Abstract:

APEC economies display large variation in terms of income per capita. The richest APEC economies have an income per capita about twenty times higher than the poorest ones. So far most work on fiscal policy and climate change has been written with developed economies in mind. This report corrects that bias with a particular focus on the developing economies of APEC. It draws on examples from three developing economies in particular, China, Indonesia and Vietnam. It also pays close attention to lessons that could be learnt from the advanced economies of APEC and elsewhere.

This report was prepared as part of the APEC Finance Ministers‘ Policy Initiatives of 2008. Under this initiative, the World Bank was asked to prepare studies on the current state of economic policies concerning climate change and recommendations for strengthening these policies. This is one of the background studies which have been prepared. The background studies and a synthesis report based on these studies were presented to APEC bodies such as the Senior Finance Officials Meetings in September 22, 2010. The final versions are being tabled at the Finance Ministers‘ meetings in November, 2010.