Published in March 2024

The purpose of this publication is to understand the development of the ASEAN–Japan relationship on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of ASEAN–Japan Friendship and Cooperation in 2023. This book provides an overview of Japan’s changing relationship with the ASEAN region and presents statistical analyses of trade, investment, and aid while considering the following two perspectives. The first perspective is that of the individual ASEAN countries regarding their relationship with Japan, taking into account diversity in stages of economic development and other factors. The second perspective is that of ASEAN as a whole regarding its relationship with Japan as an economic cooperation organization and the role of the ASEAN economy in a globalizing world economy.

Published in March 2024

In August 2023, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen resigned after holding office for 38 years and 7 months and was succeeded by his eldest son, former army commander Hun Manet. Why did Hun Sen decide on an early succession, contrary to the expectations of most observers? What does the formation of a “hereditary cabinet” consisting of Hun Manet and other second-generation leaders mean for Cambodian politics? This book answers these questions by examining the 2023 National Assembly election and subsequent official appointments in the new cabinet and state institutions. The examination reveals that although the Hun Sen administration has ended, his control persists even more robustly. This book reports the current state of rapidly changing Cambodian politics, detailing what has and has not changed after the general election and the formation of the new cabinet in 2023.

Published in January 2024

This book discusses the current status of political participation by persons with disabilities in Asia and analyzes the challenges that legal systems face in realizing their political rights. In the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), Article 29 “Participation in Political and Public Life” requires that States Parties to ensure the political rights of persons with disabilities and to provide them the opportunities to enjoy these rights on an equal basis with others. The international trend regarding the political participation of persons with disabilities is to amend national laws so that their right to vote is not restricted. However, even in the EU, which is a leader in the international human rights movement, less than half of member states clearly provide that individuals shall not be deprived of the right to vote under any circumstances. The analysis presented in this book reveals that in Asia, there has been only a slow movement toward lifting restrictions on the exercise of voting rights by persons with disabilities. While constitutions and disability laws state that the political rights of persons with disabilities are recognized, restrictions are nevertheless placed on the exercise of political rights through election laws and other means. Of course, this trend is a common problem not only in Asia but also all around the world, and the rights of persons with intellectual and mental disabilities in particular tend to be violated. While improving accessibility for persons with disabilities is an essential prerequisite for them to enjoy substantive political rights, countries in Asia often attempts to solve this problem by allowing proxy voting, which in an infringement against the spirit of CRPD. Efforts are expected toward creating a parliamentary system in which persons with disabilities can be elected as legislators and participate directly as members of the parliament.

Published in January 2024

After the coronavirus pandemic, digitalization is progressing rapidly and simultaneously in all around the world, both in developing and developed countries. In developing countries in particular, where the lack of infrastructure and shortcomings in various economic and social systems have been a hindrance to development, there is a growing focus on overcoming these issues with digital technology, which is hoped to lead to significant progress (leapfrogging). The digitalization of the economy first flourished in China, and this raises the question of how it is spreading in other developing countries. This book examines how ordinary people, rather than advanced corporations, are using digital technology and services in their daily lives and work, what benefits they are receiving, and what challenges they are facing in developing countries. The book explores the reality of digitalization in five countries from three regions: Peru, Venezuela, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Kenya.

Published in January 2024

This textbook is aimed at Japanese university students interested in learning about Latin American countries and their economies.
The book has three features. First, it updates the contents of earlier Japanese textbooks on Latin American economies, including recent regional economic trends such as the commodity boom from the 2000s to 2010s. The book also explains new findings in development economics, such as the institutional perspective on economic development. Second, the book is intended to attract the attention of students by focusing on current issues in Latin America rather than on historical perspectives. Third, the book utilizes new media and technology. The book was published as an open-access e-book on the website of the Institute of Developing Economies. Anyone wishing to learn about Latin American economies in Japanese can read it free of charge.

Published in December 2023

President Rodrigo Duterte, who held power in the Philippines for six years between 2016 and 2022, drastically shifted Philippine foreign policy from its previous pro-U.S. stance to a pro-China one. Domestically, he also violently enforced drug control policies, ignoring the judicial process. At the same time, he left the formulation and implementation of economic policies entirely to technocrats who promoted neoliberal policies, and he did not actively take the initiative in advancing social policies. The Duterte administration pushed for significant changes in the political and diplomatic spheres while strengthening the economic and social spheres in terms of the Philippines' post-democratization agenda of strengthening democracy and the rule of law and ensuring neoliberal competition. This book seeks to clarify the significance of the Duterte administration for the Philippines in the post-democratization era by describing its political, economic, social, and diplomatic features. This book will also provide clues to understanding the background behind the administration's emergence, particularly the political and economic challenges facing the post-democratization Philippines. In this way, this work will explore where the Philippines is headed in the future and will contribute to the understanding of emerging democracies facing similar difficulties.

Published in March 2023

In the Pacific Island region, the movements of people, companies, and international organizations in and out of the region have had a major impact not only on the island nations in the region but also on the politics, economy, and society of countries outside the region, including Australia and the United States.
This book examines how borders and immigration policies have affected the lives of people who have experienced “movement” in the Pacific Island region, and how these have been both tools and obstacles. It also explores the effects of these policies on the immigrants and the political economy of their home countries. While shedding light on the reality of immigrants facing various vulnerabilities, the book also considers immigrants as resilient beings who are striving for self-actualization while adapting their strategies in response to changes in various regulations and restrictions.

Published in March 2023

As “late-comer public policies,” resource and environmental policies had to form relevant government organizations and institutions in the presence of already existing public policies, such as industrial and public health policies. As many environmental problems had existed in the past and then changed their forms and become apparent as social problems, they were already addressed in existing public policies. The formation process of resource and environmental policies needs to be analyzed from a long-term perspective because it tends not only to be influenced by other policies, but also to be path-dependent due to the order of relevant historical events and long-term historical trends. This book is a product of the research group on “causal relationships and social agreement in the process of environmental and resource policy formation”, which conducted research in 2020 and 2021. At the Institute of Developing Economies, research groups of almost the same members have conducted collaborative research projects since 2010, sharing a common perspective of "late-comer public policy." Their results have been published in five publications (IDE Research Series No. 605 (2013), IDE Research Series No. 614 (2015), IDE Research Series No. 638 (2019), the EPUB and on-demand publication (2021), and the English publication from Edward Elgar Publishing (2021)). This book is the sixth and final publication. In comparison with the previous five publications, this book is characterized by analyses that take into account factors of “ideas”, in addition to “interests” and “institutions”, in the policy formation process, and by examination of discussions on the “authoritarian environmentalism”. The Introduction contains further details.