Almost 10 years ago the mineral-rich country of Mongolia experienced very rapid economic growth, fuelled by China’s need for coal and copper. New subjects, buildings, and businesses flourished, and future dreams were imagined and hoped for. This period of growth is, however, now over. Mongolia is instead facing high levels of public and private debt, conflicts over land and sovereignty, and a changed political climate that threatens its fragile democratic institutions. Subjective Lives and Economic Transformations in Mongolia details this complex story through the intimate lives of five women. Building on long-term friendships, which span over 20 years, Rebecca documents their personal journeys in an ever-shifting landscape. She reveals how these women use experiences of living a ‘life in the gap’ to survive the hard reality between desired outcomes and their actual daily lives. In doing so, she offers a completely different picture from that presented by economists and statisticians of what it is like to live in this fluctuating extractive economy.

This publication examines Mongolia’s recent economic development and outlines reforms that would help the country take advantage of its many opportunities. Mongolia is rich in natural resources and, although landlocked, is well-placed to boost trade with its two giant neighbors. The country needs to diversify its economy beyond mining, enhance economic stability, and increase employment. To maximize Mongolia’s potential the government can improve macroeconomic management, enhance the skill base, and provide hard and soft infrastructure to promote trade and efficient logistics. Governance and institutional reforms are also crucial. The government will need to continue to drive reforms so that they are well implemented and deliver the intended change.

This book is a compass for resource rich-developing countries, taking Mongolia as a case study. Policy aspects of the development of the mining sector in developing countries such as Mongolia and its impact on the economy and society are reviewed. The book deals with specific industry policies and challenges identified by policy makers, its characteristics and policy recommendations moving forward with an emphasis on the importance of evidence-based policy making (EBPM). It begins with the country’s development strategy and the role of the mining industry, highlighting the fact that major strategic and policy documents still suffer from ambiguity and clear guidance as well as gaps in policy directions. The book also highlights the need for policy makers to improve transparency initiatives. Authors emphasize transparency or lack thereof in mining contracts, taxation, trading, and marketing and provide specific policy recommendations and alternative policy actions. The macroeconomic and social impact of the mining sector and the role of foreign direct investment is also discussed. Particularly, utilizing in-house economic analytical tools, the role and impact of resource revenue management policy in Mongolia is evaluated. Further, the impact of mining projects on the livelihood of local households as well as the importance of obtaining a social license to operate is discussed. This monograph is recommended for readers who want an in-depth comprehensive understanding of the mining sector, EBPM, and key lessons learned in managing natural resources in Mongolia.

With Mongolia fast becoming a significant exporter of minerals and raw materials, this book provides a full account of political and economic events in this important country. It focuses on the period since the establishment of the Soviet-backed Mongolian People’s Republic in 1924 and the transition towards a democratic free market system since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Covering key topics in Mongolia’s recent development, the book looks at: economic and political reform process the role of the private sector foreign aid trade and investment the attempts to tackle pressing issues such as growth, inflation, unemployment, poverty, problems of climate and weather, and pollution. This book is an important resource for anyone seeking to understand this fascinating country’s affairs.

This book contains an analysis of the economic problems encountered in Mongolia during the transition from a centrally planned to a market economy, when poverty increased dramatically, unemployment rose sharply, health and education indicators deteriorated, and the economic and social position of women declined. Yet there is considerable potential in Mongolia for a broadly based acceleration of output, particularly if priority is given to the nomadic livestock sector and to grass-roots development at the provincial level. The book contains many policy suggestions intended to promote growth and employment and to reduce poverty.

This paper compares the output gap estimates for Mongolia based on a number of different methods. Special attention is paid to the substantial role of mining in the Mongolian economy. We find that a Blanchard and Quah-type joint model of output and inflation provides a more robust estimate of the output gap for Mongolia than the traditional statistical decompositions.