economic Literature - Peter S. Heller

"This book offers many new empirical results and useful insights into important aspects of fiscal management in an international perspective. . . . I am particularly taken with the new household-level studies which are producing useful policy implications for fiscal management."

— Satoshi Shimizutani

Journal of Pension Economics and Finance

"A welcome addition to the existing literature, providing not only a fascinating set of studies relating to Asian and Pacific countries but also focusing on issues such as fiscal sustainability, which receive only passing mention in public finance textbooks. . . . This is not only a book of interest to academicians, but one that provides important messages for policy makers struggling to address the looming problems of ageing populations and pension and medical care reform."

— Peter S. Heller

Asian Pacific Economic Literature