Le Phuong Anh Nguyen

In the tradition of the Asia Competitiveness Institute (ACI) at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP), National University of Singapore (NUS), our research publications make a distinctive contribution to the literature by focusing on pertinent regional and national economic issues of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as one of our flagship projects. Combining leading-edge research methodologies with an extensive dataset, ACI has evaluated and tracked competitiveness for the 10 ASEAN members annually since 2000. In this edition, the competitiveness ranking and simulation study for the ASEAN-10 economies are improved and updated with 121 indicators across four environments.

In the tradition of the Asia Competitiveness Institute (ACI) at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore (NUS), our research publications make a distinctive contribution to the understanding of economic development in Asia by evaluating and tracking competitiveness for the ten ASEAN member states annually since 2000 through combining leading-edge methodologies with an extensive dataset. In this third edition, the competitiveness ranking and simulation study for ASEAN-10 are improved and updated with 121 indicators across four environments. An in-depth assessment of the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) offers important implications for future integration initiatives in the broader Asia Pacific region. Novel empirical frameworks are also applied to provide an estimation of annual agricultural Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth in eight ASEAN economies and to shed light on the drivers of growth in the travel and tourism industry in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

With the launch of the ASEAN Economic Community in December 2015, ASEAN is at a crossroads once again. Having braved through various crises since its establishment in 1967, how can ASEAN leverage on increasing integration to maintain its growth momentum in the pursuit of greater competitiveness and prosperity? Combining leading-edge research methodologies with an extensive database, the Asia Competitiveness Institute (ACI) at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, has evaluated and tracked competitiveness for the ten ASEAN members annually since 2000. In this second edition, the competitiveness ranking and simulation study for the ASEAN-10 economies are improved and updated with 121 indicators across four environments. The Geweke causality analysis is employed to offer deeper insights into the transitional economies as well as the top performers in the region. These novel empirical frameworks are placed within the overarching strategic thrust of the ASEAN-centric Asia Economic Connectivity Vision 2030 which encompasses astute workable policies through five broad proposals for furthering regional economic cooperation in Asia.

There has been broad-base growth in wealth for cities all over the world, albeit increasingly unequal within and across cities. Some cities tend to grow faster than others, especially those emerging cities in Asia. We tend to observe longer periods of economic expansions compared to downturns with increasing volatility due to external shocks as cities are also increasingly open and interconnected. Such volatility would mean a less stable macroeconomic environment for cities causing fluctuations in prices and unemployment, as well as shares between private and public consumption. Cost of living, wages and purchasing power therefore become important key benchmark indicators to track and monitor the basic living standard for cities, not just by employers and employees; they matter even more for policymakers, multinational corporations and government of the day, politically. This book is thus a valuable compendium studies on 109 major cities around the world whereby the cost of living, wage and purchasing power indices were tracked and monitored, for both average residents and expatriates, which tend to be vastly different. Annual Indices for Average Residents and Expatriates is currently the only publication that provides comparable data on cost of living across cities for both average residents and expatriates. Cost of living analysis on the latter, widely available in published works, is often mistaken or confused as on the former! This book provides a tool to analyse questions of the differences in the cost of living in cities across the globe between ordinary city dwellers and professionals who work abroad.

There has been broad-base growth in wealth for cities all over the world, albeit increasingly unequal within and across cities. Some cities tend to grow faster than others, especially those emerging cities in Asia. We tend to observe longer periods of economic expansions compared to downturns with increasing volatility due to external shocks as cities are also increasingly open and interconnected. Such volatility would mean a less stable macroeconomic environment for cities causing fluctuations in prices and unemployment, as well as shares between private and public consumption. Cost of living, wages and purchasing power therefore become important key benchmark indicators to track and monitor the basic living standard for cities, not just by employers and employees; they matter even more for policymakers, multinational corporations and government of the day, politically. This book is thus a valuable compendium studies on 109 major cities around the world whereby the cost of living, wage and purchasing power indices were tracked and monitored, for both average residents and expatriates, which tend to be vastly different. Annual Indices for Average Residents and Expatriates is currently the only publication that provides comparable data on cost of living across cities for both average residents and expatriates. Cost of living analysis on the latter, widely available in published works, is often mistaken or confused as on the former! This book provides a tool to analyse questions of the differences in the cost of living in cities across the globe between ordinary city dwellers and professionals who work abroad.