This is the only in-depth study of social policies in Southeast Asia. It compares social security, health, and education policies in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. After describing the policies and assessing their adequacy and equity implications, it examines the forces that have shaped them. It concludes that social programs (except for primary education) in the region are both inadequate and inequitable. It argues that the reason for this is political rather than cultural or socio-economic.

'...an introduction to social policy in the region that manages to be succinct yet detailed at the same time.' - Stephan Haggard, American Political Science Review

M. RAMESH is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Government, at the University of Sydney. He currently teaches post-graduate courses on international political economy, Asian Pacific politics and public policy in the newly industrialising countries of Asia. He is co-author (with Michael Howlett) of two books, The Politics Economy of Canada and Studying Public Policy, and has published widely on a variety of topics in political economy, public policy, and international relations in a range of international journals.

MUKUL G. ASHER is Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. He is the author or co-author of several books on the various aspects of fiscal systems in Southeast Asia and in other areas of public policy. His recent books include Environment and the Developing World (co-authored with Avijit Gupta) and The Macro-economics of Financing Government Expenditure (co-authored with Ramkishen Rajan). He has published in a range of international journals on tax reforms and social security arrangements in Southeast Asia and has contributed numerous chapters in edited volumes in these and other areas. He has been a consultant to the World Bank, The Asian Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations.