Using Evidence to Inform Policy - Report of Impact and Policy Conference: Evidence in Governance, Financial Inclusion, and Entrepreneurship

The Impact and policy conference provides a forum to share study findings and learning from implementation challenges and builds a community that embraces knowledge, expertise, and peer learning.

Corporate Planning in the Public Sector: A Guide for Pacific Policy Makers

This note is based on ADB's support for corporate planning reforms in Pacific developing member countries. It discusses an integrated approach to corporate planning and reform which may assist Pacific developing member country officials to work toward improved public service performance and service delivery to stakeholders.

Government Fiscal Policies and Redistribution in Asian Countries

This paper assesses the impact of government fiscal policies on income inequality in Asia.

Urban Passenger Transport: Framework for an Optimal Modal Mix

This policy brief discusses a policy framework for an optimal modal mix promoting innovations in road design, institutional structure, vehicle design, and financial schemes. It also describes some legislative, institutional, administrative requirements necessary in ensuring an optimal modal mix leading to a sustainable transport system.

Financial and Economic Assessment of Biodiesel Production and Use in India

Biofuels are receiving increased attention because they have the potential to enhance the energy security of energy-deficit countries while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. They also offer opportunities for inclusive rural development. Prevailing administered prices do not provide adequate financial incentives to produce biodiesel in India, as this paper shows. In contrast to financial analysis, social cost-benefit analysis reveals that biodiesel production from jatropha and pongamia is economically viable. This paper points out that financial analysis results may not provide a sound basis for public policy, particularly when there are distortions in the market. Biodiesel also has the potential to generate significant rural employment and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. If biodiesel production to meet the 20% blending target is limited to wasteland, food production in India will not be affected. This paper explains the reasons why the biodiesel sector in India has failed to take off and argues that public sector interventions are needed to correct the market, nonmarket, and institutional failures that are preventing the biodiesel markets from developing.

Buyer, Regulator, and Enabler: The Government's Role in Ecosystem Services Markets

To provide insights for policy makers in the People's Republic of China in the development of a national ecocompensation policy framework, this paper discusses the public sector's role in payments for ecological services internationally.

This paper was originally produced for the "International Conference on Payments for Environmental Services," held in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in China on 6-7 September 2009, and jointly hosted by the People's Republic of China's National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the government of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). It is part of the full volume of conference proceedings published by ADB in December 2010, entitled Payments for Ecological Services and Eco-Compensation: Practices and Innovations in the People's Republic of China.

Reducing Inequality in the People's Republic of China through Fiscal Reform

This policy note highlights the crucial role that fiscal policy could play in efforts to reduce income inequality, both directly and indirectly, through raising revenues for progressive programs.

通过财政改革减少中国的不平等

本政策建议强调，通过为积极项目增加税收，财政政策可直接或间接对减少收入不平等起到至关重要的作用。