Mukul G Asher
Biographic Data
| ID | 737859 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Mukul G Asher |
| GIVEN NAMES | Mukul G |
| FAMILY NAME | Asher |
| SIGNATURE | ASHER M G |
| AFFILIATIONS | National University of Singapore |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 22 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1977 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Managing shocks in Singapore's ageing and retirement arrangements
Asia is rapidly ageing and there is a need for governments to adjust social security expenditures accordingly to facilitate better management of socioeconomic shocks by the individual/household and society as a whole. This article examines the ageing and retirement arrangements in Singapore and argues that they provide a very limited ability for the individual/household to mitigate the effects of an adverse socioeconomic shock. A major contributo…
Creating fiscal space to pay for pension expenditure in Asia
Many Asian countries are projected to age rapidly and will need to devote a larger proportion of their GDP to finance age-related expenditure including on pensions. Governments therefore will have to create additional fiscal space to fund such expenditure to sustain the credibility of existing pension promises. This paper presents an exploratory framework for creating fiscal space. The framework has three interrelated components: enhancing broad-…
An Analysis of Selected Pension and Health Care Initiatives for Informal Sector Workers in India
India's demographic trends portend moderately rapid ageing of the population. This, combined with the limited coverage of pension and health care programmes in terms of population, types of risks covered, and benefit levels has led to greater urgency in extending the coverage and reform directions of the current pension and health care programmes. This article analyses three pension and health care initiatives in India directed at the workers and…
Financing for long run development outcomes
Micro-pensions in India
This article aims to fill a gap in the social security literature on India by examining the role of micro-pensions. The analysis suggests that because of the heterogeneity of the target population, micro-pension products — with microfinance institutions (MFIs) as the main, but not only sponsors — should be voluntary and portable and permit experimentation in their design and in the delivery of services. Accordingly, decentralized micro-pension sc…
Managing prolonged low fertility
This paper analyses the multi-pronged approach of Singapore to managing prolonged low fertility which has led to population ageing, labour force shortages, increasing elderly dependency ratios and feminization of the elderly population. This approach has emphasized high growth, and has given priority to becoming an attractive business location over providing adequate and equitable retirement and health financing; and has pursued policies designed…
Singapore's policy responses to ageing, inequality and poverty
Singapore represents an instructive case study in responding to rapid ageing, growing inequalities, and significant relative poverty. Unlike other high‐income Asian countries, it has relied on single‐tier mandatory savings to finance retirement, housing, and to a lesser extent, healthcare. To address the low fertility rates, it has permitted the share of the non‐citizen population to triple between 1990 and 2005 to nearly 30 per cent. This is sub…
Health Financing in Singapore
This paper assesses Singapore's healthcare financing arrangements in terms of their efficiency, fairness, and adequacy. Singapore represents an interesting case study because it is perhaps the only high-income, rapidly ageing country to rely on mandatory savings to finance healthcare, thus eschewing extensive risk-pooling arrangements, generally regarded as efficient and equitable. The paper argues that parametric reforms, i.e. relatively minor c…
Property Tax in a City-State
This paper examines the nature and structure of property tax in Singapore, an affluent and rapidly ageing city state in Southeast Asia. While the property tax based on annual rental value has a long history and is a well accepted tax in Singapore, it is only about two decades ago that the process of modernizing the tax began. The paper highlights three characteristics of Singapore's property tax. The first concerns the activist and aggressive use…
The Role of Property Tax in Fiscal Decentralization in Indonesia
Indonesia has embarked on a decentralization process with potentially far reaching implications for its fiscal system and political economy. This paper examines the role of property tax in fiscal decentralization in Indonesia. Currently, the property tax is essentially a central tax as far as design, valuation, collection (target based), and administration are concerned. The net revenue is fully shared with provinces and districts, though the bas…
Southeast Asia’s social security systems
This paper provides an assessment of the social security arrangements in Southeast Asian countries, and suggests broad directions for reform. Noting the absence of functioning multitier social security systems in these countries, the analysis highlights wide variations in various characteristics of systems in Southeast Asia. The paper underscores the need to enhance professionalism in the performance of core functions of the provident and pension…
Social security in Asia and the Pacific
Social Security Systems in Southeast Asia
This chapter provides an assessment of the sustainability of the formal social security arrangements in five Southeast Asian countries, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. There are several reasons why the provision on a sustainable basis of a socially adequate and equitable retirement protection system, while simultaneously minimizing adverse effects on economic efficiency, incentives, and international competitive…
Welfare Capitalism in Southeast Asia
This is the only in-depth study of social policies in Southeast Asia. It compares social security, health, and education policies in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. After
The Future of Retirement Protection in Southeast Asia
This paper analyses the formal retirement protection systems in five economically successful, rapidly industrializing, and globalized economies of Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. It finds that while there are major differences in the formal retirement protection systems of the five countries in terms of coverage; contribution rates; scope and nature of preretirement schemes; investment patterns, prac…
Financing Old Age In Southeast Asia
The main purpose here is to provide an overview of the social security arrangements in selected Southeast Asian countries. Given the significant differences in these countries in the underlying philosophy, design and detailed provisions concerning social security arrangements, a country-by-country rather than a comparative approach is adopted." The countries analyzed are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand
India and Singapore
Financing Local Government in Indonesia
Recent Tax Changes in Asean and their Implications
major tax reform programme in the areas of income tax, sales tax, and tax administration. Both external and internal factors have contributed to varying degrees to the need for changes in the fiscal systems of the ASEAN countries. Given the outward-orientation and the dependence of the ASEAN economies on international economic relations, developments in the world economy are likely to require adjustments in the economic policies and the fiscal sy…
The Size, Structure and Growth of Budgetary Expenditures of Singapore
Singapore's policy responses to ageing, inequality and poverty
Singapore represents an instructive case study in responding to rapid ageing, growing inequalities, and significant relative poverty. Unlike other high‐income Asian countries, it has relied on single‐tier mandatory savings to finance retirement, housing, and to a lesser extent, healthcare. To address the low fertility rates, it has permitted the share of the non‐citizen population to triple between 1990 and 2005 to nearly 30 per cent. This is sub…
The Future of Retirement Protection in Southeast Asia
This paper analyses the formal retirement protection systems in five economically successful, rapidly industrializing, and globalized economies of Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. It finds that while there are major differences in the formal retirement protection systems of the five countries in terms of coverage; contribution rates; scope and nature of preretirement schemes; investment patterns, prac…
Health Financing in Singapore
This paper assesses Singapore's healthcare financing arrangements in terms of their efficiency, fairness, and adequacy. Singapore represents an interesting case study because it is perhaps the only high-income, rapidly ageing country to rely on mandatory savings to finance healthcare, thus eschewing extensive risk-pooling arrangements, generally regarded as efficient and equitable. The paper argues that parametric reforms, i.e. relatively minor c…
Micro-pensions in India
This article aims to fill a gap in the social security literature on India by examining the role of micro-pensions. The analysis suggests that because of the heterogeneity of the target population, micro-pension products — with microfinance institutions (MFIs) as the main, but not only sponsors — should be voluntary and portable and permit experimentation in their design and in the delivery of services. Accordingly, decentralized micro-pension sc…
An Analysis of Selected Pension and Health Care Initiatives for Informal Sector Workers in India
India's demographic trends portend moderately rapid ageing of the population. This, combined with the limited coverage of pension and health care programmes in terms of population, types of risks covered, and benefit levels has led to greater urgency in extending the coverage and reform directions of the current pension and health care programmes. This article analyses three pension and health care initiatives in India directed at the workers and…
Managing prolonged low fertility
This paper analyses the multi-pronged approach of Singapore to managing prolonged low fertility which has led to population ageing, labour force shortages, increasing elderly dependency ratios and feminization of the elderly population. This approach has emphasized high growth, and has given priority to becoming an attractive business location over providing adequate and equitable retirement and health financing; and has pursued policies designed…
The Size, Structure and Growth of Budgetary Expenditures of Singapore
Recent Tax Changes in Asean and their Implications
major tax reform programme in the areas of income tax, sales tax, and tax administration. Both external and internal factors have contributed to varying degrees to the need for changes in the fiscal systems of the ASEAN countries. Given the outward-orientation and the dependence of the ASEAN economies on international economic relations, developments in the world economy are likely to require adjustments in the economic policies and the fiscal sy…
Financing Local Government in Indonesia
India and Singapore
Financing Old Age In Southeast Asia
The main purpose here is to provide an overview of the social security arrangements in selected Southeast Asian countries. Given the significant differences in these countries in the underlying philosophy, design and detailed provisions concerning social security arrangements, a country-by-country rather than a comparative approach is adopted." The countries analyzed are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand
The Future of Retirement Protection in Southeast Asia
This paper analyses the formal retirement protection systems in five economically successful, rapidly industrializing, and globalized economies of Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. It finds that while there are major differences in the formal retirement protection systems of the five countries in terms of coverage; contribution rates; scope and nature of preretirement schemes; investment patterns, prac…
Welfare Capitalism in Southeast Asia
This is the only in-depth study of social policies in Southeast Asia. It compares social security, health, and education policies in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. After
Social Security Systems in Southeast Asia
This chapter provides an assessment of the sustainability of the formal social security arrangements in five Southeast Asian countries, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. There are several reasons why the provision on a sustainable basis of a socially adequate and equitable retirement protection system, while simultaneously minimizing adverse effects on economic efficiency, incentives, and international competitive…
The Role of Property Tax in Fiscal Decentralization in Indonesia
Indonesia has embarked on a decentralization process with potentially far reaching implications for its fiscal system and political economy. This paper examines the role of property tax in fiscal decentralization in Indonesia. Currently, the property tax is essentially a central tax as far as design, valuation, collection (target based), and administration are concerned. The net revenue is fully shared with provinces and districts, though the bas…
Southeast Asia’s social security systems
This paper provides an assessment of the social security arrangements in Southeast Asian countries, and suggests broad directions for reform. Noting the absence of functioning multitier social security systems in these countries, the analysis highlights wide variations in various characteristics of systems in Southeast Asia. The paper underscores the need to enhance professionalism in the performance of core functions of the provident and pension…
Social security in Asia and the Pacific
Property Tax in a City-State
This paper examines the nature and structure of property tax in Singapore, an affluent and rapidly ageing city state in Southeast Asia. While the property tax based on annual rental value has a long history and is a well accepted tax in Singapore, it is only about two decades ago that the process of modernizing the tax began. The paper highlights three characteristics of Singapore's property tax. The first concerns the activist and aggressive use…
Health Financing in Singapore
This paper assesses Singapore's healthcare financing arrangements in terms of their efficiency, fairness, and adequacy. Singapore represents an interesting case study because it is perhaps the only high-income, rapidly ageing country to rely on mandatory savings to finance healthcare, thus eschewing extensive risk-pooling arrangements, generally regarded as efficient and equitable. The paper argues that parametric reforms, i.e. relatively minor c…
Singapore's policy responses to ageing, inequality and poverty
Singapore represents an instructive case study in responding to rapid ageing, growing inequalities, and significant relative poverty. Unlike other high‐income Asian countries, it has relied on single‐tier mandatory savings to finance retirement, housing, and to a lesser extent, healthcare. To address the low fertility rates, it has permitted the share of the non‐citizen population to triple between 1990 and 2005 to nearly 30 per cent. This is sub…
Managing prolonged low fertility
This paper analyses the multi-pronged approach of Singapore to managing prolonged low fertility which has led to population ageing, labour force shortages, increasing elderly dependency ratios and feminization of the elderly population. This approach has emphasized high growth, and has given priority to becoming an attractive business location over providing adequate and equitable retirement and health financing; and has pursued policies designed…
Financing for long run development outcomes
Micro-pensions in India
This article aims to fill a gap in the social security literature on India by examining the role of micro-pensions. The analysis suggests that because of the heterogeneity of the target population, micro-pension products — with microfinance institutions (MFIs) as the main, but not only sponsors — should be voluntary and portable and permit experimentation in their design and in the delivery of services. Accordingly, decentralized micro-pension sc…
An Analysis of Selected Pension and Health Care Initiatives for Informal Sector Workers in India
India's demographic trends portend moderately rapid ageing of the population. This, combined with the limited coverage of pension and health care programmes in terms of population, types of risks covered, and benefit levels has led to greater urgency in extending the coverage and reform directions of the current pension and health care programmes. This article analyses three pension and health care initiatives in India directed at the workers and…
Creating fiscal space to pay for pension expenditure in Asia
Many Asian countries are projected to age rapidly and will need to devote a larger proportion of their GDP to finance age-related expenditure including on pensions. Governments therefore will have to create additional fiscal space to fund such expenditure to sustain the credibility of existing pension promises. This paper presents an exploratory framework for creating fiscal space. The framework has three interrelated components: enhancing broad-…
Managing shocks in Singapore's ageing and retirement arrangements
Asia is rapidly ageing and there is a need for governments to adjust social security expenditures accordingly to facilitate better management of socioeconomic shocks by the individual/household and society as a whole. This article examines the ageing and retirement arrangements in Singapore and argues that they provide a very limited ability for the individual/household to mitigate the effects of an adverse socioeconomic shock. A major contributo…
Economics (19 works) · Political science (16 works) · Business (14 works) · Finance (11 works) · Economic growth (10 works) · Development economics (8 works) · Social security (8 works) · Finance (7 works) · Global Health Care Issues (6 works) · Pension (6 works)