But in many ways this new Asian reality is a positive development. Leading regional economies are settling into a pattern of more moderate, more sustainable growth, founded on new opportunities nearer to home. Asia’s contributions to global imbalances—its persistent current account surpluses—are smoothly winding down. Muted demand from wealthy countries is providing the impetus for the region to turn to internal sources and trade with its neighbors. With the major industrial economies expected to grow by only 1% in 2013, the roles of domestic demand and intra-Asian trade will continue to expand.

In this issue’s Special Report, Development Asia examines Asia’s widening inequality from many different perspectives. We look at the role of globalization in producing inequality, and consider the disputed relationship between inequality and economic growth.

Asia isn’t the only region suffering from a wealth gap, but unlike others it has failed so far to narrow the divide. Most of its large economies have shown rising income inequality since the 1990s, and rural poverty is outpacing urban poverty across much of the continent. If left unchecked, the consequences of this trend could be dire.

Palaniappan Chidambaram, the Government of India Finance Minister, provides unique insights into India’s experience with inequality in a fascinating question-and-answer session. In a forthright opinion piece, former World Bank chief economist Justin Yifu Lin delivers his prescription for tackling inequality in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

We discuss how some countries have managed to sidestep the inequality trap, and reveal how others like Cambodia have made progress in curbing the symptoms of inequality— in this case child mortality.

Rounding out our cover package is a central question: What can be done about inequality? While some characterize inequality as a phase on the path to prosperity, an emerging consensus suggests otherwise and highlights the importance of inclusive, jobs-rich growth.

In our Features section, we venture into Asia’s sprawling slums for a closeup look at how hope—and economies— can take root amid the squalor. Many slums are now vital hubs in the broader economy of their cities, a positive step but one that complicates plans for slum redevelopment.

Closing this issue is Black & White, a new section that provides a space for some of Asia’s leading photographers to display their work on a specific development project or theme. In this issue, Filipino photographer Veejay Villafranca spent time with the garbage-pickers of Manila’s Smokey Mountain waste dump. Veejay’s powerful image, on page 56, and the story of a project trying to improve the lives of the pickers, suggests it was time well spent.

This working paper highlights the structural and cultural issues which determine the roles that women play within the HCT workforce and the strategies which can make a difference to their status and opportunities within the industry. Some of these issues relate to occupational sex segregation, wage parity, career opportunities, the role of women within micro-enterprises and the informal hotel/catering/tourism economy. The links between equality of opportunity and treatment for women and men in quality jobs, workforce development, training opportunities and employment in the sector have been explored to a certain degree at national or local levels. However, there is less information regarding gender equality provisions and major international companies in global and regional contexts. The findings of this study point to issues of importance for employment of women as a basis for future dialogue. They also highlight important innovations, good practices and interesting case studies in support of future human resources planning for governments, employers‟ and workers‟ organizations.

On the positive side, unemployment – while high at 14.6% – has been stable since late 2011 and the economy is experiencing output growth – unlike other Member States in financial assistance programmes of the EU, IMF and ECB Troika. Cost-competitiveness has improved since 2008 and Ireland continues to attract both high levels of foreign direct investment and foreign human capital. In 2012, 18% of the workforce was foreign-born and 44% of foreign-born workers were graduates.

This restructuring information sheet draws on Eurofound data sources to describe recent developments in the Irish labour market. The European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) comprises a series of databases covering restructuring activity as well as related policy and legal instruments throughout Europe. Restructuring activity in 2012 tends to support the relatively positive prognosis for the Irish labour market; there were more announced job gains than losses in large-scale restructuring events. The European Jobs Monitor (EJM) uses EU Labour Force Survey (EU LFS) data to identify changing structural trends in employment by sector and occupation using various proxies of job quality. It highlights that the sharp losses in Irish employment experienced in the period 2008–10 were concentrated in the middle of the wage distribution.

The company’s headquarters are in Denmark, where the largest group of employees (948) work. Worldwide, Radiometer has a total of 2,300 employees and subsidiary companies in 23 countries.

VWP is a manufacturer of passenger cars. Currently, the company manufactures two types of utility cars: the Caddy, which constitutes the basis of production, and the T5 Transporter. The main target group for the products manufactured by the Poznań-based branch of Volkswagen are business clients, who use the utility cars for the transport of lighter goods. About 94% of manufactured vehicles are exported as part of the intra-Community supply of goods, as well as to third countries.

NUH is now one of the largest and busiest acute Trusts in England, employing 13,000 staff. It provides services to over 2.5 million residents of Nottingham and its surrounding communities, and specialist services to a further 3–4 million people from neighbouring counties each year. The Trust has an annual income of GBP722.5 million (approximately €858 million as at 20 January 2013), 90 wards and around 1,700 beds.

The Trust prides itself on standing at the forefront of many research programmes and new surgical procedures; it is the only NHS trust in the country to have had three successful bids for Biomedical Research Units. As a teaching trust, NUH has a strong relationship with the University of Nottingham and other universities across the East Midlands, and plays an important role in the education and training of doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals.

The Italian company Elica has manufactured cooker hoods since the 1970s. Elica use art, design and innovation to produce some of the most visually striking cooker hoods on the market. The company claims it is redefining the traditional kitchen appliance as a technologically sophisticated object with a unique design that improves quality of life.

This case study considers some HR practices that are global at Kellogg and common across many other countries, but it pays special attention to specific practices that the company has adopted in recent years in Spain. These practices are innovative and in some cases courageous, in terms of the effort required from the company to put them into reality.