October 2018

24Oct

A grey area: Asia’s elderly

Asia’s ageing population will come under discussion today at a conference in Tehran, co-hosted by the Iranian government, the United Nations and HelpAge International, an NGO. Unlike the West, some Asian countries will grow old before they get rich. Deloitte, a consultancy, reckons that by 2030 the region will account for three-fifths of the world’s over 65s. The elderly are living longer with better access to health care. Younger ones are marrying late, causing fertility rates to drop sharply....

October 24, 2018
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03Oct

How can smart buildings help an ageing Asia?

Artificial intelligence, the internet of things and other smart technologies can help to make buildings smarter and more efficient, but can they make cities better places to live for the elderly? The technology of the fourth industrial revolution could make cities smarter than ever. But are smarter cities better for the environment and its residents? This was a central theme at the International Green Building Conference held in Singapore in September, where two panel sessions were dedicated to the topic of...

October 3, 2018
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September 2018

06Sep

Pensions and insurers give new impetus to Asia’s ETFs

Yield-chasing has been a persistent theme among Asian insurers. “As low interest rates reduce the income-generating ability of fixed-income investments, insurers are looking to diversify their return sources,” says Brian Roberts, senior vice‑president and head of exchange-traded products at HKEX. “Investors can’t control market returns, but can control fees that eat away at their returns. The low-cost, tax-efficient nature of ETFs is one of the reasons we’re seeing stronger interest among insurers.” According to data compiled by research provider ETFGI,...

September 6, 2018
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August 2018

31Aug

Asians must wake up to the hidden costs of retirement

It is no secret that global debt levels are rising, and now stand above 300% of overall gross domestic product, to the consternation of at least some investors. Less well known is the equally disturbing fact that retirement liabilities -- future commitments covering pensions, health and social care costs -- are also rising rapidly and, in some countries, they already dwarf current debt levels. Today, this is primarily a problem for the developed world, including the U.S., Europe and Japan. But...

August 31, 2018
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25Aug

Demographics and Interest Rates in Asia

By Serkan Arslanalp (International Monetary Fund (IMF)), Jaewoo Lee (International Monetary Fund (IMF) - Research Department) & Umang Rawat (International Monetary Fund (IMF)) Demographic developments have been regarded as one important cause of the long-termmovement in global interest rates. This paper provides empirical evidence of therelationship between demographics and interest rates over a wide sample of advanced andemerging market economies. It also finds that capital account openness limits the directsensitivity of a country's interest rates to its own demographics. The results suggest...

August 25, 2018
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23Aug

4 ways to rethink social protection for future work in Asia

Anyone who studies welfare systems, particularly on providing social protection or social security for every citizen, usually goes back to the argument between the approaches defended by 19th century German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck and UK progressive economist Lord William Beveridge. These two models have divergent objectives: while Bismarck’s is to assure a standard of living, the Beveridge system focuses on securing a subsistence level. Although there is some convergence, both models are still being practiced throughout the world. People are...

August 23, 2018
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June 2018

16Jun

Population Aging and the Possibility of a Middle-Income Trap in Asia

By Joonkyung Ha (Hanyang University - Ansan Campus) & Sang-Hyop Lee (University of Hawaii - Department of Economics) We present three conditions for a demography-driven middle-income trap and show that many economies in East, South, and Southeast Asia satisfy all of them. The conditions are (1) support ratio—the ratio of workers to consumers—matters for economic growth, (2) economic development accompanies more investment in human capital and lower fertility due to the quantity–quality trade-off, and (3) current low level of fertility...

June 16, 2018
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January 2018

22Jan

Eurasian Economic Perspectives: Proceedings of the 20th Eurasia Business and Economics Society Conference

By Mehmet Huseyin Bilgin,‎ Hakan Danis,‎ Ender Demir & Ugur Can This volume presents selected papers on recent management research from the 20th Eurasia Business and Economics Society (EBES) Conference, which was held in Vienna in 2016. Its primary goal is to showcase advances in the fields of public economics, regional studies, economic development and inequality, and economic policy-making. Reflecting the contemporary political climate, many of the articles address the effectiveness, relevance and impact of European Union policies. In addition,...

January 22, 2018
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September 2017

22Sep

For Asia’s rapidly aging populations, innovation and forward-thinking policies drive retirement security

The quickening pace of aging in Asia -- a region with more than half the world's population over 60 -- has urgent implications for the region's families, retirees, pensions and policy makers. "Given Asia's aging populations, retirement challenges are particularly acute in the region," said Professor David Blake, director of the Pensions Institute at London's Cass Business School. "Solutions require urgent action from both businesses and individuals, and governments need to implement policies that support this action." With falling birth rates and declining death rates, Asia's societies face...

September 22, 2017
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20Sep

ASEAN Conference to help address issues and challenges of ageing in the region

The 1st ASEAN Conference on Healthy Ageing is set to take place this 10th-12th October in Sarawak, Malaysia. Themed Ageing - Challenges, Successes and the Journey Ahead, the conference is aimed to help address the issues and challenges of rapidly ageing populations in the region. The conference is organised by the Malaysian Healthy Ageing Society (MHAS) in collaboration with the Sarawak Convention Bureau. Clinicians from various disciplines, allied health professionals, the legal fraternity, financial institutions, insurers, pharmaceutical companies, policy makers,...

September 20, 2017
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