Energy-Economy Link

The papers collected here, originally presented at a seminar cosponsored by the East-West Center and the Asian Productivity Organization, address the links between energy sector performance and economic development in the Asia-Pacific region. The contributors include senior-level government officials and researchers concerned with energy planning and economic development. Their aim throughout is to identify the major linkages that do exist, to assess the role of the energy sector in future development, and to discuss energy policy options that will optimize economic growth.

Divided into five major sections, the volume begins with papers that explore regional issues of energy and economic development. Separate chapters are devoted to the effects of OPEC and oil price fluctuations, the relationship between energy and economic growth, energy trade in Asia and the Pacific, changes in the balance of payments and capital flows, and problems of property rights and petroleum exploration. The sections that follow present case studies of individual Pacific and Asian countries, organized by region. Particular attention is paid to the effects of increasing interdependencies within the region and to the relative success of policies developed in response to the long-term outlook for oil supplies and prices. Students of energy economics and Asian development will find The Energy-Economy Link invaluable reading.

WILLIAM E. JAMES is Research Associate, Resource Systems Institute, East-West Center, and Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of Hawaii.