Featured Speaker Webinar with Jean-Louis Arcand: Economics From Outer Space
The webinar highlighted how satellite‑derived nighttime luminosity (NTL) data is reshaping development economics by providing a near‑real‑time, granular proxy for economic activity, urbanization, and energy use. Professor Jean‑Louis Arcand traced the evolution from early, low‑resolution datasets to the current high‑resolution NASA “Black Marble” products, emphasizing that the data are freely available and require only modest computational resources. Arcand presented empirical evidence that NTL tracks GDP at both country‑level time series and cross‑sectional snapshots, often achieving R‑squared values above 0.8. He illustrated the method’s power through a regression‑discontinuity evaluation of Morocco’s National Human Development Initiative, where a 30 % poverty‑rate threshold yielded a 19 % jump in nighttime brightness—an effect detected at zero marginal cost. Similar analyses across former colonies confirmed the robustness of the luminosity‑GDP relationship. The speaker also stressed practical considerations: the unit of observation is the pixel, and researchers can aggregate to communes or districts using open‑source tools in R or Python. He warned that NTL is a data source, not a new econometric methodology, and should be integrated with standard identification strategies. Training programs for scholars in the Global South were proposed to disseminate these techniques, leveraging the low fixed cost of data access. Overall, the session underscored that satellite NTL offers a scalable, cost‑effective means to fill data gaps, monitor policy outcomes, and inform inclusive development strategies—provided capacity‑building partnerships are established to democratize its use.
ADBI Asia's Developing Future Podcast: How Demographics Are Redefining Asias Future
The ADBI podcast examines how divergent demographic trends—rapid aging in some Asian economies and youthful populations in others—are reshaping the region’s growth outlook. It highlights the urgency for aging societies, exemplified by Japan, to implement early, coordinated reforms in pensions,...
Explainer: How Will Technology Shape the Future of Farming in Asia?
Agriculture underpins the livelihoods of more than 350 million smallholder farmers across Asia, yet the sector is strained by labor shortages, rising input costs, and increasingly frequent climate shocks. A new wave of agri‑tech—centered on smartphones, AI‑driven analytics, and low‑cost IoT...
HSR Webinar Series: Policy Considerations for National HSR Network Development – Cases in Uzbekistan
The Asian Development Bank Institute hosted the fourth webinar in its high‑speed rail series, turning its focus to Uzbekistan’s emerging national network. Participants from across Asia examined how the land‑locked country is upgrading Soviet‑era corridors with imported technology, leveraging...
ADBI Asia's Developing Future Podcast: Asia's Next Phase of Economic Integration
The Asian Development Bank Institute’s podcast examined Asia’s evolving economic integration, emphasizing how traditional trade structures are intersecting with a rapid rise in digital commerce. Host Dean Irvin and fellow Suri Shereai outlined the region’s deepening production networks, the impact...
ADBI Asia's Developing Future Podcast: Indermit Gill on Asia’s Path to Sustainable Growth
The podcast hosted by ADBI’s dean Babam Brojonoro features World Bank chief economist Indermit Gill discussing Asia’s growing vulnerability to the middle‑income trap. The conversation builds on recent World Development Report findings and ADBI’s new “Shaping Asia’s Future Prosperity” program,...
Explainer: How Will Technology Shape the Future of Farming in Asia?
The video explains how mechanization—tractors, tillers, and small‑scale machinery—can reshape farming across Asia, where over 350 million smallholder families face labor shortages, rising costs, and climate shocks. Research by ABI in China shows that mechanized farms achieve higher yields, better nutrition,...
6th Annual Forum on Expanding Women’s Participation in the Economy
The sixth Annual Forum on Expanding Women’s Participation in the Economy convened in Tokyo, bringing together policymakers, business leaders, and experts to examine how green and digital transitions are reshaping work for women across Asia and the Pacific. Sponsored by...
Featured Speaker Webinar with Prof. John Gibson
Professor John Gibson, a development economist, presented research on flood adaptation and urban vulnerability, highlighting how climate‑related disasters increasingly threaten economic security in Asian cities. He noted that flood damage costs are projected to double, with most losses uninsured and many...
Featured Speaker Webinar with Prof. Yuta Toyama
The webinar featured Professor Yuta Toyama of Waseda University presenting his joint research on nonlinear electricity pricing, specifically how consumer misperception can undermine policy goals. Using the case of Bhutan’s 2013 free‑first‑100 kWh subsidy for rural households, the study blends structural...
2025 ADBI Annual Conference Day 3 (Part 5/6): Harnessing Incentives for Economic Cooperation...
The final panel of the 2025 ADBI Annual Conference examined how to harness incentives for workable economic cooperation and integration across Asia. Chaired by Professor Shiro Armstrong, the discussion brought together senior officials from ESCAP, APEC, Pakistan’s financial sector and...