In this collection, academics and policy-makers from Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Singapore present research results on a variety of topics based around three key themes: macroeconomics and trade, labour and social issues, and taxes and government spending. The chapters are empirically-oriented and include both cross-country studies and individual country studies. They include examinations of key topics, such as the problem of corruption, the relationship between trade liberalisation and growth and the impact of migration on the Asian welfare state, as well as studies of Chinese manufacturing exports and the income volatility of Indonesian banks. The scholarship containing in this collection is a crucial resource to researchers and commentators on the economies in our Asia-Pacific region. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy.