The Section undertakes analytical studies and policy-oriented research on medium to long-term issues in a number of areas of economic concern, and in particular in the development of an analytical framework for poverty reduction.

The areas of priority research are:
- Millennium Development Goal issues for implementation with special focus on policies addressing education and health, poverty-environment nexus and socio-economic issues of the digital divide
- Micro-macro linkages, particularly in developing a framework of how micro level interventions support economic growth objectives in reducing poverty
- Financing for Development issues emanating from the Monterrey Consensus
- Poverty Impact Evaluation

Its research is disseminated through the Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific, the Bulletin on Asia-Pacific Perspectives and the Development Paper Series as well as ad hoc publications.