Ahmed, SadiqGhani, Ejaz2012-06-042012-06-042008-09https://hdl.handle.net/10986/6959South Asia has attracted global attention because it has experienced rapid GDP growth over the last two decades. What is not so well known is that South Asia is the least integrated region in the world. South Asia has opened its door to the rest of the world but it remains closed to its neighbors. Poor market integration, weak connectivity, and a history of friction and conflict have resulted in two South Asias. The first South Asia is dynamic, growing rapidly, highly urbanized, and is benefiting from global integration. The second South Asia is rural, land locked, full of poverty, and lagging. The divergence between the two South Asias is on the rise. Policy makers in South Asia have realized that countries and regions can not grow in isolation. The unique geography of South Asia-distance and density--has the potential to raise growth through increased flow of labor, capital, ideas, technology, goods and services within the region and with the rest of the world. Most lagging regions, in terms of both per capita income and poverty incidence, in South Asia are either land-locked or located in the border areas. Regional cooperation and market integration will unlock the development of these lagging regions in South Asia.CC BY 3.0 IGOAGGLOMERATION BENEFITSAGGLOMERATION ECONOMIESAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITYAGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGYAGRICULTURAL TRADEAGRICULTUREAIRANNUAL GROWTHANNUAL GROWTH RATEARBITRAGEAVERAGE GROWTHAVERAGE GROWTH RATEBACKWARD REGIONSBENCHMARKINGBETTER ACCESS TO MARKETSBORDER CROSSINGSBOTH SEXESBRIDGECENTRAL BANKCHRONIC POVERTYCITIZENCITIZENSCLIMATE CHANGECOMPETITIVENESSCONFLICTCOUNTRY LEVELDAMAGESDEVELOPED COUNTRIESDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPMENT INDICATORSDEVELOPMENT REPORTDEVELOPMENT STRATEGYDIMINISHING RETURNSDIVIDENDSDRIVERSDRUG TRAFFICKINGEARTHQUAKEECONOMIC ACTIVITIESECONOMIC ACTIVITYECONOMIC COOPERATIONECONOMIC GEOGRAPHYECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC INEQUALITYECONOMIC SIZEECONOMIES OF SCALEELASTICITYEMPIRICAL STUDIESEXPORT GROWTHEXPORTSEXTERNALITIESEXTREME POVERTYFARMERSFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFLOW OF PEOPLEFREE TRADEGDPGDP PER CAPITAGINI COEFFICIENTGLOBAL ECONOMYGLOBAL MARKETSGLOBAL PUBLIC GOODSGROWTH PERFORMANCEGROWTH POLICIESGROWTH POTENTIALGROWTH PROSPECTSGROWTH RATEGROWTH RATESHIGH GROWTHHIGH INCOME COUNTRIESHIGH POPULATION DENSITYHIGH TRANSPORTATIONHIGHWAYHIGHWAY NETWORKSHIGHWAYSHOUSEHOLD INCOMEHUMAN DEVELOPMENTHUMAN POVERTYHUMAN POVERTY INDEXIMMIGRATIONIMPROVING INFRASTRUCTUREINCIDENCE OF POVERTYINCOME DATAINCOME GAPINCOME GROWTHINCOME INEQUALITYINCOME LEVELSINDIVIDUAL INEQUALITYINDUSTRIALIZATIONINEQUITABLE DISTRIBUTIONINFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTINTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTSINTERNATIONAL COOPERATIONINTERNATIONAL GATEWAYSINTERNATIONAL TRADEJOB CREATIONLABOR FORCELANDLOCKED COUNTRIESLEVEL OF DEVELOPMENTLEVELS OF CONSUMPTIONLOW-INCOME COUNTRIESMACROECONOMIC MANAGEMENTMARKET ECONOMIESMATERIAL RESOURCESMIDDLE EASTMIDDLE INCOME COUNTRIESMIGRATIONMOBILITYMULTIPLIERSNATIONAL LEVELNATIONAL POVERTYNATIONAL POVERTY LINESNATURAL DISASTERNATURAL DISASTERSNATURAL GASNATURAL RESOURCENEGATIVE EXTERNALITIESNORTH AFRICAPEACEPER CAPITA GROWTHPER CAPITA INCOMEPER CAPITA INCOME LEVELSPER CAPITA INCOMESPOLICY CHANGEPOLICY CHANGESPOLICY MAKERSPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERPOLITICAL CONSTRAINTSPOORPOOR AREASPOOR INFRASTRUCTUREPOPULATION DATAPOPULATION DENSITYPORT FACILITIESPOVERTY ESTIMATESPOVERTY HEADCOUNT RATEPOVERTY INCIDENCEPOVERTY LINEPOVERTY LINESPOVERTY RATEPOVERTY RATESPOVERTY REDUCTIONPOWER OUTAGESPRO-GROWTH POLICIESPRODUCTIVITYPRODUCTIVITY INCREASESPROGRESSPROMOTING GROWTHPUBLIC POLICYPUBLIC SECTORPUBLIC SERVICEPUBLIC SERVICESPUBLIC UTILITIESQUALITY OF TRANSPORTRAPID GROWTHREAL GDPREDUCED POVERTYREDUCING POVERTYREGIONAL COOPERATIONREGIONAL DISPARITIESREGIONAL INEQUALITYREGIONAL POPULATIONREGIONAL TRANSPORTREGULATORY BARRIERSREMITTANCEROADRURALRURAL AREASRURAL ROADSSEA LEVELSECTOR REFORMSSERVICE DELIVERYSMALL COUNTRIESSOCIAL COHESIONSOCIAL CONFLICTSSOCIAL INSTITUTIONSSOCIAL PROTECTIONSOUTH ASIANSPATIAL ECONOMICSSPEEDSSPILLOVERSUB-SAHARAN AFRICATECHNICAL ASSISTANCETELECOMMUNICATIONSTERTIARY EDUCATIONTOLLTRADE BARRIERSTRADE POLICIESTRANSACTION COSTSTRANSITTRANSPORTTRANSPORT COSTSTRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURETRANSPORT NETWORKTRANSPORTATIONTRANSPORTATION COSTSTREATYTRUCKSTRUEURBAN AREASURBAN BIASURBANIZATIONVALUE ADDEDVULNERABILITYWARSWATER AVAILABILITYWATER FOR IRRIGATIONWATER MANAGEMENTWATER RESOURCESWORLD POPULATIONWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-4736