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This paper explores the dynamics of economic growth, poverty, inequality and migration in Thailand, and evaluates the relevance of Lewis model to Thailand's long-term development. Thai economy seems to follow the latter part of the Kuznets curve since mid-1990s, amidst the global trend of rising internal inequality. Also, Lewis model's predictions were not present, both in the overall pattern of internal migration and the labor market conditions in either urban or rural areas. Dualism in Thailand is better characterized by formal/informal dichotomy. However, the Lewis model can be relevant if modified by including the role of foreign workers.

This paper examines the impact of banks’ lending incentives on asset prices and bank cash holdings under liquidity risk. Banks make lending decisions based on the tradeoff between costs (fire sales of illiquid assets) and benefits (high returns from bank loans). This paper shows fire sales of assets can be an endogenous outcome, even if banks are endowed with enough cash to meet liquidity shocks. This paper also helps explain why banks have kept a large amount of cash without lending after government capital injections in the 2008 financial crisis. The model further provides policy implications for government intervention.

India's retail sector has recently been witnessing a rapid transformation in many aspects of the business by introducing scalable and profitable organized or modern retail models across different categories and, thereby, making way for new formats over the existing unorganized or traditional ones. While the organized retailing refers to trading activities undertaken by licensed retailers who are registered for sales tax, income tax, and routine regulatory checks, the unorganized retailing mostly includes low-cost neighborhood kiranas or mom-and-pop shops, kiosks, street markets, hand-cart and pavement vendors. This coexistence of two types of retailing has given rise to an organizational or institutional dualism in India's retail sector. Because of a perceived threat that small traders will bear the brunt of the organized retail growth by losing their business, the government's current regulatory policy has been very cautious. As a result, the growth of the Indian retail sector as a whole has increasingly become inclusive.

As in all other countries in the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has shattered many aspects of life in Indonesia. The pandemic has caught everybody by surprise, unprepared to adapt to and mitigate the new crisis. This chapter attempts to show how Indonesia responded to the economic issues during the pandemic: how the government responded to relieve the economic suffering of the people, how individuals coped with the crisis, how business behaved to survive (including the use of e-commerce), and how resilient the macro-economy was. It is based on many scattered surveys, mostly conducted by Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS — Statistics Indonesia), on COVID-19. The data are mostly until end of December 2020. The discussion is preceded with the trend of the pandemic and change in population mobility. The chapter concludes that 6 months after the start of the pandemic, people’s mobility resumed closer to levels before the pandemic, and the economy was already improving, even as the number of daily infected cases kept rising. Some people and some businesses enjoyed economic opportunities during the pandemic, particularly those who could use online activities and practise tight health protocols.

This chapter contributes to the understanding of technology adoption and innovation in peripheral regions, with a specific focus on Poland. It addresses the challenges faced by these regions, including insufficient support from state institutions, limited investment capital, and infrastructural inefficiencies. Despite these barriers, this chapter identifies several development opportunities. Overall, we observed that local companies are demonstrating adaptability to new technologies and leveraging local scientific communities, indicating a promising technological future. This chapter highlights the importance of evidence-based policies that consider regional needs and capabilities. It emphasizes the need for collaboration between local governments, businesses, academic institutions, and community organizations to support innovation, entrepreneurship, and job creation. By providing insights into the strategies and initiatives that can enhance technological development in peripheral regions, this chapter contributes to the literature on technology adoption and innovation in developing economies. The findings offer valuable guidance for policymakers and stakeholders seeking to promote economic growth and prosperity in peripheral areas.