Publications
Books to Buy
Risk and Resilience in the Era of Climate Change
Essential insights on the interaction between rising risks and raising the bar for resilience during the climate crisis.
From Inside Brazil: Development in a Land of Contrast
This book presents a strong agenda and action plan to achieve for Brazil both economic growth and improved welfare for its citizens.
The Quality of Growth
Economic growth is key to development both in its pace and also in its quality. ‘The Quality of Growth’ is a collection of essays in an ongoing research project.
Best Practices in Trade Policy Reform
This work draws on a unique body of evidence from developing countries in the 1980s to assess how much trade liberalization has really taken place, what economic gains were expected and realized, and why the outcomes have varied from one another.
Restructuring Economies in Distress: Policy Reform and the World Bank
Case studies of nine countries under adjustment explore how well they complied with loan conditions and how their economies performed before, during, and after adjustment.
Remembering Our Future
This collection of articles communicates the ideas behind these themes. The pieces cover a broad range of media outlets and provide a cross section of work at the World Bank Group, at the Asian Development Bank and partner institutions.
A Vision for Development Dialogues on the Work of Vinod Thomas
This book examines the 35-year career of Vinod Thomas. He spent those 35 years within the World Bank Group in different positions and in different regions.
Open Access Books
Economic Evaluation of Sustainable Development
This book presents methods to evaluate sustainable development using economic tools. The focus on sustainable development takes the reader beyond economic growth to encompass inclusion, environmental stewardship and good governance.
Climate Change and Natural Disasters
Vinod Thomas proposes that economic growth will become sustainable only if governments, political actors, and local communities combine natural disaster prevention and controlling climate change into national growth strategies.
Multilateral Banks and the Development Process
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. When the links in the chain represent development projects, if individual projects fail to achieve their purpose, the development program’s effectiveness is compromised.
World Development Report 1991
This publication provides a comprehensive overview of the development agenda. Against the backdrop of emerging challenges, the book links the historic debates and evolving thoughts on the way forward.
Articles
Climate
- “Southeast Asia’s Resilience Must Match Rising Climate Risks”, Philippine Journal of Public Administration, December 28, 2023 (Read Article).
- “COP 28 faces a giant communications challenge”, Financial Times, November 12, 2023 (Read Article).
- “Forum: Climate action not a matter of trade-offs”, The Straits Times, October 19, 2023 (Read Forum).
- “Can Southeast Asia prioritize climate over politics to bridge the financing gap?”, The South China Morning Post, October 15, 2023 (Read Article)
- “‘Sponge city’ failures show holes in current climate change defence”, The Straits Times, September 4, 2023 (Read Article).
- “Southeast Asia’s new imperative to confront brutal heat”, June 6, 2023 (Read Article).
- “We moved mountains to fight Covid-19”, July 06, 2023 (Read Article)
- “A crusader to reduce risk, increase resilience in the era of climate change”, May 19, 2023 (Read Article)
- “The truth about climate action versus economic growth”, May 3, 2023. (Read Article)
- “Singapore climate actions a guide for Asia, says Former World Bank Economist”, Asia News Network, April 6, 2023, (Read Article).
- “Priorities for Action in the Face of Runaway Climate Change”, April 13, 2023. (Read Article).
- Commentary: “Risk and Resilience in the Era of Climate Change”, The Brookings Institute, April 4, 2023 (Read Commentary)
- “The Necessity of Climate Economics”, Project Syndicate, October 16, 2019 (Read Article)
- “Is Climate Change Behind the Rise in natural Disasters?” with Ramon E Lopez and Pablo A. Troncoso. March 10, 2016. (Read Article)
- Contributors to the Frequency of Intense Climate Disasters in Asia-Pacific Countries (with Jose Ramon Albert and Cameron Hepburn). Climatic Change. Volume 126, Issue 3-4, pp 381-398 Springer. October 2014.WJuly 6, 20203
Urban
- “Southeast Asia’s Stakes in Pricing Carbon”, August 25, 2023 (Read Article).
- “Building resilience and preventative responses to withstand global crises”, East Asia Forum, April 26, 2022 (Read Article)
- “Evaluating Pollution Control,“ Journal of Development Economics, 1985.
- “Welfare Analysis of Pollution Control with Spatial Alternatives.” Urban Studies, No.20, 1983.
- “Spatial Differences in the Cost of Living.” Journal of Urban Economics, Vol.8, 1980
- “Measurement of Spatial Difference in Poverty.” Journal of Development Economics, Vol.7, 1980.
Development
- “Southeast Asia’s Need to Bridge the Climate Financing Gap”, Eco Business, 13 October 2023 (Read Article)
- “Southeast Asia’s Need to Bridge the Climate Financing Gap”, Fulcrum Singapore, 10 October 2023 (Read Article)
- “Overlapping crises could fracture the global financial system”, Financial Times, 7 September 2023 (Read Article)
- “Why quality matters.” The Economist, Economics Focus, October 7, 2000.
- “Missing Lessons of East Asia,” with Yan Wang, Trade: Towards Open Regionalism, (ed. S. J. Burki, G. E. Perry and S. Calvo), 1997.
- “Distortion, Interventions, and Productivity Growth: Is East Asia Different?” a paper with Yan Wang. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 1996, V.44 (2) 265-288.
- “Recent Lessons of Development.” with Larry Summers in World Bank Research Observer, July, 1993.
- “Policies for Economic Development” with Stanley Fischer, Volume 459, June 1990
Evaluation
- “Commentary: Why it pays for Singapore to be much more ambitious in raising carbon tax”, Channel News Asia, February 16, 2022.
- Impact evaluations to guide policy, September 3, 2014.
- “Evaluation for Better Development Results” with Jiro Tominaga, Journal of Development Effectiveness. October, 2010.
- “Evaluation Systems, Ethics, and Development Evaluation”, American Journal of Evaluation, vol 31, number 4, December 2010.