This paper examines the Philippines’ investment climate in its many dimensions, relating these to the performance of the economy at the national, regional, and provincial levels. The central thesis is that the economy’s slow growth over the past two decades or more can be attributed in large...

Starting with the premise that technological innovation and economic growth are interactive and mutually reinforcing, this paper argues that in order to have a fighting chance in the Asean Economic Community (AEC), let alone global, competition, the Philippines (PH) needs to appreciably ramp up...

Most migration studies have used aggregate data to test hypotheses concerning individual migration behavior. This paper attempts to understand migration behavior more directly by analyzing data on individuals and households. The decision to migrate or stay is viewed as influenced by individual...

This paper surveys urbanization and spatial development in the Philippines by reviewing studies dealing one way to another with the subject. The objective is to put spatial and urban issues in perspective so that an understanding of them may cumulate through research. Research on these issues...

A comparative perspective on Asian urbanization and development is offered in this paper. In this first part, some aspects of urbanization and spatial concentration are discussed using data on South, Southeast, East and Centrally Planned Asian countries. South and Southeast (and some extent...

The paper looks into the effects of international migration and remittances on household incomes and well-being, poverty reduction, human capital investment, saving, and regional development in the home country. Remittances appear to raise average incomes for all income groups but more so for...

Labor migration began to be promoted in the late 60s or early 70s by a number of Asian countries burdened by problems of unemployment, poverty, and scant foreign exchange. However, labor export was generally intended to be a stop-gap measure while governments were trying to implement policy...

The population issue--now passe elsewhere in the developing world, even in the poorer countries -- remains a durable puzzle in the Philippines. On the one hand, a majority of Filipinos regard rapid population growth as an impediment to socioeconomic development, requiring policy intervention; on...

Recent research papers employing cross-national regressions report that the incomes of the poor move one-for-one with overall average incomes, suggesting that poverty reduction requires nothing much more than promoting rapid economic growth. This paper attempts to probe beneath cross-country...

The Philippines is reputed to be the world’s third highest net remittance recipient country (relative to net migration) after India and Mexico. In 2005, remittances were officially recorded at $11.7 billion1 representing about 10% of GDP. Clearly, remittances resulting from the Filipino...