{"title":"Sherry Tao Kong Comments on COVID-19 in Taiwan: Economic Impacts and Lessons Learned","authors":"Sherry Tao","doi":"10.1162/asep_a_00826","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/asep_a_00826","url":null,"abstract":"Sherry Tao Kong, Peking University: While the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing in most parts of the world, Taiwan has emerged as a shining example, characterized by one of the lowest infection rates globally and a death toll remaining below double digits. No doubt much can be learned from the Taiwan experience, not just because of how it successfully contained the COVID-19 beast per se, but equally, if not more importantly, because of the fact that this has been achieved without painful socioeconomic disruption.","PeriodicalId":52020,"journal":{"name":"Asian Economic Papers","volume":"20 1","pages":"118-120"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42517066","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Miao Zhang Comment on COVID-19: Malaysia Experience and Key Lessons","authors":"M. Zhang","doi":"10.1162/asep_a_00808","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/asep_a_00808","url":null,"abstract":"Miao Zhang, Xiamen University: As of 25 November 2020, Malaysia has reported a total of 60,752 confirmed cases of COVID-19. The first wave (from 25 January to 16 February) and second wave (from 27 February to 30 June) saw a total of 10,219 infections. The highest number of confirmed cases (50,533) was recorded in the current and third wave, which had been occurring since 25 September. Despite its relatively good management of the pandemic in the early stages, this sudden rise in the number of infections recently has sharpened the urgency for the Malaysian government to enforce more effective measures to level the current wave of the pandemic. While the government faces great challenges in managing the public health crisis, it must also try to strike a balance between lost lives and lost livelihoods, which is especially pertinent for the relatively small and open economy of Malaysia.","PeriodicalId":52020,"journal":{"name":"Asian Economic Papers","volume":"20 1","pages":"93-95"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41738888","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Yiping Huang Comments on The Global Macroeconomic Impacts of COVID-19: Seven Scenarios","authors":"Yiping Huang","doi":"10.1162/asep_a_00819","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/asep_a_00819","url":null,"abstract":"Yiping Huang, Peking University: COVID-19 has dramatically changed the shortterm growth trajectory of the world economy. In October 2019, the IMF predicted that the world, the United States, and the Chinese economies in 2020 would grow by 3.4 percent, 1.7 percent, and 5.8 percent respectively (IMF 2019). In June 2020, due to the COVID-19 shock, the IMF downgraded these forecasts to −4.9 percent, −8.0 percent, and 1.0 percent, respectively (IMF 2020). But the exact macroeconomic impacts of COVID-19 are still not clear. We do not yet fully understand how the virus initially emerged and how it mutates. The mechanisms through which the pandemic affects economic activities are even more complex.","PeriodicalId":52020,"journal":{"name":"Asian Economic Papers","volume":"20 1","pages":"38-40"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48660916","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Xiaoqing (Maggie) Fu Comments on Teleworker Performance in the COVID-19 Era in Japan","authors":"X. Fu","doi":"10.1162/asep_a_00831","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/asep_a_00831","url":null,"abstract":"Xiaoqing (Maggie) Fu, University of Macau: This paper uses a unique survey data set on telework in Japan in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic to investigate the impact of telework on worker efficiency and the determinants of teleworking efficiency. The topic is timely and important because the ongoing pandemic has made teleworking a more important contribution to business continuity. This development is important in Japan in particular. Prior to the crisis, Japanese firms were reluctant to adopt teleworking even though the Japanese government has campaigned since 2016 for the introduction of telework as part of its labor reforms. The findings suggest that during the COVID-19 pandemic, telework has reduced worker efficiency by around 20 percent. Teleworking efficiency is found to be significantly and positively related to telework experience, clearly specified tasks, flexible working time, and good mental health.","PeriodicalId":52020,"journal":{"name":"Asian Economic Papers","volume":"20 1","pages":"194-196"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49525413","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Keun Lee Comments on Financial Spillover in Emerging Asia: A Tale of Three Crises","authors":"Keun Lee","doi":"10.1162/asep_a_00828","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/asep_a_00828","url":null,"abstract":"Keun Lee, Seoul National University: This paper analyzes the propagation of shocks originating in the United States and Japan into countries of emerging Asia (EA) in terms of five asset classes. It compares the scale and nature of spillovers during the 2008– 09 global financial crisis (GFC), the 2013 “taper tantrum” (TT), and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. All three events have important and interesting implications for future economic management in Asia.","PeriodicalId":52020,"journal":{"name":"Asian Economic Papers","volume":"20 1","pages":"171-172"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46582843","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Yanrui Wu Comments on Financial Spillover in Emerging Asia: A Tale of Three Crises","authors":"ThreeCrises, YanruiWu","doi":"10.1162/asep_a_00829","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/asep_a_00829","url":null,"abstract":"Yanrui Wu, University of Western Australia Business School: This paper examines and compares three major crises, namely, the 2008–09 global financial crisis (GFC), the 2013 “taper tantrum” (TT), and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (C-19) and their potential spillover effects. The topic is interesting and timely given the current outbreak of COVID-19 in the world. The paper thus potentially adds to the literature and contributes to the understanding of the economic impacts of a major crisis or pandemic in the world.","PeriodicalId":52020,"journal":{"name":"Asian Economic Papers","volume":"20 1","pages":"173-174"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49448062","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Zdenek Drabek Comments on Impacts of Lockdown Policies on International Trade*","authors":"Z. Drabek","doi":"10.1162/asep_a_00824","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/asep_a_00824","url":null,"abstract":"Zdenek Drabek, CERGE-EI, Charles University: The effects of COVID-19 on global trade are undoubtedly a matter of major interest to all of us. The rise of China and Southeast Asia have been greatly enabled by globalization and the rapid growth of global trade and foreign direct investment. The spectacular transition of post-Communist countries from central planning to market-oriented economies has been driven by the success of economic integration in Europe. Even the United States, which has been recently attacking multilateral institutions, has been a beneficiary of improved market access around the globe. Open markets and capital mobility have been a major source of a spectacular growth of profits of big U.S. tech companies and financial institutions.","PeriodicalId":52020,"journal":{"name":"Asian Economic Papers","volume":"20 1","pages":"142-149"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48947312","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sungbae An Comments on The Global Macroeconomic Impacts of COVID-19: Seven Scenarios","authors":"S. An","doi":"10.1162/asep_a_00817","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/asep_a_00817","url":null,"abstract":"Sungbae An, Korea Institute for International Economic Policy: The COVID-19 pandemic sheds unprecedented light on how to incorporate health shocks into macroeconomic models. Previous literature on diseases, as summarized in the paper, focuses largely on the economic welfare effects of long-term public health conditions and chronic illnesses linked to mortality and disability. There are a number of reasons for the dominance of these approaches. First, the evaluation of consequences is readily available through traditional labor supply channels. When a part of the labor force is affected by a disease, additional labor costs arise from the temporary loss of working hours by patients and care-givers, medical costs until recovery, and possible long-term deficiency in productivity due to mortality and disability. In this case, the epidemiological literature can estimate the impact of disease on the population and labor force, and it is introduced as an exogenous labor productivity shock to macroeconomic models. Second, long historic data on such diseases are available across countries, so empirical evidence is relatively well established. Often, cohort and panel data for long-term chronic disease, combined with dietary variables, are available in many advanced economies, which helps identify the empirical significance of health shocks.","PeriodicalId":52020,"journal":{"name":"Asian Economic Papers","volume":"20 1","pages":"31-33"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46253865","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How China Managed the COVID-19 Pandemic","authors":"W. Tian","doi":"10.1162/asep_a_00800","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/asep_a_00800","url":null,"abstract":"The COVID-19 pandemic has swept across China and the world, causing more than 30 million infections and incalculable damage. China was seriously damaged and threatened by the disease in the first quarter of 2020, but finally succeeded in halting its spread in a short period. This was achieved through quick and strong measures in self-protection, mobility control, resource allocation, professional health care, and disinfection, under the organization of the government and the cooperation of all the Chinese people. The measures that were taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 proved to be efficient in fighting the outbreak in Beijing in June 2020. This paper reviews China's experience with COVID-19, the Chinese economy's performance during the pandemic, and the government's policies to protect lives, maintain markets, and promote the economy. The data show that strong monetary and fiscal policies accelerated the country's economic recovery. These policies, including tax reductions and credit support, targeting small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) and industries and regions that were severely damaged, have helped to create jobs and encourage production and investment.","PeriodicalId":52020,"journal":{"name":"Asian Economic Papers","volume":"20 1","pages":"101-134"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2021-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"64482702","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Y. Konishi, Takashi Saito, Toshiki Ishikawa, Hajime Kanai, Naoya Igei
{"title":"How Did Japan Cope with COVID-19? Big Data and Purchasing Behavior","authors":"Y. Konishi, Takashi Saito, Toshiki Ishikawa, Hajime Kanai, Naoya Igei","doi":"10.1162/asep_a_00797","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/asep_a_00797","url":null,"abstract":"Japan has been recognized as having successfully controlled the spread of COVID-19. This study aims to gather insights to combat the spread of infection in our daily lives by observing our purchasing behavior. We use point of sales (POS) data from supermarkets, convenience stores, home centers, drug stores, and electronics retail stores for a nationwide analysis. Our analysis revealed the following. First, the Japanese actively prevented the spread of infection by voluntarily wearing masks, using alcohol-based disinfectants, and gargling. Second, they willingly stayed home during the semi-lockdown. Third, they continued to purchase infection prevention essentials during periods of both low and high levels of infection. We conclude that continuing to wear masks, wash and sanitize hands, and gargle, along with spending more time at home to maintain safe distancing, will be effective in reducing the spread of the virus and combatting the pandemic. Finally, infections and deaths were primarily concentrated in the Tokyo metropolitan area and the Kansai region, where the nature of the spread of the infection was different from that in small and middle-sized prefectures.","PeriodicalId":52020,"journal":{"name":"Asian Economic Papers","volume":"20 1","pages":"35-59"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2021-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44264479","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}