This GLO Cluster will focus on the following pressing issues in a South-East Asian context: the impact of foreign labor on native employment; work conditions and rights of migrant workers;  school-to-work transition and graduate/youth unemployment; trends in income and education inequality; market returns to education and skills; women’s participation in the economy; and labor market implications of population ageing.

Cluster Lead: Niaz Asadullah

Niaz Asadullah is a Professor at Monash University Malaysia. He has been a Professor of Development Economics at the University of Malaya, visiting fellow at Oxford, Manchester, Reading and Mindanao State Universities and research member of IZA (Bonn) and the Centre on Effective States and Inclusive Development (ESID) (Manchester).

 

2022 Media:

• Business FM radio (Malaysia) interview: Reversing The Brain Drain In Malaysia, 28 Dec 2022.
• Business FM radio (Malaysia) interview: Malaysia’s New Employment Act, 30 Aug 2022. 
• Business FM radio (Malaysia) interview:  Let them eat chicken (…but not at reduced prices), 4 July 2022.
• Nature Magazine interview: How climate change could drive an increase in gender-based violence, 15 July 2022. 
• The Economist  interview: New transport infrastructure helps South Asian women into work, 7 July 2022.
• Business FM radio (Malaysia) interview: Why accuracy in labor statistics is important, 16 June 2022. 
• Business FM radio (Malaysia) interview: Why the discrepancy for Bangladeshi workers? 3 June 2022. 
• Business FM radio (Malaysia) interview: Should we make rest days mandatory, 6 May 2022. 
• The Edge Financial Daily (Malaysia) interview: Malaysia’s ratification of ILO Protocol of 2014 a good start in combatting forced labour, 4 April  
• Business FM radio (Malaysia) interview: How to recover from pandemic learning loss, 18 Mar 2022.
• The Edge Financial Daily (Malaysia) interview: The State Of The Nation: Collective effort necessary to eliminate malnourishment among children, 21 Mar 2022.
• The Edge Financial Daily (Malaysia) interview: The State Of The Nation: Battling the silent, longer-term threats to the country’s growth post-Covid-19, 21 Mar 2022.
• Astro TV (Malaysia) interview: Displaced for development (on poverty in indigenous Mah Meri communities), 4 Feb 2022.

2022 Activities:

• Organization of a session on Inequality and Public Policy in Asia during the GLO Global Conference 2022 on December 3, 2022:  COMPLETE SESSION DETAILS
• Special issue: The Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia will publish a special issue on “Inequality and Public Policy in Asia” in collaboration with the GLO Southeast Asia Cluster under the direction of its GLO Cluster Lead M Niaz Asadullah (Guest Editor). Submission deadline is June 30, 2022. Call for Papers.
• 04; 19: GLO SE Asia to Celebrate 51st Birthday of Bangladesh jointly with North South University, Bashundhara City, Bangladesh
• 03; 25:  GLO South-East Asia Youth Policy Forum. Invitation and Program.

2021 Media:

• Asadullah, M Niaz et al (2021) “Using survey experiments to measure gender attitudes“, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Global Health Initiative Blog, 15 May 2021.
• Asadullah, M. Niaz , Elisabetta De Cao and Zahra Siddique (2021) “Measuring gender attitudes in developing countries” GlobalDev Blog, Global Development Network, 8 March 2021.
• Asadullah, M. Niaz et al (2021) “Addressing Hidden Support for Gender Inequalities” GlobalDev Blog, Global Development Network, 15 March 2021.

2021 Activities:

• 10; 29: GLO South-East Asia Cluster. Webinar on “Predicting learning continuity during the COVID-19 epidemic using machine learning models.” INFO & Registration.
• 4; 9: College of Population Studies, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. GLO East Asia Cluster Webinar on Promoting Well-being During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

2020 Media:

• Asadullah, M Niaz (2020) “Is ASEAN’s COVID-19 response leaving migrant workers behind?” East Asia Forum, 21 May 2020.
• Asadullah, M Niaz (2020) “3D JOBS INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE MALAYSIAN DREAM“, Business FM Morning podcast, 20-May-2020. 07:45 AM.
• Asadullah, M Niaz, Maliki and Aulia, Fisca (2020) “COVID-19: What can Indonesia learn from past crises to avoid another poverty hike during the pandemic?“, The Conversation, 15 May.
• Aulia, Fisca, Maliki and Asadullah, M Niaz (2020) “Without intervention, model shows COVID19 will drag at least 3.6 million Indonesians into poverty“, The Conversation, 15 May
• Asadullah, M Niaz (2020) , “COVID-19 WILL LEAVE AN UNEVEN IMPACT ON UNEMPLOYMENT“, Business FM Morning podcast, 4-May-2020. 09:30 AM.
• Asadullah, M Niaz, Maliki and Aulia, Fisca (2020) “Learning from the past: strategies for poverty alleviation in Indonesia during COVID-19”, The Conversation
  May 1, 2020
• Asadullah, M Niaz and Bhula-or, Ruttiya (2020) “Why Coronavirus Pandemic Will Worsen Inequality in Thailand“, The Diplomat 
  April 28, 2020
• Asadullah, M Niaz and Raman, Mishkatur (2020) “Migrant workers cut off from aid put public health at risk“, The Edge Financial Daily
  April 27, 2020.

2020 Activities:

• 06; 25: Special COVID-19 webinar by GLO Southeast Asia Lead Professor Niaz Asadullah on the human capital crisis caused by the pandemic in Bangladesh. Niaz will share his preliminary findings from a nationwide survey conducted in collaboration with Brac Institute of Governance and Development.
• 02;10: Niaz Asadullah gave a talk at the Department of Economics of East West University in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on “Labor Economics for Southeast Asia“. Report.

2019 Media:

• op-ed: Asadullah, M Niaz and Chen, Theresa (2019) “Asia’s Student-debt Time Bomb” The Project Syndicate, 25 June
• op-ed: Asadullah, M Niaz and Wahhaj, Zaki (2019) “Early marriage and the persistence of traditional norms” CEPR VoxDev, 11 March.
  
• op-ed: Asadullah, M Niaz and Savoia, Antonio (2019) “Here’s how we can eradicate poverty in Africa faster” World Economic Forum, 4 March.
• op-ed: Asadullah, M Niaz & Savoia, Antonio: “Bangladesh is booming, but slide towards authoritarianism could burst the bubble“, The Conversation, 28 February, 2019.
• op-ed: Asadullah, M Niaz and Savoia, Antonio: “How Africa can catch up with the world in the fight against poverty“, The Conversation, 27 February, 2019.

2019 Activities:

• 12; 5-6: Colombo, Sri Lanka. 6th International Conference on Poverty and Sustainable Development 2019 (ICPSD 2019). GLO is strategic partner, M. Niaz Asadullah the keynote speaker. Conference Report.
• 4; 17: Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS). Joint UMS-GLO Public Lecture at University Malaysia Sabah with GLO Malaysia Lead M. Niaz Asadullah
• 3; 21-22: Guangzhou, China. Jinan University. IESR-GLO Workshop on “Belt and Road” Labor Markets. Organizers: Shuaizhang Feng and Klaus Zimmermann. A focus will be China, South Asia and South East Asia.
• 2; 8: Tibanga, Mindanao State University, Iligan Institute of Technology (MSUIIT), Philippines. Lecture by M Niaz Asadullah on “Happiness and Income“.
• 2; 8: Tibanga, Mindanao State University, Iligan Institute of Technology (MSUIIT), Philippines. GLO-MSUIIT Public Lecture by M Niaz Asadullah on “Education 4.0: Technology, Teachers and Learners”. Report 1. Report 2.
• 2; 7: Tibanga, Mindanao State University, Iligan Institute of Technology (MSUIIT), Philippines. Lecture by M Niaz Asadullah on “Women, Islam, and Development“.
• 2; 6: Tibanga, Mindanao State University, Iligan Institute of Technology (MSUIIT), Philippines. Lecture by M Niaz Asadullah on “Ending Global Poverty: Progress and Challenges“.
• 2; 4: Tibanga, Mindanao State University, Iligan Institute of Technology (MSUIIT), Philippines. Lecture by M Niaz Asadullah on “Industry 4.0 and the Role of the Academe“.

2018 Media:

2018 Activities:

• 10; 19: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. GLO-UM Joint Labor Economics Seminar. 1.  Details. 2. Final Report.
• 8; 21: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. GLO-UM Joint Labor Economics Seminar. 1. Details. 2. Final Report.
• 8; 14-17: Manila, Philippines. Asian Productivity Organization (APO) Workshop at the Development Planning Academy (DAP). Report.
• 3; 27: Guangzhou, China. Jinan University, Institute for Economic and Social Research (IESR). First IESR – GLO Labor Workshop with paper presentation of Niaz Asadullah.

2017 Activities:

• 10; 10-11: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 3rd International Conference on Social Protection – Migration, Development and Social Welfare: Implications and New Insights“. Special GLO session. Details.
• 8; 21-22: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. International Conference on Applied Economics and Policy (ICAEP) 2017. Special GLO session. Details.
• 8; 10-11: Jakarta, Indonesia. Indonesia Development Forum (IDF) conference on “Fighting Inequality for Better Growth“. Details.

Below: GLO Lead for South-East Asia Niaz Asadullah (Malaya University) in Manila (Philippines) during a conference in August 2018.

Below: GLO Lead for South-East Asia Niaz Asadullah (right, Malaya University) and GLO President Klaus F. Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT and Bonn University) at Jinan University during the first IESR – GLO Labor Workshop on March 13, 2018 in Guangzhou.

Ends;