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This paper surveys the literature on the links between education and economic growth in East Asia. It finds that education is important for economic growth but it is not a sufficient condition. The complementarity between education and other factors in enhancing productivity and efficiency is commonly seen as the driving force of economic growth. However, the empirical evidence is ambiguous due to econometric problems. Statistical analysis suggests that education and economic growth in East Asia have two-way causality. Nevertheless, valuing education has been a widely-accepted part of Asian values. As a result, education consistently presents as a significant income determinant and consequentially a growth factor, regardless of whether education can increase productivity. East Asian education systems are also formed and extended in close relation to the stages of their economic development: the higher the level of economic development, the greater the demand for better and higher education systems. Copyright © 2009 The Author. Journal compilation © 2009 Crawford School of Economics and Government, The Australian National University and Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Aiming to support downstream cocoa processing industries, the Indonesian Government announced an export tax on cocoa beans in 2010. This paper investigates whether the Indonesian Government has imposed an optimal tax rate and examines the determinants of cocoa bean export growth using data from Ivory Coast, Ghana and Indonesia for 1970-2011 and applying a vector error correction model. This study highlights the interdependence of major cocoa exporting countries' policy and reveals that Indonesia currently imposes a tax rate that is above its optimal rate.

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The Thai Government introduced a generous price support program for paddy rice in 2011. The policy terminated in mid 2014 with the dismissal of the democratically elected Prime Minister, Ms Yingluck Shinawatra. There is an interest in understanding the welfare effects of the policy given the ongoing civil suit put against the former Prime Minister and the large stocks that remain. This study therefore analyses the welfare effects of various Thai rice policy options using a 10-region, dynamic, stochastic, partial equilibrium model of world rice trade. It finds that while the Thai policy was effective in supporting the incomes of rice producers in the short run, the burden imposed on taxpayers and consumers seems difficult to justify.JEL classifications: Q17, Q18