This volume is a Festschrift for Arsenio Molina Balisacan – economist, professor, public servant, colleague, mentor and friend. It pays tribute to his work and honours him as an outstanding economist and public servant. Its themes reflect his research and policy interests over his professional career. These interests are central to understanding the development dynamics in the Philippines and elsewhere in Asia. The overarching theme is overcoming poverty through agricultural and rural development and complementary policies that engender a robust and sustainable structural transformation. Competition policy plays a particularly key role in combating cronyism and rent-seeking that impede that development path.

This project was conceived in November 2018 when the editors and the honouree attended the back-to-back Philippine Economic Society (PES) and the Federation of ASEAN Economic Associations (FAEA) conference held in Cubao, Quezon City, Philippines. We planned the surprise launch of this volume in time for his sixty-fifth birthday on 8 November 2022. In the Philippines, this age also marks an individual’s retirement from government service. Thus began the three-year “gentle conspiracy”, as Gerry Sicat aptly describes the project, among the editors, contributors, SEARCA and ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute towards the realization of this volume.

This book came to fruition with the help of many people and organizations whose tremendous support we wish to acknowledge. The enthusiastic responses from our forty-six authors from many countries are testimony to the high esteem and affection for Arsi. We thank our contributors for their fine papers and their collaboration as we worked through the refereeing and editorial production processes. We thank Peter Timmer and Gerardo Sicat for readily accepting our request to write the forewords. Special thanks to Anne Krueger for the back-cover endorsement.

A huge thank you to the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), led by Director Glenn Gregorio, for the funding support for this volume. Many thanks to the SEARCA team for facilitating the physical production of this book, especially Benedict Juliano and Arlene Nadres. Thanks to Lily Tallafer, our excellent and meticulous copyeditor who also happens to be one of Arsi’s long-time associates.