Nineteenth Annual EASE conference.

• Position: Conferences - Conference news

The NBER, the China Center for Economic Research, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research; the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the Korea Development Institute, the Productivity Commission of Australia, the Singapore Management University, and the Tokyo Center for Economic Research jointly sponsored the NBER's 19th Annual East Asian Seminar on Economics on June 19-21. Takatoshi Ito, University of Tokyo and NBER, and Andrew K, Rose, University of California, Berkeley and NBER, organized the conference, which focused on "The Demographic Transition in the Pacific Rim." These papers were discussed:

Ronald Lee, UC, Berkeley and NBER, and Sang-Hyop Lee and Andrew Mason, University of Hawaii, "The Demographic Transition and Economic Growth in the Pacific Rim"

Discussants: Jocelyn Finlay, Harvard University, and Jong-Wha Lee, Asian Development Bank

Fumio Ohtake; Osaka University, and Shinpei Sano, Kobe University, "The Effects of Demographic Change on Public Education in Japan"

Discussants: Daeil Kim, Seoul National University, and Chang-Gyun Park, Chung Ang University

Naohiro Ogawa, Amonthep Chawla, and Rikiya Matsukura, Nihon University, and Andrew Mason, Japans Unprecedented Aging and Changing Intergenerational Transfers"

Discussants: Worawan Chandoevwit, TDRI, and Alejandro Herrin, Philippine Institute for Development Studies

Chin Hee Hahn, KDI, and Chang-Gyma Park, Chung-Ang University, "Demographic Transition, Human Capital Accumulation and Economic Growth: Some Evidence from Cross-Country and Korean Micro Data"

Discussants: Meng-Chun Liu, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, and Chulhee Lee, Seoul National University

Meng-Chun Liu, and Gee San, National Central University, "Population Aging and Industrial Competitiveness: The Case of the Electronics Industry in Taiwan" Discussants: Francis Lui, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Jinyoung Kim, Korea University

Peta Furnell, Harry Greenwell, and Julie Tinnion, Australian Treasury, "Population Aging and Higher Net Migration: Implications for Australian Long-Term Demographic and Economic Projections" Discussants: Douglas Almond, Columbia University and NBER, and Noriyuki Takayama, Hitotsubashi University

Chulhee Lee, "Labor-Force Participation of Older Males in Korea: 1955-2005" Discussants: Kyungsoo Choi, KDI, and Fumio Ohtake, Osaka University

Noriyuki Takayama, Hitotsubashi University, "Pension Issues in Japan: How Can We Cope with the Declining Population?"

Discussants: Worawan Chandoevwit, TDRI, and Hyung Pyo Moon, KDI

Hisam Kim, KDI, "Intergenerational Transfers and Old-Age Security in Korea" Discussants: Jiyeun Chang, Korea Labor Institute, and Peta Furnell

Douglas Almond, Columbia University and NBER; Lena Edhnd, Columbia University; Hongbin Li, Tsinghua University; and Junsen Zhang, Chinese University of Hong Kong, "Long-Term Effects of Early-Life Development: Evidence from the 1959-1961 China Famine"

Discussants: Ronald Lee, and Naohiro Ogawa, Nihon University

David E. Bloom, Harvard University and NBER, and David Canning and Jocelyn E. Finlay, Harvard University, "Population Aging and Economic Growth in Asia"

Discussants: Roberto Mariano, Singapore Management University, and Kwanho Shin, Korea University

Francis T. Lui, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, "Demographic Transition, Childless Families and Economic Growth"

Discussants: Hongbin Li, Tsinghua University, and Roberto Mariano, Singapore Management University

Lee, Lee, and Mason note that declining mortality followed by declining fertility over the demographic transition initially will produce decades of rising child dependency, then decades of improving support ratios as child dependency falls (the "first dividend" that raises per capita consumption, other things equal), and...