While Asia’s growth record in recent decades is remarkable, it has been marred by rising inequalities. This book looks at recent trends of income and non-income inequalities in developing Asian countries, discusses their underlying driving forces, and examines key policy issues that need to be addressed to ensure that the benefits of growth will be more equitably shared in Asia. The book also presents a set of country studies that provide rich information on growth, poverty and inequality dynamics and the policy challenges that arise in marching toward inclusive growth.

This paper assesses how pro-poor and inclusive Asia’s recent growth has been, and what factors have been driving these outcomes. It finds that while poverty has fallen across the region over the last two decades, inequality has increased, dampening the impact of growth on poverty reduction. As a result, relative to other emerging and developing regions and to Asia’s own past, the recent period of growth has been both less inclusive and less pro-poor. Our analysis suggests a number of policies that could help redress these trends and broaden the benefits of growth in Asia. These include fiscal policies to increase spending on health, education, and social safetynets; labor market reforms to boost the labor share of total income; and reforms to make financial systems more inclusive.

Asia’s rapid economic growth has led to a significant reduction in extreme poverty, but accompanied by rising inequality. This book deals with three questions: What have been the trends of inequality in Asia and the Pacific? What are the key drivers of rising inequality in the region? How should Asian countries respond to the rising inequality? Technological change, globalization, and market-oriented reform have been the key drivers of Asia’s remarkable growth and poverty reduction, but they have also had significant distribution consequences. These three drivers of growth cannot be hindered because they are the sources of productivity improvement and betterment of quality of life. This book will be useful to those interested in policy options that could be deployed by Asian countries in confronting rising inequality.

Asia’s rapid economic growth has led to a significant reduction in extreme poverty, but accompanied by rising inequality. This book deals with three questions: What have been the trends of inequality in Asia and the Pacific? What are the key drivers of rising inequality in the region? How should Asian countries respond to the rising inequality? Technological change, globalization, and market-oriented reform have been the key drivers of Asia’s remarkable growth and poverty reduction, but they have also had significant distribution consequences. These three drivers of growth cannot be hindered because they are the sources of productivity improvement and betterment of quality of life. This book will be useful to those interested in policy options that could be deployed by Asian countries in confronting rising inequality.

This book provides practical policy recommendations that are useful for developing Asia and for accelerating poverty reduction plans in the rest of the world. Poverty reduction in all its forms remains one of the greatest challenges facing humanity. In developing Asia, rapid growth in countries and sub-regions such as China, India, and Southeast Asia has lifted millions out of poverty, but progress has been uneven. On the other hand, the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the global economic recession that it has caused are pushing millions of people back into poverty. Poverty reduction, inclusive growth, and sustainable development are inseparable, and poverty reduction is the premise for sustainable development. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a bold commitment to finish what we started and end poverty in all forms and dimensions by 2030. However, because of the current global recession, the world is not on track to end poverty by 2030. Given the aforementioned situation, if we plan to achieve the no-poverty target in line with the SDGs, governments need to reconsider their policies and economies need to allocate their resources for this aim. Owing to the importance of the topic, this book provides several thematic and empirical studies on the roles of small and medium-sized enterprises, local businesses and trusts, international remittances and microfinance, energy security and energy efficiency in poverty reduction, and inclusive growth.

Developing Asia’s sustained rapid growth has improved general living standards and lifted hundreds of millions of Asians out of poverty within a generation. Yet the region now finds itself confronting rising inequality. Countries where inequality has worsened over the past 2 decades collectively account for over 80% of Asia’s population. As a result, governments across the region have begun to accord a higher priority to promoting more inclusive growth. The international experience, especially the experience of the advanced economies, suggests that fiscal policy can make a potent contribution to reducing inequality. This book systematically explores the relationship between both sides of fiscal policy—public spending as well as taxes and other fiscal revenues—and inequality in Asia at great depths. On the basis of the analysis, the book sets forth a number of concrete options for rendering fiscal policy a more effective tool for more inclusive growth that benefits all Asians. Inequality, Inclusive Growth, and Fiscal Policy in Asia is written in response to an issue of growing demand in most Asian countries, and it comes at a time when Asian governments are also beginning to use fiscal policy to bridge the glaring disparities between the rich and the poor of the region. As such, the book will be a highly valuable reference for researchers, policy makers, and students as well.

Income inequality is one of the most profound social, economic, and political challenges of our time. The gap between the rich and the poor has been regarded as a major concern for policy makers. This gap is at its highest level in decades for developed economies, while the inequality trend has been rising in many developing countries. In Asia, despite recent economic growth, income distribution has been worsening as well. This book contributes to the existing literature on inequality in Asia by focusing on three broad themes, corresponding to three parts of the volume. Part I offers an overview of inequality in Asia, Part II focuses on the drivers of rising inequality in Asia, and Part III presents country case studies.