Sunday 5 August 2012

CALL FOR PAPERS

TOWARDS INCLUSIVE ASEAN ECONOMIC GROWTH
The 37th FAEA Annual Conference
Manila-Philippines, November 28-29, 2012
Venue: Philippine International Convention Center
CCP Complex, Roxas Blvd, Manila, Philippines

The Philippine Economic Society (PES) is pleased to host this year, the 37th Federation of ASEAN Economics Association annual conference with the overarching theme “Towards Inclusive ASEAN Economic Growth”. Southeast Asia has been the stage for rapid growth in the last three decades. It is important to ensure that the fast economic growth indeed benefits the greatest number and especially, the poor; and that income distribution does not worsen. Thus, the sub-themes for this year’s FAEA conference focus on policy areas that can contribute to an economic environment conducive to inclusive growth. The subthemes include:
1. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises – Micro, small and medium enterprises can be a potent force for inclusive growth, employment generation, and poverty reduction. Small and medium enterprises may already account for more than 96% of all enterprises, 50% to 85% of domestic employment, 19% to 31% of exports, and 30% to 53% of GDP in ASEAN. SMEs have historically had to confront with limited access to finance, technology and markets. In a globalized world, the challenge for policy is how to overcome these obstacles and allow SMEs to improve their productivity and competitiveness.
2. Financial and Capital Markets Development – There is evidence that access to financial markets tends to reduce poverty. More inclusive and stable financial markets help set the foundation for longer term economic growth. Some ASEAN countries have also recently inaugurated their equity markets. Of particular interest may be measures to improve access to capital markets for more firms, including SMEs, and for small savers to gain access to an expanded range of financial instruments including insurance.
3. Competition Policy – Competition policy can guard against a few dominant firms erecting entry barriers and preventing competition from developing. Small developing economies with smaller markets may be more prone to such market risks. By creating a more level playing field, competition policy can pave the way for more inclusive growth. At the same time, competition policy has to balance the interests of access by new entrants and that of efficiency. Several ASEAN members have enacted their competition policy laws while others are in various stages of coming up with their own competition policy laws and authorities.
4. Food Security and the Environment - The recent problem of extreme food price volatility in 2008 in the case of rice, requires stronger cooperation and improved coordination of policies in the ASEAN region. The ASEAN Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry had called for building up regional food reserves, expanding food trade, improving the food information system and increasing food production in 2009 in the aftermath of the rice price crisis. Food trade in the region, particularly in rice, is very thin, despite the fact that deeper trade can make the region more resilient to unexpected food price fluctuations. The notable achievement of ASEAN was the regional emergency rice reserves it set up with China, Japan, and Korea in 2011. However, a lot needs to be done in generating, analyzing and disseminating accurate information about food markets to prevent unproductive speculative market behavior. Low food productivity, high post harvest losses, and inefficiencies in the food supply chains of the region, often due to distortions in pricing policies, continue to pose obstacles to improving food security. Meanwhile, increasing cognizance must be given to the environment as climate change impacts natural resources like water availability. Asia has also been visited by natural disasters like earthquakes, floods, and tsunamis in recent years. Sustainability must also now be taken into account in the quest for food security.
5. Social Protection Mechanisms – Last but not the least, there remains the need to have in place safety nets to assist those sectors of the population that will require assistance in order to participate in the economic growth. In the meantime, they may also need help to ride out the lingering effects of the global financial crisis that has dampened economic growth in many countries and the impacts of natural and other idiosyncratic shocks. Looking forward, social protection can also play a more active role in economic growth with long term effects. Mechanisms such as health insurance can smooth food consumption and prevent the youth dropping out of school when households face catastrophic health expenses.
6. Others – Papers on other areas and topics may be considered subject to selection by the Organizing Committee and the availability of breakout rooms.

Deadline and Guidelines for Submission of Abstracts and Papers
Important Dates:
Submission of abstract: August 31, 2012
Decision on acceptance of papers: September 21, 2012
Submission of Final Papers: October 22, 2012

Guidelines for Abstracts and Papers:
1. The cover page of the paper should contain the title, authors’ names, affiliations, phone and fax numbers, and email addresses.
2. The abstract and full papers should be written using Microsoft Word Document with font Times New Roman, font size 12 and 1.5 spacing.
3. Footnotes should be numbered consecutively in the text.
4. Illustrations, figures and tables should be numbered in Arabic numerals, accompanied by titles and sources.
Please submit abstracts and papers by email to: pes.eaea@gmail.com. Correspondences and inquiries may be directed to the PES Secretariat, Ms. Charm Escueta, at the above email address with postal address Philippine Economic Society Secretariat, c/o Philippine Social Science Council, Commonwealth Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines 1101. Tel Nos. (63)(2) 9292671 and (63)(2) 9244178 (fax) Information on hotel accommodations is being finalized and will be forthcoming together with conference registration information.

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